Just got an Xbox ... Ultramixes?

0x15e · 05-31-2007, 10:30 AM

So I just scored an old Xbox (yeah, a little late to the party) with the intent of picking up the DDR Ultramix games, which seem to be pretty readily available and cheap. I hadn't even realized until I started reading that they had downloadable song packs and Live support. Talk about outclassing the PS2 versions ...

Is there anything I should know about these before buying? Like is one particularly better than the rest or what (or is there one I should completely skip)? Are the Live support and song packs still available (or did they can it like with Extreme 2 for PS2)?

I searched a bit and couldn't come up with info like that already in the forum (did find the fangay thread, though ... hmmm). If I missed it and someone just wants to link me, that would be great.

Edit: I did just find this thread, which is pretty helpful. I may skip UM1 and 2.

RADIORAMA · 05-31-2007, 01:02 PM

Song packs can be confusing regarding compatibility. If you bought an Ultramix 1 song pack on Ultramix 4, I don't think you will be able to use that song pack on the Ultramix 1 game. If you plan on getting all 4 games, I suggest buying the song packs specifically made for that game. They are very expensive though, I don't know how many song packs are there now but buying all will cost you upwards of 75 bucks.

They don't have the best of framerate. Kind of terrible of them considering the games are on the superior Xbox hardware. Part 4 is just one laggy mess. For some strange reason the menus are extremely choppy to navigate through.

The songs are, esoteric to say the least from parts 2 and up. Yes there are your typical licensed pop, the old Konami Original standbys, and the Dancemania thrown in. But it's those lesser known licensed songs from unknown labels and hired Konami Originals that decisively could make or break your Ultramix experience.

The Ultramixes aren't perfect, they do give the player an entirely new vision on how a DDR game can be. Unfortunately, some rather sloppy decisions always get in the way for them.

Ashura96 · 05-31-2007, 01:31 PM

Just get Ultramix 3.

But get them all if you can :P

XohshitzTonysBackX · 05-31-2007, 05:32 PM

Edit : I thought you had to buy SP in order for them to work on other ultramixes?

I was wondering the same if you can still download SP even Konami has released the xbox360 ver?

Reenee · 05-31-2007, 05:44 PM

During a "release" period of an Ultramix game, there were songpacks to be associated with it up until there were none. Then you'd wait for the next game for the next batch to show up.

Ultramix 1 has SPs 1 through 6, 2 had 7-12, 3 had...I forget.

For those series, they are only compatible with any previous ones released and those released in the span of the game's release. UM2 is compatible with 1-12 but if you bought 1 through 6 on UM2, they were unavailable on UM1. No matter what, though, any SPs bought in an earlier game work in a later one.

Avoid UM1 and SP6 like the plague though.

「dj.TK」 · 06-01-2007, 12:24 AM

Ultramixes are awesome. 2 & 4 in particular.

0x15e · 06-01-2007, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reenee

For those series, they are only compatible with any previous ones released and those released in the span of the game's release. UM2 is compatible with 1-12 but if you bought 1 through 6 on UM2, they were unavailable on UM1. No matter what, though, any SPs bought in an earlier game work in a later one.

Cool, thanks a lot. That's good information ... should be in a FAQ somewhere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reenee

Avoid UM1 and SP6 like the plague though.

I'll keep that in mind. I don't think UM1 had anything on it I was particularly interested in anyway, so that'll be fine with me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RADIORAMA

Part 4 is just one laggy mess.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ Taka

Ultramixes are awesome. 2 & 4 in particular.

Hmm ...

Well I figure 4 will probably be the last one I buy since it's still pretty pricey ($40, yeah, I'm a cheapskate). I think I'll go for 3, then 2, then 4, and pick up song packs as I think I want them. I probably will skip 1 because of the frameskip problem I saw mentioned somewhere (that's what keeps me from playing Konamix very often ... it just throws me off too much since I'm used to the 60fps PS2 versions).

Thanks for all the info, it's exactly what I was looking for.

Månåtor v0.25 · 06-01-2007, 10:37 AM

Yeah, 2 and 4 are simply the best ones out there.
3 and 1 are the ones I would say to avoid...

Reenee · 06-01-2007, 10:52 AM

Ultramix 4 is fine but the menus for some reason acted really buggy. It's the only 60 FPS game.

3 is a step down in difficulty. Its songpacks make up for that.

0x15e · 06-01-2007, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reenee

Ultramix 4 is fine but the menus for some reason acted really buggy. It's the only 60 FPS game.

3 is a step down in difficulty. Its songpacks make up for that.

Ah, ok, that clears it up about 4 then. I can deal with buggy menus. As for difficulty, I'm still relatively inexperienced so slightly easier stuff isn't really a problem.

「dj.TK」 · 06-02-2007, 12:13 AM

4 is possibly the best home release mix ever (after Jap EX).

Classic Party triathlon, Forever young, Free (liberation mix), GO! (mahalo mix), Insaner (L.E.D's punishment remix) etc. I wish these could make the likes of SN2

UM2 has L.I.D, Ride on the light and MAX300SMMM, so it already wins.

Månåtor v0.25 · 06-02-2007, 11:51 AM

I love UM4 primarily for Dead Man's Party

ΩOMEGAΩ · 06-02-2007, 01:30 PM

I really enjoyed 2, I have all but one. They are good, but the song packs are $5.00 a pot, and include only 5 songs, I have all of them up to three. I say 2 though,I enjoyed that one so much, I broke 2 dance pads before I got three.