2B. JESSE'S ASSORTED DANCING TIPS

Master Dance Dance Revolution with Jesse's assorted tips! Learn about dance pads, stepping techniques, hydration, and avoiding the center for better performance.

Now you know how to play. Time to consider other important stuff. Like, uh... pads! Unfortunately, there aren't exactly a lot of choices for the 360 yet. Your best choice is the one that comes bundled with the game; do NOT get any Mad Catz crap or anything like that. Trust me. If you'd like something sturdier, sorry, you're out of luck for now unless you're up to the task of building yourself a pad... and considering my lacking technical knowledge, I can't really help you there. Sorry again.

Pay attention to the beat, especially in early stages where steps tend to follow the beat exclusively.

Try to step with the balls of your feet. Not your heels. It's a good habit to get into. Stepping with your heels can make your ankles hurt, something just about anyone who's played DDR has experienced. That was really my biggest problem getting into the game, but don't give up, you'll get used to it and learn to step in a more ankle-friendly way soon enough.

Stay hydrated! DDR is exercise, and like any other kind of exercise, that's important. Water is good. So is fruit juice. Really, any cool beverage will do... so, like, don't go drinking a pot of hot coffee on the dancefloor. That's just stupid.

Try to return your feet to the center as rarely as possible. It may seem perfectly acceptable in early songs, but as you get into the harder stuff, you'll face long streams and other rapid-fire steps that don't really give you the opportunity to return to the center. Best to get used to staying away from there now then, eh?

3. FRQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What is Dance Dance Revolution UNIVERSE?

A: Why, it's the first installment of Konami's popular Dance Dance Revolution series to come to the Xbox 360!

Q: How many songs are there in this mix?

A: 58 by default, and 15 more unlockable. Add 10 more if you're gonna download the "Megapack" from Xbox Live.

Q: Can you rip your own songs and play them on this game?

A: Everyone always asks that when a new DDR comes out. The answer is no, and I doubt they'll ever add that feature. And if they do, believe me, you'll hear all about it... so please, for the love of all that is holy, STOP ASKING!

Q: Why aren't there more "classic" DDR tunes in here? Why all this new crap?

A: I personally prefer getting a whole bunch of new tunes. Konami of Hawaii is trying to differentiate the Ultramix/Universe series from traditional DDR, so there's more new material and less traditional DDR stuff here. But they did finally revive HOT LIMIT for its first US appearance ever, so you can at least take comfort in that...

Q: Are there any ten-footers in the game?

A: Only one stepchart has been given an official ten-footer rating: Love Me Do (The Acolyte's Mix) Expert Doubles. However, the Oni charts aren't given ratings in this game for some reason, and four of those – Grandolin, Return of the Toe Jam, Tsugaru (OR-IF-IS Mix), and MAXIMIZER – would surely be rated a 10 if Oni charts were actually rated.

Q: Quest Mode sucks! Is there any other way to unlock songs?

A: Sadly, no. At least not that we know of. There might be a special unlock code, like some of the Ultramixes had, but if there is it hasn't been discovered yet.

Q: What the hell? I cleared all the Paramount challenges but PARANOIA EVOLUTION isn't unlocked!

A: Huge mistake in the achievements, my friend. That song is unlocked through the dreaded Quest Mode, just like all the rest.

Q: What's the deal with beatmania/pop'n music/GuitarFreaks/drummania?

A: These are some other popular Bemani series, and quite a few songs from those games have made the leap over to DDR. beatmania is another popular rhythm game series (popular in Japan, at least), classified as a "DJ simulator," in which you have a set of keys and a turntable to "scratch." Using those, you actually "play" a variety of songs... so if you're crap at the game, the songs sound like crap too. It's cool. pop'n music is sort of like a more cartoony version of beatmania, with big colored buttons instead of a keypad, that mainly features happy songs and tunes from popular anime. GuitarFreaks and drummania are games in which you play songs with a guitar and a set of drums, respectively. Several songs into the series, Konami got the bright idea to combine the two games, giving them identical songlists and allowing the machines to link up. And you thought Rock Band was such a totally original idea...

Q: (Insert song here) was in (insert game here) first, you moron!

A: That's not a question. Anyway, while I consider my knowledge of Bemani to be relatively thorough, and I checked and double-checked this stuff, I'm not perfect by any means. Correct me if you see something wrong... but please, be a little nicer than that! :D

Q: What's with those genres you have listed? My gerbil knows more about music than you!

A: Uh... good for him? I'll be honest, as much as I love music, I'm totally inept when it comes to categorizing it. I tried to narrow these down through research as much as I could, but there's no doubt in my mind that I screwed some of these up. Again, correct me if you know more than me, preferably without any unfavorable comparisons to your pet rodents...

If you've got a question for me concerning this game, go ahead and email me at [email protected]! Just, you know, make sure I haven't already answered it somewhere in this guide, please. Don't be lazy. I hate laziness.

4. LICENSED SONGS, PART ONE

The first bunch of licensed songs seem to be Universe's big-name licenses, featuring artists that might actually be known to the general public. Of course the general public is mostly idiots, sooo... yeah. One notable trend is that most of these songs are pretty damn slow; "Slam" is the only song that reaches a fairly brisk pace.