Product Review: Page (1) of 1 - 12/22/04

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Viva la Dance Pad Revolution! Two dance pads reviewed By Stephen Schleicher

Have you joined the revolution?  The Dance Dance Revolution that is.  Have you been to the arcade and seen the gamers doing their moves and secretly wished you could the same thing at home?  In order to get the full DDR arcade experience, you really need to get a dance pad controller for your system.  I recently had the chance to look at two offerings and have come to the conclusion that expensive is better.

The good thing about Dance Dance Revolution is that it gets you to exercise.  The bad thing about Dance Dance Revolution is it gets you to exercise without calling it exercise.  With the DDR: Ultramix and DDR: Ultramix 2 now available, manufacturers are bundling the game (for XBOX, Playstation, and PC) with a dance pad for you get in on the arcade experience.  But are these bundled pads worth it?

All DDR dance pads are essentially the same; four arrows for you to step on when you are dancing, a central rest area, and A/B buttons for next and back commands.  But there is where the similarities end.  For those on a budget, you have the option of going with a foam pad that very portable, yet cheaply made.  Or, if you have the money, you can go with the more expensive metal pad that looks very much like the arcade dance station.

For this article I will be looking at the DDR: Ultramix non-slip pad that comes bundled with the game...

...and the metal dance pad (version 3) from www.ddrgame.com.

The Pros
DDR: Ultramix non-slip pad

• Portability.  The foam Ultramix non-slip pads are very portable devices that can be easily rolled up and stored when you are done gaming.
• The unit is priced just right.  At around $20 (depending on where you look), you can buy multiple pads for competition or multi-pad dance settings on the game.

DDR Game Metal Dance Pad

• Solid.  This game isn?t moving no matter how hard you dance on the controller.
• Feels like the arcade version.  While the version I tested does not have the back handle support, this is as close you can get to actually shoving in quarters without having to spend an extra $100 for the next level of controller.
• The sensitivity on these units is great.  You shouldn?t have to worry about stepping on an arrow and not having the game recognize your move.
• Unlike the non-slip pad, you can wear shoes on this unit to give you better foot support.

The Cons
DDR: Ultramix non-slip pad

• Even though they say non-slip, I found myself having to reposition the pad after every two songs as the pad would creep across the floor.  While it did not bunch up, it was a pain to have to step off and reposition during the short break between rounds.  This occurred on both carpet and vinyl flooring.
• I also noticed that the non-slip pad is not as sensitive as its larger cousin.  Often when doing combo moves the sensors fail to activate leaving you in trouble when it comes to points.
• Unfortunately this pad is not built to last.  After a couple of weeks of heavy use the printing begins to fade and in some cases the pad will deteriorate.  I saw this deterioration at a local Toys R Us where the bad had been on display for customer to try out.  While you may not be putting hundreds of hours on the pad in a few weeks, wear and tear on this unit should be a concern.
• The padding on these controllers is not very thick.  This may cause knee and foot pain when playing for extended periods of time.

DDR Game Metal Dance Pad

• Not very portable.  This all metal unit weighs about 40 pounds so moving it easily can be a chore ? especially for smaller gamers.  Since it does not roll up, you will have to find a place to prop it up or slide it under furniture to keep it out of the way.
• Expensive.  Depending on where you buy your metal dance pad, you will easily be spending more than $200 for this unit.  If you don?t have $500 sitting around, you will probably only be able to afford one unit, and that just isn?t fun when you want to do a head to head competition with a friend or family member.
• While you can wear shoes with this unit, and it can withstand up to 300 pounds of weight, there is very little give to this controller meaning you may still experience foot or knee pain when playing for a long time.  In my tests, I found this to not be a big problem even after playing for 2+ hours.

Bottom Line
With all of the pros and cons weighed, I prefer the metal dance pad to the non-slip vinyl pad.  The metal pad gives you the arcade experience, will stay put on the floor without moving, and will last you a very long time.  Even though it is much more expensive, the metal pad is the favorite in the revolution experience.  There are many manufactures of the metal dance pad, so you should shop around to find the best price.

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