Because of this game I finally get to express my love of the dance without having to look like a dork in public. This is a really fun game! I have the home version on my PS 2 and a little dance pad that cost about 20 bucks. I get to combine my love of video games with some exercise.
DOes anyone else love this game? Are the expensive 100 dollar dance pads worth the price?
Marc
IMHO The cheap pads work fine. We’ve already blasted thru one pad in 12 months, but we’re only out 25 bucks per pad.
We had a friend who found a hard pad on ebay for a hundred or so…when he got it, it broke quickly. When we were looking, the hard pad was out of print, if that’s still true, you’d be getting an old and probably well used pad.
Don’t get the hard pads. They hurt my feet, make tons of noise, and the buttons get stuck. The pads I like the most are the ones that say “Stay cool” in the middle and have a non-stick surface so you don’t have to wear socks. They’re about 20-25 dollars each instead of 75-100 dollars each.
I like the cheap soft pads just fine (mine are $23 BNS ultras I ordered online), but not as they’re sold. If you want a good responsive, non-slip pad, try what I did: Use clear packing (masking?) tape to tape the edge of the pad to a 3’x3’ piece of plywood (I used medium-density fiberboard); be careful not to tape down a button! Once the pad is secure, cover it in thick plastic like the stuff used on carpet runners on stairs. It’s not wide enough, so you’ll probably need two overlapping strips. Staple the plastic to the bottom of the board with 3/8’’ or larger staples and cover the overlap with clear tape. If you’ve done it correctly, you should now have a stable and very responsive dance pad. It costs a little more than using the pads straight out of the box, but you’ll dramatically improve the pad’s lifespan (especially on maniac/heavy mode) and you’ll see a definite improvement in your score. I haven’t played on any of the special hard pads, but I can’t imagine that the plastic pads have any advantage over mine except that you can play on them in shoes.
Catalyst, I have a friend who did exactly what you described with his soft DDR pads. They worked wonderfully for a while, but then the wiring got messed up somehow and we would have to hit different areas of the pads to get the directions we wanted. Eventually, they quit working altogether. I haven’t had any problems with mine though.
It’s highly likely that you have a much better idea of what you were doing than my friend though 
I’ve never PLAYED the game, but I found out about some of my favorite bands and singers through it. Bambee, Jenny ROM, Smile.DK, Judy Crystal. Maybe they’ll release it for Gamecube someday.
I’m not sick of DDR yet but I am interested in other good dance games. I wouldn’t mind a dance game with songs I’m actually familiar with. I’m not familiar with anything resembling techno but it has a good beat and I can dance to it so I won’t complain. They have a Jungle Book dance game for 20 bucks that I might pick up.
Marc
I’ve tried this one, and it really isn’t all that good in comparison to most. If you’re looking for a Disney themed one, I do believe they have a more “general” dance game with better music (often remixes of classic Disney stuff), and more interesting moves. I’m sorry, the name doesn’t come to mind (all I know is that I played it a few times at Disneyland).
Unless your friend put a staple through the pad itself, I can’t see any way that this particular “modification” could damage the pad; the only thing that you actually do to the pad is tape it down. I’ve used some pads that were damaged in the way that you described, though. Was it a low quality pad? Mad Catz pads in particular have a reputation for breaking quickly even in good conditions.
Are you looking for other DDR mixes or for entirely different games? If you just want a new mix, friends that have played the Disney Mix seem to like it. If you want another game entirely, Pump it Up is great. The different button configuration takes some getting used to, but in some ways the movements seems more natural (as natural as rapid stepping can get, anyway). And if you haven’t already tried it, there’s always double mode if you have a second pad or don’t mind getting another one.
Hm. My friend also did pretty much what Catalyst discribed, and the pad broke after about…15 months or so? But it was having problems quite awhile before that. So’s mine, and I’ve only had it since Christmas… although it is a Mad Catz pad, and it doesn’t look like those are the best quality. If mine breaks anytime soon, what should I pick up as a replacement? Any good companys or ones I should avoid?
Oh, and as far as non-slippage goes, some anti-stick stuff under the pad works somewhat, though it can still get pretty out of whack on anything worse than about Dynamite Rave Trick. But it’s a pretty cheap solution, anyway.
I haven’t been playing much DDR lately, due to my ankle hurting something fierce for no reason. And I just borrowed 4th Mix from a friend…even if it doesn’t want to play all the music on my poor old PSX. DDR without the music is pretty lame, as I think we can all agree. Ah well, back to Konamix.
They weren’t Mad Catz pads. They’re the other brand sold at GameStop places; I believe Naki is the brand. I don’t know what they did to mess up the dance pads so much, but I haven’t had any problems with mine.