To celebrate Dance Dance Revolution's ten year anniversary Konami releases an all-new Dancing Revolution for the Wii. Titled Hottest Party 2, you will get into the groove and sweat it out to this tried-and-true dancing rhythm game. It's time to raise the roof, grab a Wii-mote and get ready to dance, dance, dance.

Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 2 (DDR:HP2) continues the formula that made it a success by bringing the party over to Nintendo’s Wii. In the Hottest Party 2 package you will have included to get your groove on. If you have been initiated with the dance pad in the past then Hottest Party 2 isn’t so much a revolution, but its still one of the finest alternative music based games for the system. Forget Wii-fit, and just dance.

The dance pad connects into your Wii with ease via the GameCube controller inputs. The set-up is quick and painless and does a great job reading your stomping footprints. In the past DDR:HP2 has mainly been a game where you move your feet in a timely fashion, but now you will have to be more coordinated as the Wii version incorporates the use of your arms as well. This means you will need to grab a hold of your Wii-mote and the Nunchuck attachment before you get ready to get down.

The two controllers track your hands movement in the game and are used to active hand-marked wildcards. For those who are already talented dance masters who can clear AAA without breaking a sweat the use of the extra Wii controllers shouldn't be a problem. For the rest of us, who have a fun light hearted time with the game, traced hand movements are the last thing the dance doctor ordered. Joking aside, handling the Wii controllers in your hand isn’t that bad. It actually is a fun new element that feels more right then wrong once you get into the groove.

As you might have already guessed the core gameplay is more of the same. The deal is... dance to the flashing arrows and get down with the grooves. In Hottest Party 2, Bemani managed to sneak in a new mode called Dance N’ Defend. This mode is unlocked when you successful complete on songs in the normal mode. In Dance N’ Defend you go head-to-head against a friend or against the computer. I idea is to build up power-ups to unleash them on your opponent by blocking their step zone. It’s kept very simple, but it is a nice new addition in a game that is mainly filled with old standbys.

These old standbys come in the order of a Training mode that lacks a proper tutorial, a free-play mode, workout mode and a new Groove Arena mode along with a whole pile of unlockable environments and outfits to unlock. The Groove Arena mode which is the main grits and biscuits in DDR isn’t changed up much from before. Picking a character and dancing through the tracks is the main goal here, like the rest of DDR, it’s all about the dancing... Kevin Bacon would be proud. If you want to keep the music going, rhythm is a dancer and we wouldn't want to forget the Course Mode that will keep you dancing non-stop.

The song list in Hottest Party 2 is made up of mainly techno dance grooves that are covers of popular tracks, or original styled beats. It’s too bad more licensed tracks couldn’t be used in the game. It seems other music based games like Guitar Hero are taking the spotlight over DDR which has been around for a long time. A 90s, or 80s DDR version would be great, and what better platform than the Wii. Unfortunately, the track list is a little disappointing if you’re looking for Top 10 hits and the quality of the covers are probably the saddest renditions I’ve heard in a game, Rihanna would not be impressed. The most positive aspect to the soundtrack is that all the music keeps a high beat-per-minute groove that fits with the high endurance gameplay.

The presentation in Hottest Party 2 isn’t anything to brag about. If you have a large HD TV you might want to consider plugging DDR: HP2 into your old tube TV. Hottest Party 2 feels like it ported over the characters from the PS2 games without doing any extra work on them to take advantage of the extra hardware boost available in the Wii console. The only part of the Wii that Bemani uses from the Wii is the ability to import your Mii’s into the game. Although it only uses their faces pasting them overtop of the in game characters. The result is like a Frankenstein mash up that isn’t too pretty. It’s best to avoid this feature and stick with the characters that are already provided.

Hottest Party 2 is a party that has to stay in the house. The Wii doesn’t support online leader boards or online vs. matches making putting this version on the backburner against the Xbox 360. It’s too bad they didn’t work something out with the friend codes because the Dance N’ Defend mode could have been a lot of fun with friends. I guess you will just have to call them over for a round or two, if you want to have your own dance off. Konami is releasing a new Universal bundle later this month, so if you’re an Xbox 360 gamer I’d wait out for DDR: Universe 3 Bundle.

Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 2 isn’t the hottest party on the block. Gamers who own another console besides the Wii should consider one of the many other versions that have been released. My first choice would be the vastly improved Dance Dance Revolution: Universe for the Xbox 360. If you only own a Wii then this is the best option for your buck. Along with the game you also receive the Universal Dance Pad. The real downer that comes up in Hottest Party 2 is the unimpressive soundtrack with some ear-aching covers and the poorly dated visuals. DDR has a place on the Wii, sadly its not going hitting its mark just yet.

Gameplay: 6, Graphics: 5, Sound: 5, Innovation: 5, Mojo: 6.5  Final: 5.5 / 10