Dance Dance Revolution A - European Version Review

EDIT June 26th 2018: I’m aware of a few inaccuracies, I’ll fix them eventually!

Hello everyone, my town got Dance Dance Revolution A recently so I thought as a fan of the Dance Dance Revolution series, I would write a review of the game and demonstrate how it improves upon previous releases.

First of all, I would like to note that I am not an expert at Dance Dance Revolution so this post may have many inaccuracies. I can play songs up to a 12 on the DDR X rating scale. I'd like to also note that not all the pictures of gameplay are me playing, some are of my friends.

Let's get into the review now...

For the few who aren't aware yet, Dance Dance Revolution A is the 15th official installment in the DDR series, by Konami's music game division Bemani.

While it was released to Japan and America in 2016, Europe has only just got the game this year. The wait was worth it, as the game is a major improvement on the last European release, Dance Dance Revolution X2, in many ways. 

I first played Dance Dance Revolution A while on holiday in America for the first time back in 2017, and I loved the game. It was great and in fact one of the highlights of my time there! Now, one of my local arcades has been one of the first in the UK to get it, and of course I have been playing it there almost every week since.

The Machine

For a start, the sync is perfect on the new white dedicated cabinets, an issue that plagued the western releases of DDR X and X2 was the abysmal syncing problems due to untested (or poorly tested) LCD displays.

The pads were also a major issue in the western releases of DDR X and X2. DDR X had incredibly cheap pads that were made out of wood and a single sheet of metal (instead of the 8 squares of metal design used in previous DDR games). DDR X2 improved on the pad issues a bit but they were still pretty bad for a dance game. 

DDR A, thankfully, improves on the pad design drastically by reverting to the original design for them. The X2 in Playland was always getting stuck panels because of the cheap design. and every other week there would be some kind of new issue with the pads.

The overall aesthetic of the machine is also much nicer than the previous European release, opting for a white colour palette instead of a black one, I personally prefer the Japanese X dedicated machine's aesthetic but the white cabinets look much better than the EU X2 dedicated machines, I'll miss the side-art from X/X2 though.

(Side-art from a dedicated X machine)

The Gameplay

The gameplay is near enough unchanged from previous instalments of the series, step on the arrows in time with the rhythm is what DDR has always been about! There have been some minor changes introduced in DDR A, like goods no longer break combo, and the scoring system has been changed. 

Now, + and - ranks have been introduced, and can be applied to any rank, although AAA is unaffected by this change and it is impossible to get a D- or an E-. The former was introduced in DDR 2013 for Asian territories but it is still a welcomed change as getting 1 good in a song and breaking your combo always annoyed me.

The video above demonstrates me getting a good and unbroken combo, I still did badly in the song though.

(This picture is from a Japanese cabinet)

The biggest change in DDR A has the be the overhaul the user interface got. The UI is completely new in the game, making it easier to navigate, more convenient and it shows scores you got on songs, but this feature works the best on online machines and I'll be touching on that later. 

The Songlist

The new song list in DDR A is one of the best song lists DDR has had since DDR Extreme! As we missed out on DDR X3-2014 outside of Asia, we get to experience 250+ brand new songs, like Nagisa no koakuma lovely~radio, Monkey Business, 打打打打打打打打打打 (dadadadadada), and Mermaid Girl, which is my personal favourite song in DDR X3, and so much more! 

The licenses in this game are some of the best as well, DDR X2 had amazing American licenses but DDR A tops them in every single way possible! Break Free, Shut Up And Dance, and Happy are just some of the pop songs that are great in this game. The Japanese songs are obviously better, but it's nice that they included this great selection of American licenses to attract new people towards the game.

The Lack of E-Amusement

Since this is the European release of Dance Dance Revolution A we can't get E-Amusement due to a European policy regarding online data. This means that we won't be able to save our scores, we can't access most of the modifier menu, we can't unlock new songs and we can't access extra stage or encore extra stage. 

If Konami were to abide by this policy and alter whatever needs to be altered, we would have no reason not to have E-Amusement. And also, games like Pump it Up PRIME 2 have had no issue connecting to online services over here, so I wonder if they are being fully honest about the E-Amusement situation, as this is Konami we are talking about here!

I understand that not every arcade will want to opt in for E-Amusement but I am pretty sure there are a few that would gladly buy the machine and E-Amusement, Konami don't realise how much potential revenue they are missing out on...

Minor complaints

As the company who manufactured these cabinets tried to cut costs without affecting the core experience, some cutbacks were made to the machine, most notably the lack of panel lighting, which was the only way I could tell if a panel was getting stuck without making someone go into the operator menu. 

The glass used for the pads seems to also be less durable, after a week of use the glass became incredibly scuffed up and one panel even has a crack on it, but it's barely noticeable. It may just be me being nitpicky but the old EuroMIX, which they had since 2000's panels looked brand new.

