All you DDR people-

I decided that I am going to join you on the DDR bandwagon, since I already have a PS2, and a game and a pad are much cheaper than any other home exercise equipment.  Now the question is:  Which game do I get?  Are they all about the same quality and level of fun?  Is there one that you would consider better for beginners?  Please enlighten me.

Also, I have read several posts saying that the red octane pads are good, so that is the one I am considering at the moment.  Any others I should look into?

Thanks in advance for your help! ;)

Hey, it depends on what you're going for...

I have DDR Max II, and my friend has Extreme..  If you want to use the Workout Mode a lot, mine is better than his - you can set a calorie goal (or time goal), input your height and weight etc. and then pick your songs and have it show you at the end of each song how much farther to meet your goal.  Plus it shows you a comparison of what you've done to distance in running, jump rope, or swimming laps.

The advantage of the Extreme is that you can have it in "Workout Mode" while still playing regular Game Mode as well, so it will show you calories burned at the end of each song, then keep a tally until the end of the set (4-5 songs) at which time its memory will erase, so if you wanted to keep a tally, you'd have to do it yourself.  Plus, it doesn't take your height/weight into account or do the comparisons.

Both are great fun, and are perfect for any skill level.  I don't know about the Extreme, but mine has a Training Mode for each skill level, so you could make use of that....

DO NOT GET ANY MAT THAT DOES NOT USE FOAM.

I believe all the RedOctane mats use foam, so you should be okay there, but make sure you double check... the cheap, flimsy ones are horrible.

This Red Octane Ignition 3.0 mat is perfect... I'd go for that one.

hey,

well i use Pump it Up. which is sooo much fun. its just a little different in the steps than DDR. but really its all the same thing. the things that radbird has suggested sound really good.

the one thing i absolutely LOVE about pump it up is that its only 25 dollars for the pad and the game together. as long as you get it at EB games. so way way cheap. and mines lasted almost a year. i dance almost every day.

if you try to buy it online itll be like 80 bones. so go to EB games if youre going to get it.

i have ddr supernova. i like it. it's the only one i've played, so i cant compare it to any others. but the workout mode lets you see how many calories you burned.

I've got DDR-Extreme 2 & 3 for X-Box and outside of how you navigate through the menus, I would say the only big change is the music.  I always set mine to "random" that way I'm forced to play whatever the computer pulls up, otherwise I'd be picking the same 6 songs over & over again.

REALLY BIG BIG BIG TIP!!!  your legs will hurt like )#(U%#)* the next day. Specifically the tops of your legs & calfs.  I'd do the most basic beginning mode available, or even training mode until you learn a few step combinations.  It took me about 10 hours over the course of an entire week to get up to the "easy" or "novice" difficulty level (past beginner).  So expect to get a little frustrated at first, but stick with it and you'll get it just fine.   I'm now doing 70% standard difficulty and 30% hard (heavy) difficulty on the songs;  after about 5 months of "every-other-day" type of use.

It's crazy fun, and you can work up a sweat in about 3 minutes flat once you get into it (2 songs worth)....   CooL Idea!  I'm glad to see it's still making the rounds...

Oh, I'm still using the paper thin mat that came with it... no foam, but I do have a very padded carpet beneath it.  NEVER WEAR SHOES ON THE MAT!!! Socks only!  (no bare feet, when you get sweaty your feet will stick and cause you to skip steps)  I often have a standing fan nearby to turn on after doing the "DDR" for 5-7 minutes, it comes in handy to keep cool.

As a beginner you may get sore feet, this is due to the "stomping" effect, there's no need to stomp on anything, it will recognize if you just pat your fingers on the pad, so tapping around on your toes will save any possible joint injuries & sore feet & back!

I hope some of this helps!

PS:  I've got some crazy home DDR videos too (you can email me if you want to see what it looks like, address is in the profile)

I have played every version out there and I own Extreme, Konamix, Max, and Supernova. Workout mode wise, I like extreme the best because you can continue to unlock songs and it tell you how many calories you burn at the end of each song, as well as the total after the end of each 3-song set.

Max 2 has the best songs, it wins that one hands down and there are a lot of songs. Supernova is really confusing if you're a beginner, it has a lot of new options and settings that a beginner wouldn't bother with (I'm on heavy mode and truthfully I don't bother with them either hahaha)

Max isn't the best for beginners, or really anyone. It doesn't have beginner mode, only Light, Standard, and Heavy and while there are some good songs, they get old very quickly.

I own Red Octane Ignition pads, they are amazing.

The cheap ones that come with some of the versions with break down with time and slide on the floor. The better you are, the more you notice the suckiness of the pad, and you will notice.

Sooo after that long winded BS, Extreme is a good version to start with (then go with Extreme 2 or Max 2 if you want something else) and get the red octane reinforced foam pads. Your knees with thank you.

i agree with what everybody says, except for the pads. i have the cheap pads that come with the game, but I attached them to a piece of plywood. It adds traction and is much easier to jump on. it also helps lengthen the life of the pad b/c you're not folding it up. it can be stored standing up or laying down.

I'd like to point out that I disagree with everyone that Max II has the best songs, though.

I think Supernova has the best (and hardest, also!) songs.

I  have Max II, and it has a beginner mode.

I have both Maxs', Extreme and Supernova. I like the Maxs' best and Extreme the worst. My problem with the others is that I play on heavy mode and all the american pop music they had started to add in it because it's popular is just too easy and boring. There are some good songs on supernova, but not many and, for me, it's annoying to try and open up other ones. I liked the Max system of opening them as you play normally better. 

Yes radbird MAX2 has beginner, MAX does not.

while supernova may have better songs, it has these pesky "unlock" challenges to unlock most of the songs, so I'd say as a beginner, you're better off with Max2.

Again, like everyone said, you can set height and weight into consideration and it will calculate calories burned, and yes, it will hurt the tops of your calves a lot.

However, I should mention that you get very little workout at first. Yes, do the Beginner version of every song in the beginning, but there is very little exercise involved at first. After you get a little better, you can start playing on Light and Standard modes, and then you will be getting more of a real workout! Can't wait until you hit the Heavy level, then you can easily burn more like 30 calories a song, which equates to 300+ calories flying off in a half hour. At least, flying off much faster than most other forms of exercise.

Hey, thanks for all the tips.  So, tell me if this is right- if I hate American pop music, I would be better off not going with supernova?  I think I will go with Max 2, because the entering height and weight sounds like it would give a more accurate calorie count. 

Do any of you know of a version of DDR or similar game, for PS2, that you can avoid the jumps with?  I have a pad, but the jumps put too much strain on my knees and breasts (I really need a better bra).  Or even just one with a fair number of easy (I'm not real coordinated) songs that don't involve any jumps?

on DDR supernova (and maybe others) on workout mode, you can turn off the jump feature

that's what I do and it's still lotsa fun for me  =)

I have the newest one, supernova.  I use that one and ddr max 1 and 2.  I get easily bored.  I've lost 4 pounds since I started using it as my workout 2 weeks ago

And remember to warm up before you DDR and stretch to cool down afterward. :)

yeah sqwish, supernova has a lot more american pop music than the older ones, which have more japanese techno and older pop music.

Thanks, nomoreexcuses!  I'll look into that one, then. :)

I actually use the mat that is designed for that Britney Spears game.  Meh, it's a good mat, and it's cheaper than some of the other mats. 

If you haven't played before though, than I don't think it will matter a whole lot what game you get, it'll take you a while to learn it anyways.

How long do you dance? or do you use quit when the cal counter hits a certain number?