With the runaway success of Dance Dance Revolution and Karaoke Revolution, Konami is firmly established as the North American king of music / rhythm games. It's not showing any signs of abdicating, either, judging from the impressive line-up of new music titles that it debuted at its E3 press event.
First up is Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2, the latest DDR for PlayStation 2. DDRE2 promises to deliver over 100 minutes of exciting dance music, not the least of which will likely be several from old-school game music legend Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage, Revenge of Shinobi, etc.). Other mentionables include "Genie in a Bottle" and "Oops!... I Did It Again." Eyetoy support is back in, as well as a new online mode which'll let you compete online with other players to take part in Internet rankings.
The Xbox is also getting another DDR game, in the form of Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3. DDRU3's best claim to fame is the single largest music collection of any DDR game, with over 65 tracks, some of them Xbox-exclusive remixes. In addition, 36 songs will be available for download from Xbox Live, as well as the downloads from the two previous Ultramix games. All told, that's a heck of a lot of stuff to get your feet tapping. Other features include a quest mode -- travel city to city to build up the ultimate dance team -- and a jukebox mode which simply plays the chosen music.
If you'd rather indulge in singing than dancing, then the new Karaoke Revolution Party would be a good bet. The 50-strong songlist includes everything from "Sweet Caroline" and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" to "Crazy in Love" and "I Don't Wanna Be." A new reward and unlock system will keep the addiction fresh, and EyeToy support (PS2) and Xbox Live downloadables (Xbox) will further enhance the experience. There's even a new "sing & dance" mode in which you can break out the DDR dance mats while singing your lungs out. Quite the workout!
Last but not least is Beatmania, which'll be the first U.S. release of the Konami DJ simulation that's been rocking Japan for years. Beatmania challenges you to perform tracks by hitting buttons and scratching a record via the game's special controller. There'll be more than 50 tracks in all, as well as two-player modes both competitive and cooperative. If everything works out, Beatmania should conquer North America just as it did Japan. In fact, whichever system you groove to, Konami's got you covered.
