Dance Factory Review

Dance Factory
PS2
Release Date: August 30th, 2006
Dance/Music/Rythm
Review by Dack

 When I was deciding on who to let do the Dance Factory review, I knew that they needed a few things. First, they needed to be a pro at DDR or ITG, so they could compare and contrast it. Second, they needed to have a big CD collection so that they could test the game on different types of music. "So who fits the criteria?" I thought to myself. Then I relazied, I did. I have a collection of 60+ Music CD's, I play ITG and DDR fluently, and I play 10 footer songs, so I'm a perfect judge of this game! I'm betting other gaming sites are having Non Dance Game fanatics review the game, so you won't get a fair review. Well, we here at Marvel-Ous are hardcore gamers in every aspect, so can give gamers advice they can actually use.

I, being a avid ITG player (Toot) freaked out when I heard there was a dance game in development that creates step charts out of any song you want! How many times have you said to a friend or yourself "This song would kick ass in DDR!"? My guess is alot. Finally, 6 months later, Codemasters finally releases Dance Factory. But is it the perfect solution for DDR/ITG fans, or is it a piece of Majesco? (Pardon My French.)

When I put the Disk in my Pee Ess Two, a basic menu came up. Nothing fancy. Infact, even less fancy then the DDR/ITG menu, which is hard to do, but menu's aren't that important. Onto the game! I went into Dance mode, and looked at what songs codemasters generously included. Of course it was all crap, and country (Unless you consider that the same thing). So, I tested out the games real purpose! To first try it out, I went with a slower rock song. The Killers "All the things that I've done". It took about 2 minutes to create a step pattern for the song. While it creates a step pattern, you are treated to this weird cube puzzle game, which I still don't understand a thing about, other then that it's impossible to play with a dance pad (Grood job thinking ahead Codemasters). When the step pattern was ready, I was asked if I wanted to play it on beginner, normal, or Pro. Of course, being the amazing DDR/ITG master that I am (Toot), I choose pro. Then, all of a sudden I hear the killers, and I see steps! A pretty cool combination if you ask me! But wait! The up and down arrow switched places from where they are in DDR and ITG! And if you play either of them, you'll know that this is a giant problem. So I kept hitting the wrong button. Over and Over. Finally I started to get the hang of it, and I gotta say that the technology codemasters developed is pretty damn cool. It gets the step patterns almost 100% with the beat of the song, which is a pretty cool thing! Too bad I'm too busy trying to hit the right button, and I can't enjoy it! But putting that aside, the arrows are bright and easy to read, the only problem being that once and awhile it will create impossible step combos, but that's not a big problem, not like you can fail in this game, just at making it.

So after I my song was over, I decided to go to the main menu and see if I can switch the arrows around. I find out that I can't. Time to get out of that menu, What's that? Circle Button to go back, that's not a problem. OH WAIT! It is a problem, My ITG pad (which is a standard PS2 pad that's not third party) Doesn't have a O or a Triangle button! So I can't get out of the menu! Another good planning job of this game by Codemasters. So I have to unplug my Pad, and plug in my controller, hit O, then unplug it, and plug my pad back in. I find out that if I ever want to go back to a prior menu in Dance Factory, I'd have to use that method. There is a way to change it in the menu, but then you loose access of an important button, so that's no good. Back to the game, I test it on a Electronica/Dance Song, Fatboy Slim's "Right Here, Right Now". It does a good job of emulating it, seems to get a bit random because of the massive beat, but I definatly feel like I'm dancing to it. Next, I test a Rap song, Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone's "Celebrity Stalker". It did the best job at this song, most likely because it used the beat of the loud voice, and the background beat, but it was a slow song, so don't expect a challenge from rap. Next up is a faster Rock Song. I load up Bloc Party's "Helicopter". This song was the most enjoyable, I was hoping around that dance pad, playing my heart out, and I had a damn fun time doing it. I started to get used to the switched arrows at this point, but I think next time I play ITG or DDR, I will be totally F*cked. Next up, a Regae song, Matisyahu's "King without a crown". The performance was about the same as the JKSS rap song, with a little more beat and swank. To close the night, The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony". An amazingly great song, but not such an amazingly great song to dance to, it got a bit boring and repeatative

After testing nearly every style of music, I can tell you the hardest song you'll encounter would be equivalent to about a 8 footer in ITG or DDR. So I can't recommend this game to serious ITG or DDR players, because of the lack of arrow placement equality, and the low difficulty level. I also I can't recommend this game to a person new to dancing games, because if they learn on Dance Factory, they will have one hell of a hard time switching to other superior dance games. The only group of people I could see having fun with this game, is the party croud. This would be a fun game for people to play at parties....sexy parties. The Background visualzations are simple, and decent, but sometimes interfere with the arrow colors, making it hard to read, which is a big no-no on dance games. The game has a cool marathon feature, where it uploads a whole CD, and you have to dance to everysong. Too bad it takes 30 minutes to get it ready.

In the end, this game is mediocre. It should have had alot more time put into it, especially since codemasters puts out mabye 4 games a year. If they fix the annoying bugs, which make Dance Factory nearly unplayable, you'd have one hell of a good game. I just hope Konami or Roxor steal this Patent Pending technology, and fast! This would make one fun arcade game.

Graphics: 6/10

Mediocre Menu's, Mediocre Visualzations, but nice arrows!

Gameplay: 4/10

Cool technology, bad arrow placement and menu selection make the game nearly unplayable for a serious dance game player.

Sound: 10/10 or 1/10

If you have alot of CD's then it has the perfect soundtrack. If you don't, your stuck with crappy menu music, and tim mcgraw.

Lasting appeal: 7/10

Depends on your CD collection really.

Final Score: 5/10