System: PSP
»» Purchase DJ Max Portable 2
I seldom buy original games. In fact, most of my games are 90% pirated/downloaded (10% original games
are mostly PSP games and some classic PC games). When Pentavision announce that they will release
the limited edition for DJ Max Portable 2, I was really pondering whether to get it or not. The price is not
cheap, at a hefty USD160, not including shipment. Do I really want to miss this out and just get the game
like what I did for DJ Max Portable 1, one of my favourite PSP game? Will the songs be as good as the
first one?
Finally, i did decided to get the limited edition. I manage to get the Metallic Silver Limited Edition after
waiting for it for one month, checking PlayAsia everyday for the release. So, does it really worth the
USD160 price tag? Read on.
*Review will be done in two-parts; 1st for the game and 2nd for the limited edition*
Game Review
The saying "If it ain't broken, don't fix it" couldn't be more true in this game. Pentavision has carry forward
everything from DJ Max Portable and add some minor improvements here and there. Graphically, you won't
notice much difference between the first one and this game. However, take a closer look and you will
notice that some works have been done on the graphics. You will notice some nice animations whenever the
game load a new song to play. The music videos are done nicely too. They are done more like music videos
now, not some images adding up together to resemble a music video in the 1st one.
The controls are still a nuisance, no thanks to PSP's own restriction. it is still a pain whenever you need to
use the analog stick and it always cause me not to get perfect on the songs. But somehow, with practise,
I managed to get used to it but trying to press down+circle then immediately rotate the analog stick is
a challenge. Music-wise, i found that I like the songs in DJ Max Portable 2 more (thankfully!). Some people
complained that there are too many English songs in this game, but I am ok with it. At least the English
pronouncation in this game is much much better compare to the first one ("Ralk ol dye" instead of "Rock
or Die"!) As usual, the sound is top notch and best played with a Sony earphone. Pentavision also improved
on the sound output by turning up the volume when you played using the PSP speaker. In the first game,
you can barely hear the songs when using the speakers.
Gameplay basically remain the same. You are still required to hit the correct buttons whenever the note
reach the bottom to get a tune that will synch with the music played. THose that are familiar with games
like Beatmania, EX2DJ, O2Jam will feel at home with this game. But that doesn't mean you can master
game easily. The difficulty of the game is still high in this game and you will need to practise, practise
and practise to master the game. The usual game modes from the 1st game are still here. 4 Buttons mode,
6 buttons mode, 8 buttons mode and freestyle play are all here. New addition is the Fever mode and
the Mission mode. Whenever you hit a correct button during gaming, a bar will slowly fill up. When the bar
is full, you will get the chance to activate the Fever mode where all your combos will be multiplied!
You can reach 2X, 3X, 4X and the max 5X multiply and all your combos will multiply, giving you a higher
score and higher combo rating. It really helps in unlocking some of the unlocked secrets (one unlockable
need you to get 99999 combo rating in Freestyle mode. Good luck on that one). Misson mode is a mode
where you must achieve certain criteria in order to pass the mission. it can range from getting 2 fevers
for every songs, or playing with an upside down screen and so on. Challenging and fun. The unlockable
system was refined and you will have to meet certain criterias to unlocked songs, notes, gears, discs and
so on. Good improvement here. And also, you can now save the unlocked images to the Memory Stick
and use it as your PSP wallpaper. Yay! as the pictures are really beautiful for some.
Like the first one, you still get the O.S.T mode where you can listen to the songs and the MV mode
where you can view the music videos for the songs in the game. Several new modes have been added
here too. You get a Network mode where you get to battle it out with your friends. I have not tried this
mode out so i can't comment much. The other mode is the Link DIsc mode where it allows you to
play the Dj Max portable 1 game with the Fever mode available. The only downside here is you don't get
to watch the music videos when playing the Link Disc mode.
Oh, and another plus of this game is you can change the language to Japanese, Korean or English!
Very import friendly.
Overall:
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 10/10
Control: 6/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10
THis is what a game sequel should be; keep all the good points intact and add additional features to
make it a better game than its predecessor. The ability to play it in English didn't hurt either.
ANother game that you shouldn't play on ISO.
Metallic Silver Limited Edition Review
THis is how the box look like. Silver in colour, quite beautiful and heavy. The lid has some magnetic coin
on it that help you keep the lid close.
opening up the box and you will find a thin sheets of paper covering the items inside
\This is how it looks with all the items still inside. you can see the audio cds, the game itself and the jigsaw
puzzle.
A view of all the items together
Close shots of the game box. you can notice the titties on the girl
A shot of the audio cds which was called the DJ Max Portable 2 Audio Trinity.
You will get 3 dics inside; Black, White and Red.
You will also get a lyric book attached on the box. Frankly, I would prefer it if they let
us take out the lyric book instead of gluing it to the box. You can also see photos of the
music composer. Ruby Tuesday is a 50s couple!!!
This is the jigsaw puzzle and a poster of the jigsaw puzzle. In actual, i prefer the Midnight
Black version where the puzzle look much nicer and not so cartoonish, but I won't complain.
THe postcards (i accidentally delete my shots so I take the sample from PlayAsia).
I don't know what to do with these except gawking at the photos (which can be done in one minute)
The visual book, where you get to see Pentavision's artists works.
Consist of high quality images and drawing. Great collection.
And finally to complete your geekiness,
An NB Ranger Mask!!! muahahahaha, all couples, fear me!
Conclusion:
So, is it a good buy? Well, after much consideration, I would say that the purchase was a little
too expensive. I absolutely love the Audio Trinity and the game (and the mask!), but it is still
not worth the price of USD160. If you can get the songs and the game, that should be more
than enough. Still, I would treasure this Limited Edition and keep it with my other original
classic PC games
»» Purchase DJ Max Portable 2!
Let me know what you were thinking.
