Vintage Games

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DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION (1998): THE PLAYER BECOMES THE STAR

At first glance, Dance Dance Revolution (Konami, 1998;¹ Arcade; other platforms and games in the series later), or DDR,² is a glorified game of “Simon Says.”³ After all, to play DDR, the gamer simply steps on one of four arrows positioned up, down, left, and right on a platform, trying to match a corresponding scrolling arrow when it reaches a specific point at the top of the screen (when the game “says”). If the player successfully steps on the right arrow at the right time, the player's score and status increases; if not, the player's status decreases (the game didn't “say”). This is of course set to any one of a number of original and licensed dance songs with a wacky disembodied ...