bit-tech Shopping: Konami Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party Bundle (Wii)

Rating: 10

Time with product: 15 Days

Strengths: Bundle includes a dance pad

Weaknesses: Mixture of songs could be better

Summary: Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party Bundle for the Wii brings the arcade type dance games right to your home! This is a load of fun especially with multiple players. It comes with a dance pad/mat but I would call the one that is included more of an 'economy' quality (it gets the job done, but I don't think it is going to hold up for very long with people jumping up and down on it - although I could be wrong). I would suggest buying at least one more dance mat for good head to head competition. However you can use it right out of the box. You'll love it.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Day

Strengths: Fun, Dance pad included

Weaknesses: Can be tough to keep up with at times

Summary: This is a really fun game. It comes with the dance pad (something I didn't realize until I almost bought the game without the dance pad - same title but not the bundle - the bundle includes the dance pad). Lots of fun and you can connect multiple dance pads to the game. Its a good workout (but you have fun doing it!)

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Month

Strengths: Hand motions via the wiimote & nunchuk

Weaknesses: Nunchuk often doesn't register. Not sure how durable the thin dancepad included will be in the long run.

Summary: Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party is a very good interactive game for the Wii. The bundle comes with both the game disc & 1 dance mat. I definitely recommend picking up a second dance mat, that way you can play 2- player and face off against someone. The dance pad connects into the Gamecube controller ports on the Wii, so any dance mat with a Gamecube connector end should work. Unlike the PS2 and Xbox 360 versions, DDR on the Wii has hand motions you have to learn via the wiimote and nunchuk. The hand motions are fun and work well with DDR for the most part. The main problem is that the nunchuk motions don't seem to register, so it can be quite annoying at times. Another annoyance with the game, is that you can't restart a track mid-song. So if you severely mess up, you actually have to wait until the entire song finishes before restarting. I still find this hard to believe, but haven't figured out any way besides rebooting the whole Wii. The songlist itself is pretty good although it's definitely slanted on the Techno side. I rated DDR 4 stars, although it should really be more like 3.5 stars--I have fun while I'm playing it, but it isn't a game find myself playing over and over again.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 10 Days

Strengths: good exercise.

Weaknesses: Pricy; not very sensitive to arm movement

Summary: My purpose to buy Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party Bundle (Wii) is to keep fit. I have to say it works. However I don't think the game players would be satisfied like me. The new feature introduced by Wii Remote and Nunchuk needs a lot of improvement before it can be advertised like this.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3

Strengths: Great for party game as well as individual modes. Addition of hand gestures adds a new element to the game, good music selection

Weaknesses: Hand motions can be tricky to master... you have to step off the pad to maneuver the menus

Summary: My wife absolutely loves this game. The music is better than the old 'mario mix' title for the Gamecube and the game is a lot of fun for both single and multiple players. The game is also compatible with any pads you might have used with the Gamecube, so that's a bonus by itself. It would have been nice if they'd have fixed the title to allow you to navigate menus while standing on the pad, however.