Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 , called Dance Dance Revolution Full Full Party in Japan, was announced by Konami on May 15, 2008 as part of the 10th anniversary of Dance Dance Revolution celebration. Hottest Party 2 features the same gameplay as the first Hottest Party and introduces new gameplay modes, gimmicks, characters and graphical enhancements. The game also features an all new soundtrack featuring licensed music from the past four decades as well as new Konami Originals. Hottest Party 2 was released on September 16, 2008 in North America. A teaser site for the Japanese release was launched on December 9, 2008 featuring new gameplay footage from the game.
Development
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 was announced on May 15 2008 alongside Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 and Dance Dance Revolution X by Konami on the DDR Online Community website as part of Game Day 2008. A sequel to the 2007 Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party , Hottest Party 2 features many improvements. Konami promises an entirely new soundtrack featuring music from the "last four decades", more innovative Wii Remote and Nunchuk support, four-player multiplayer and brand new gameplay modes. Hottest Party 2 features a difficulty range that allows both new players and seasoned dancers to enjoy the game. Mii support will be added to the game, allowing players to incorporate their Mii avatars onto the dance floor. Courses, a mode featured in the mainstream Dance Dance Revolution series, will be introduced on the Wii for the first time. Dance gimmicks such as Triple Stomp and Dance N' Defend Battle Mode will add new dynamics to the standard gameplay. New dancing characters will be introduced and the dancers will show off realistic dance moves that players can watch and practice in special mode. New dancing stages with greater detail will be added to the game, more than 50 total environments for the characters to dance in. Konami also announced a sample of the music to be included in Hottest Party 2, including covers of "Black or White" by Michael Jackson, D.A.N.C.E by Justice (band), "Umbrella" by Rihanna and "We Got the Beat" by The Go-Go's. A teaser trailer and a series of gameplay screenshots were released by Konami alongside the announcement.
On August 1, 2008 The Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 teaser website was updated with a new trailer revealing additional information about the upcoming game. The updated dancers with new dance moves are featured, along with the detailed stages featuring club style lighting, video walls and live crowds, new gimmicks that shrink the size of the on-screen arrows to varying degrees, the first appearance of Training Mode on the Wii, Dance N' Defend Battle Mode in action and the 360 degree dancing character viewer. During the video the song "Into Your Heart (Ruffage Mix)" can be heard, a new Konami Original by sound producer Naoki Maeda.
Gameplay
Main article: Gameplay of Dance Dance RevolutionGameplay remains relatively unchanged from the original game. New modes on Hottest Party 2 include a new battle mode and the "Groove Arena", an updated version of Groove Circuit from the previous version. New additional arrow gimmicks include arrows that rebound when hit and must be hit three times in order for them to fully disappear, arrows that only appear suddenly, missiles, and an implementation of holds for the hand markers.
Scoring
When played with the Wii Remote, a separate "hand combo" attached to the lifebar increases if the player can keep the beat of the song with the controller while in play. These hand combos can add a bonus to the player's score when a hand marker is eventually reached.
Songs
The songs in yellow are licensed covers, the songs in white are Konami Originals, the songs in red are "boss songs", and the songs in green are featured in existing games. The songs with padlocks next to them are locked until certain conditions are met in the game, and songs with a clapperboard next to them have music videos featured.
Soundtrack album
The original soundtrack for Furu Furu Party will be bundled with the original soundtrack for Dance Dance Revolution X , and will be released on January 29, 2009. It is part of the pre-order bundles for the PlayStation 2 version of DDR X in Japan, which will be released the same day.
Compatibility
It has been discovered that DDR Hottest Party 2 is not compatible with some 3rd party dance mats made for Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix and 3rd party mats made for Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party .
Reception
During E3 2008 Konami showcased Hottest Party 2 to the press. The reaction was favorable with video game publications citing how easy the game is to pick up and play. Chris Watters of GameSpot pointed out that players who have two left feet will appreciate the training songs that teach players useful fundamentals. IGN's Lucas M. Thomas said that Hottest Party 2 is "exactly what you'd expect" of the Dance Dance Revolution franchise yet remains solid and challenging with the addition of the Wii remote and Nunchuk. He goes on to say that the new gimmicks in the Hottest Party series have been met with mixed feelings but are a welcome addition to the standard footwork and keep the gameplay fresh. He also sarcastically remarks that Mii heads on the detailed dancing character bodies "doesn't look disturbing at all."
WorthPlaying.com's Jesse Littlefield gave the game a 6.6/10, complimenting some of the additions to gameplay and Wii Remote support. However, the stages and characters were dubbed "poorly detailed" and the covered songs were declared to be "sub-standard", although the Konami Originals were considered the "better half" of the soundtrack. The lack of online play was also criticized.
See also
- Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party
- Dance Dance Revolution Winx Club
References
- ^ a b "IGN: Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 Announced". IGN . http://wii.ign.com/articles/874/874289p1.html . Retrieved 2008-05-17 .
- ^ a b c d DDRcommunity. "New DDR Games!". DDR Online Community . Konami . http://ddronlinecommunity.com/news_posts/26 . Retrieved 2008-05-16 .
- ^ "Official teaser page" (in Japanese). Konami. 2008-12-09 . http://www.konami.jp/bemani/ddr/jp/gs/ffp/ . Retrieved 2008-12-12 .
- ^ DDRcommunity. "DDR Hottest Party 2 Media". DDR Online Community . Konami . http://www.ddronlinecommunity.com/forums/8/forum_topics/298 . Retrieved 2008-08-02 .
- ^ a b c "Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2". Konami . http://www.konami.jp/bemani/ddr/na/gs/hp2/ . Retrieved 2008-05-18 .
- ^ a b c "Wii Review- 'DanceDanceRevolution Hottest Party 2'". Wo
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