DanceDanceRevolution Mobius

Although virtual guitars and drums seem to have taken over from fast feet on a dance mat, the DanceDanceRevolution franchise will always be fondly remembered as one of the pioneers of the music/rhythm genre.

Of course, on the mobile it really doesn't matter whether you're supposed to be thrashing a guitar or tap dancing on a floor-mounted controller - it all boils down to quick fingers on a keypad.

Therefore, this latest version of DanceDanceRevolution finds itself going toe to toe with the Guitar Heroes and Rock Bands that are currently dominating the gaming charts, and those are some mighty opponents to go up against.

In order to make DanceDanceRevolution Mobius stand out in this increasingly busy crowd of music/rhythm games, Konami really needed to inject something special into the franchise’s staid formula. Unfortunately, it seems to be banking on the popular brand name to sell the game, rather than introducing any dynamic new twists to the gameplay.

That said, DanceDanceRevolution Mobius is visually very appealing. Lashings of digital colour have been thrown about the place, with some top notch animations and effects lighting up the screen as you chase the buttons around the keypad.

You're given a choice between several special dance moves, which you can use to clear a line of commands, for instance, or to add a brief multiplier to your score, but that's about the only tweak to the usual gameplay formula. The up, down, left and right arrows float their way up the screen for you to mimic on the keypad at just the right moment - a tried and tested system that undeniably works, but offers nothing new.

Which brings us to the music. MIDI files are notoriously harsh on the ear, and the tracks featured in DanceDanceRevolution Mobius do nothing to contest that opinion. They bleep, hiss and buzz like a scientific calculator with flat batteries, though to be fair the crude drumbeat is at least well timed with the dance moves.

Overall we're presented with a very recognisable and basically functional version of the old DDR staple, with no surprises and absolutely no risks.

DanceDanceRevolution Mobius

A functional yet bland rehash all the same old Dance Dance Revolution franchise, offering acceptable, if terminally anaemic, music/rhythm gameplay that will soon be lost in the white noise of its own unmelodious MIDI music
Score
Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.