In Summary

Despite it's flaws, DDR A is the best DDR game I've ever played! The pads are a major improvement over the previous 2 European releases, the new song list is a massive step up from song lists from previous games, and the UI is very convenient to use, but you may need to get used to it like I did. The lack of E-Amuse and a few other features is a letdown, but this is definitely a step-up from X and X2.

And... As I was finishing this post, I noticed that Electrocoin, the UK distributor of DDR A, added mention of E-Amusement back to the the game's listing on their website!

Maybe this is a mistake, or maybe Konami abided by the European policy! I have a feeling it's the former but I'll tweet an update if anything happens, they may even remove mention of it from the page by the time this is posted or shortly after this is posted.

Anyways, thank you for reading my review of Dance Dance Revolution A. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Special thanks to Ted for helping to proofread and make adjustments to this post!

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Eastbourne Pier

Hello everyone. On Sunday, I went to Eastbourne, on a particularly nice and sunny Bank Holiday weekend.

Arcade-wise, Eastbourne is pretty lacklustre compared to nearby Hastings. Not counting the David Lloyd Centre, which more of a bowling alley and laser tag venue than it is an arcade.

First, some history on the place. Eastbourne Pier once had an extremely good and well-maintained arcade, with games like Dancing Stage Fusion, but on July 30th, 2014 a fire broke out in the arcade, and sadly everything was destroyed. This left Eastbourne with no arcades whatsoever, which was obviously a problem as it's a seaside town.

Only the arcade ended up being damaged, so soon afterwards 4 existing rooms on the pier were repurposed for arcade games. This usually would mean more new games and better-maintained equipment, but sadly only the last part would apply to the new arcades on the pier.

The Arcades

During my visit to Eastbourne Pier, I learned what the true definition of a bad modern arcade was. The pier amusements were separated into 4 rooms to themselves. The first 3 only include coin pushers, claw machines and a little bit of redemption.

Here are some pictures of the first few rooms (they are all pretty much the same).

The 4th building actually did have some redemption and one game, but again it was disappointing. Need for Speed Carbon was the sole video game of the entire pier, which is pretty weak. Like the Fast & Furious series, this is one arcade racer that is incredibly bland and boring compared to others, like the Outrun series or Mario Kart Arcade. 

Most disappointing however was the absence of any dance or rhythm games. I do realise that some of these games don't appeal to tourists or casual gamers, but even then pretty much every UK arcade still has at least a Guitar Hero or Dancing Stage Euromix, and it felt really underwhelming not seeing one here.

Why this is a perfect example of a bad modern arcade

This arcade literally only consists of claw machines and coin pushers. There's the smallest amount of redemption and only 1 real game! I can't stress this enough but if you want your arcade to be good and make a decent amount of profit you have got to have games that people want to play. Literally, almost no one was in the arcades on the pier on that day even though it was a sunny day and everyone was out! 

It's been like this on previous visits there as well. The only game in the arcade had a small queue of people waiting for a go and it's not even a good game. This to me says that people aren't that interested in the coin pushers or claw machines; if they got more games more money would be made and customers would be happier. It's pretty sad how this is Eastbourne's only proper arcade.

The future of the pier

In March the owner of the pier got permission to construct new buildings where the old arcade originally was before the fire. It's not for certain, but could mean that a new arcade is coming and they will have more games! Hopefully, if plans go through they will get a real arcade and improvements will be made. If this does happen, I will make another write-up for Eastbourne to update you all on the situation.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Special thanks to Ted, who helped out with editing pictures and proofreading the post.

Sam

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This post was actually planned to be published before the Hastings one, but then Hastings got DDR A so I decided to prioritise that.

Hastings Arcades

Hi everyone, welcome to my first arcade write-up. As I live in Hastings, I thought it'd be best to start with the arcades I have at home!

If you know history well, you will be aware of my town's historical importance with the Battle Of Hastings. Besides that, there really isn't much else noteworthy about this place. It's your usual British seaside town if we're being honest.

But, of course, any UK seaside town should have arcades- and Hastings doesn't disappoint, with 3 arcades on the beach overall, and all but one aren't that bad. They have a good variety of games and are usually well maintained. First, we'll talk about Playland (the arcade I visit the most).

Playland

This arcade has a lot of redemption, but between the claw machines and coin pushers are a few gaming gems.

Games

Dance Dance Revolution A

Without a doubt, the best game in the entirety of Hastings. At the time of writing, this is one of only a few DDR A machines in the UK.

It is probably the best machine I've ever played on! It's incredibly loud and has no faults. The menu timer was set to 30 seconds but they let me change it to 90. You can actually hear this machine from the other side of the road. I hope it stays this loud!

