Classic of the Month - Dance Dance Revolution

Manufacturer:	Konami
Genre:	Dancing
Board:	Bemani System 573 Analog (deprecated in later versions)
Year:	1998

There are only a handful of arcade games that truly revolutionised both the artform and the industry: Pong, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Street Fighter 2, Virtua Fighter, Donkey Kong, Mr Goeman all instantly spring to mind, but even among that elite company, Konami's ground breaking Dance Dance Revolution (or DDR for short) is one of the most significant.  As the PlayStation and the rise of online PC gaming during the mid-to-late 90s slowly choked and killed the arcade scene, DDR dared to stand out, force people to pay attention and keep our beloved amusement halls alive.

Like so many true classics, DDR barely needs a description.  It's one of those games everyone, from toddlers to old codgers have played -- and who can blame them. For those who are uninitiated, the cabinet consists of a touch sensitive floor panel with up, down, left and right buttons on it (plus a couple of start, back, etc). Gameplay consists of stepping on these arrows in time to a flow of arrows on screen, while popular Japanese pop songs play at increasingly breakneck speed.

When you see a DDR machine it screams, "Play me!" and who can resist, especially when you see someone with two left feet missing their marks and stomping around like they're trying to squash cockroaches? When you get good at DDR it actually raises your overall confidence about dancing in public, be a night club, a work Christmas party or a wedding, the moves you learn on DDR transfer to the real world, making you look like you are a born dancer, with natural rhythm. And people say video games are no good for you.

There are loads of DDR videos on the internet, but I've chosen the trailer for the Disney Mix game that was released for home consoles a few years ago, because it shows precisely why this series took gamers all over the world by a storm.

If it wasn't for DDR, we probably would have Dance Central or Just Dance on home consoles and I'm sure you would agree, the world would be a duller, sadder place to live.

MTW