[PunchedAxis]

The dancing universe expands even further with the release of Dance Dance Revolution® UNIVERSE 2, exclusively designed for Xbox 360®. The universal appeal of dancing the DDR2 way includes multiple options and settings for players of all skill levels, cool smash-hit songs and exclusives, and robust online and offline support. Shake a leg and dance dance revolution the night away!

• Accessible and appealing: It's fun and easy to play for all skill levels. The new How To Play, Trial, and Super Easy modes are aimed at first-time players so they can get right into the groove.
• Hit music: Four decades of smash-hit music from the 70s to the songs of today will have you dancing to the beat in no time.
• Quest Mode: Build your own dancing character and complete all of the dancing challenges.
• Freestyle Mode: Do away with the arrow prompts, and dance just the way you want; it's perfect for kids or anyone with two left feet.
• Workout Mode: Dance away those extra pounds with the specially-crafted Workout Mode. Now you can get more exercise the fun way.
• Xbox LIVE®: Go online to download new music or compete head-to-head with a friend.

Reviewing this game was pretty hard for one main reason - not one of the reviewers here owns a Xbox 360 Dance mat and the publisher felt that reviewing a dancing game without providing a mat was acceptable. I have some experience of Dance Mat based games, more recently on the PS2 and before that on the PS1, so hopefully the brief review given is a good reflection on the game. This is pretty much a run of the mill dance game, there was nothing included in the game that makes it stand out against other dance games that are available. The track list is quite extensive, however it is pretty light on well known tracks, relying mainly on little known artists.

Game play is as expected, there are either 4 or 8 arrows displayed at the top of the screen. Then, while the track is playing, corresponding arrows will move up the screen, as they align with the main arrows at the top you need to step on the correct pad on the dance mat. The speed, frequency and complexity of the arrow combos are based on the speed of the track and the difficulty selected. I found that the videos that played in the background were really off putting, and the arrows did not display well over the top of them, when there were two players on the same console it was even worse. Overall there was nothing in this game that would make me want to go out and buy this game if I already owned a dance game.

Graphics

3.0

Gameplay

3.0

Audio

4.0

Longevity

5.0

Overall

4.0