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Improved tweaks from the first SuperNOVA and an impressive track list makes this a worthy addition for DDR fans.

User Rating: 8 | Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 PS2

By 2deluxe | Review Date: October 11, 2007

So, another year another DDR game. It is a yearly event like taxes and dreaded Christmas, but I enjoy the yearly DDR games simply because I have been following the series since 1998. What's new for DDR SuperNOVA 2? Well, nothing, and that's what I like. A safe release where you know the quality of what you'll get for your forty or sixty bucks. As noted in my tag line, Konami did improve some features over last year's SuperNOVA. These improvements include the return of Information Mode which was surprisingly missing last year. Now random, often comical notes about the game's songs are written on the screen. I found myself knowing more about the songs while in some cases I went "oh! didn't know that." Another improvement is the fixed Groove Radar where CHAOS (the segment of the bar that determines the amount of 12th notes or above) has been fixed. This year's Master Mode called Hyper Master Mode is a stark improvement over Extreme 2's Dance Master Mode and SuperNOVA's Stellar Master Mode. Ever since Extreme 2, Konami has felt obligated that the DDR games should have some sort of stupid career mode where you start of doing painfully easy songs then gradually make your way up and getting flustered by stupidly hard missions because of some stupid handicap that the game throws at you. Yes that kind of progression is still here but HMM is much faster. How the mode works is that you are given 4-8 missions per area and at the right most corner is a boss song. You can easily just go for the boss songs and move on to the next area. Also, if a mission is too hard, you can buy custom mods for your character to make things easier (for example, there is a mod that removes an entire arrow). There are also mods that make it harder for you, playing with these mods on gives you more dance points to spend in the shop. HMM asks the player to pass missions of a new song in order to unlock that song in the shop so you can only go for the hidden songs here and pass them. Though be warned that there are hidden areas with more hidden songs. Yes standard Game Mode play time will unlock more music.

Speaking of music, SuperNOVA 2's track selection is very good. License-wise, if Konami continues their detachment from Dancemania, the quality of licenses here is the best way to go. SuperNOVA 2 has an eclectic variety of licensed music that range from your standard tracks from artists such as Bobby Brown with his 1988 classic "Every Little Step", Justin Timberlake's 2003 hit "Rock Your Body", one of the few decent Britney Spears tracks "And Then We Kiss", and High School Musical and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody star Ashley Tisdale's latest single "He Said, She Said". You also have modern dance hits by Ian Van Dahl with "I'm just a girl", Cascada's powerful "Can't stop the rain", Paul Oakenfold and Britany "Luane Platter from King of the Hill" Murphy's dance single "Faster Kill Pussycat", two selections from British group Goldfrapp including their hit single "Strict Machine," and more. Old school fans will find themselves dancing to Cheryl Lynn's disco anthem "Got To Be Real," A-ha's timeless classic "Take on Me," and EMF's one hit wonder "Unbelievable." Konami Originals still rule the day with over 50 tracks. If you missed SuperNOVA AC songs such as HANMARAN -Flowers-, Morning Glory, Konoko no nanatsu no oiwaini, SEDUCTION (Vocal Remix), La Bamba (LH MUSIC CREATION), Under the Sky, and more, they are included here. The 5 once online only songs from last year are now here (they had to be repeated as there is no way you can unlock them offline and they were missing their DOUBLE steps). SuperNOVA 2 tracks such as Vem brincar, Freeway Shuffle, STARS *** (HAL EDIT) (DDR VER.), TRIP MACHINE PheoniX, PARANOiA Hades, Unreal, dream of love, volcano, and more are all here for your enjoyment. Songs from older games such as KISS KISS KISS, HYPER EUROBEAT, OUTER LIMITS, BALLAD FOR YOU, BAILA! BAILA!, e-motion, rainbow flyer, and more are accounted for as well.

Graphically SuperNOVA 2 is more of the same from last year. None of the stages are new and you get a few new dancers doing the same choreography that was used from the first Ultramix. This is the worst part of the game and is just downright lazy. You do have new effects like portraits of the character flashing on screen once in a while and the song name is displayed on screen has once again appeared in a DDR game which has been missing since 3rd Mix.

SuperNOVA 2 is a good time fun despite being more of the same. Don't let the generic, moron fanboys who say that this game sucks because a few nerd core songs are missing (which were never promised) fool you. This is a nice addition to the series that will keep you busy for a while.

Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2

Improved tweaks from the first SuperNOVA and an impressive track list makes this a worthy addition for DDR fans.

As a noob DDRer, I thought this game was awesome!

Not bad, not good. Sometimes forgettable.