Let's Chibi Nappa: DDR Konamix

[Cheebs]

I've been playing so much DDR Extreeme and Max 2 lately that I though I'd take a few hours to return to an old favorite for a change. DDR Konamix is so good, and yet so stupidly.......stupid at the same time.

First I'll get the "stupid" part out of the way: The obivious thing here is that it uses the 4th mix engine. 5th mix had been out for a long time when Konamix was made, and 5th mix was sooooooo much smoother (60 FPS arrows). But, Konami wanted to give us 6 arrow solo steps, so they stuck with the 4th mix engine. I would have ditched the solo mode for smoother play in a heartbeat, but I'm not Konami so it doesn't matter. To add to the stupidness of the whole thing, not all songs have 6 arrow steps, and there is no indicator to let you know if a particular song does or not. This makes solo mode kind of worthless, or at least frustrating when you start a song and only see 4 of the arrows being used when you are expecting 6.

As for my favorite "stupid" aspect of the game: It's virtually impossible to score anything other than a "B"! I've performed songs that would be a AA on DDR Extreme CS (which is a little too forgiving in awarding its AA's if you ask me) that score a "B" on Konamix. I'm talking 250 or so perfects, 40 greats, and 2 goods and I get a "B". Apparently, Konamix doesn't have AA's and reserves "A's" for full-combo mostly perfects in place of AA. That would be all well and good if it were possible to score a "C"...... but I stumbled through Paranoia Rebirth maniac and barely passed with the "danger" screen flashing and I still scored a "B"! So basically, when you see a "B" next to a song title you have no idea if you were one step away from perfecting it or just barely hung on. Good jorb there Konami.

Now for the good stuff. Although it uses the 4th mix engine, I swear it seems more accurate than 4th mix. When I play 4th mix I miss arrows that I swear I hit, and that doesn't seem to happen here. I'd be willing to bet they cleaned the engine up, but I can't confirm that. It also seems to have a smaller "perfect" window than recent PS2 DDRs, forcing you to step in a tighter rythmn. That always makes it feel more rewarding when I register a "perfect" step.

Then there's the songs. No licenced stuff, but damn if it isn't one of the best mixes ever assembled. A true PS One era greatest hits compillation if there ever was one. Songs from a time when it was all about the arrow smashing. Songs that can kick your ass with their bare hands (unlike the ass kicking 10 footers in Extreme that resort to automatic weapons). Something about these songs always makes me work harder. Something about these songs always makes me concentrate more. The nostalgia doesn't hurt either. Anyway, there are some real classics here. Off the top of my head:

Hysteria
Afronova Primeval
Healing Vision
Matsuri JAPAN
Dive
Absolute
Don't Stop
Cutie Chaser
B4U
Drop Out
Dead End
DXY!
PARANOiA Rebirth


Great songs. Great steps. Heck, I almost love all 52 (54?) of them.

[Ashen Victor]

sparkling A pwns jo0!!!1one!1

[Cheebs]

Sadly, I only have two or three of those sparkling A's....

[Tain]

Hysteria

PICTURE ME I'M ON TOP OF THE WORLD NOW

This might be my favorite mix, if only for random stuff like Genom Screams.

[Mzo]

Picture me I'm on top of my game.

I like it, too, but you're damn right about the B's

Sl1p probably has AAA on every song, that faggot.

[Cheebs]

I like it, too, but you're damn right about the B's .

If DDR Konamix were an episode of Sesame Street, it would be brought to you by the letter "B".

[Tragic]

Picture me I'm on top of my game.

I like it, too, but you're damn right about the B's

Sl1p probably has AAA on every song, that faggot.

Why's does being into Bemani and DDR make him a faggot?

Added to the gripe about the 4th mix engine... I hate the whole genre/song set selection from 4th (and I think it's in Konamix too).

[Mzo]

Don't piss me off.

Prior to that I had just finished quoting the next line of a DDR song that Tain had started. Plus I mentioned that I like Konamix. And the DDRMAX2 thread was started by none other than me.

It was obviously a joke; he's a LOT better than I am, and this is how I keep my pride ;_;

Besides, Sl1p's a fag for totally different reasons.

[Cheebs]

Added to the gripe about the 4th mix engine... I hate the whole genre/song set selection from 4th (and I think it's in Konamix too).

I can't stand that either, but thankfully there is a "full song" option that lets you do away with all that and choose from every song.

[Mzo]

Wow, I turned Full Songs on seconds after firing up the game... I forgot the sets even existed