Dance Dance Revolution X2

While this X2 was the best machine in Playland before, it has been declining in condition, and with the arrival of DDR A you shouldn't even bother. Before, it's only real problems were the speed mod glitch and the torn decals from being outside the arcade for a short period of time, but after being relocated, the sound was turned off.

Sadly, it has also replaced an old Euromix- to be fair, the machine wasn't perfect and had seen better days, but it's still a shame nonetheless. Playland were considering upgrading it to a Supernova or Euromix 2 before, and I would've preferred this than an even worse condition X2 staying.

Time Crisis 4

Sadly, this Time Crisis 4 looks to be on it's way out. Recently, the left side has been crashing. The right side is still working, but the plastic gun has been cracked at some point. I wouldn't recommend playing this if you want to get good at the game at all, but hopefully, it will be fixed. I would try and ask them to get Time Crisis 5 but they just got DDR A.

The House Of The Dead 4

This game was near unplayable last time I played, and to be honest, I don't want to risk losing a pound again. The player 1 gun has a very bad trigger, I haven't tried the other side so maybe that'll be better, but I would avoid this anyway. Don't get me wrong, the House Of The Dead games are good, it's just that I don't want to waste my money on a machine that potentially has several problems.

After Burner Climax

I haven't actually played this but I vaguely know what the game is. I keep intending to play but I always forget or put it off until later. My brother played the machine once and said it worked well though.

Other games at Playland:

Sega Rally 3

Transformers: Human Alliance

There is also Big Buck Safari, Super Alpine Racer, and Jurassic Park Arcade, though I haven't got a picture of these. Overall, Playland should be the arcade of choice for anyone that wants to play modern games, especially with DDR A.

Old Town Amusements

Old Town Amusements has more games overall than Playland, but they are all fairly old (the newest being Sega's Let's Go Jungle from 2006).

Games

Dancing Stage EuroMIX

This machine is very strange. It has an unofficial marquee, a random pole sticking out the back (might be for the power lead), unofficial decals on the back (didn't get a picture) and a bad LCD conversion. The player 2 side is playable at best and the player 1 side has seen better days.

Daytona USA 2

My first time playing Daytona USA was on this machine and let me tell you something, I suck at it! But it's still a really fun game to play. I'm too tall for the machine so it wasn't a very enjoyable experience for me, later I found out the seats are adjustable but it was too late. I'm planning to go back and play this game another time! The machines are possibly not linked as multiplayer didn't work when I tried it.

Other games at Old Town Amusements:

Sega Rally Championship 2

Ghost Squad

Jurassic Park: The Lost World

House Of The Dead 4

Let's Go Jungle

I haven't played any of these, but they are pretty noteworthy. There is also Ford Racing Full Blown, F355 Challenge, and After Burner Climax, but these all have issues (and you can play Climax at Playland instead). Old Town Amusements definitely has a lot of older games, which will especially appeal to Sega fans and retro gamers, but a few of them could be in better condition.

Flamingo Arcade

Lastly, we have Flamingo Arcade. Not only does this place have fewer games than Old Town Amusements and Playland, the overall condition isn't the best too.

Games

Dance Dance Revolution X

This is, by far, the worst DDR machine I have ever come across. The pads are just terrible- it takes incredible force for anything to register, the sound is turned down way low, and the player 1 sensors have been removed. This is to be expected for a European X, but even then this is bad.

Sega Rally 3

I haven't played this yet, but while my friend has (and said it played fine), I am aware that Sega Rally 3 machines were similar to DDR X in that shoddy parts were used- so I'd be wary of playing this anyway.

Flamingo Arcade does also have Razing Storm and a Star Wars pinball table, both are in okay condition but they just aren't enough to warrant a visit to this place in my opinion. Not only that, but I've been accused of wanting free credits before, so it's just not worth it going here at all.

Overall

Besides Flamingo Arcade, the Hastings arcades are pretty good. Both Playland and Old Town Amusements are pretty good in variety and usually quality. If you are interested in older games I'd go to Old Town Amusements. If you are interested in newer games and a small amount of redemption I'd recommend Playland.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Apologies if the photos aren't the best, I've had little time to go to these places recently, but once I do get better pics I will update this. Special thanks to Ted, who helped out with editing some of the pictures and proofreading the post.

-Sam

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Welcome!

Hello, welcome to my blog about arcades (and possibly more)!

Sam's Arcade Blog will be about arcades I visit and Bemani! For now I am going to start off small and only go over arcades that are in my area, with a focus on DDR, but I will mention other games.

The first post I do will either be about the arcades in my home town, Hastings, and I also have arcade write-ups for Eastbourne, Brighton, and possibly London planned. Any other place I visit that has arcades will also receive a write up, and I may even review new arcade releases, like DDR A.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy what I've got coming up!

-Sam