In The Groove Console Reviews/Comments

[djfmf]

I feel we should just have a topic known for both comments and reviews on just the Console game itself, that way everyone knows where they can correctly post comments about the game.

I like ITG very much, ever since i first tried it out last year in San Diego i knew this game had potential. I've done pretty well with the game and was very excited when news of the PS2 release was on this way. Now that it's out for the console i really do regret they made it avaliable for all. While it's nice to know you can practice songs constantly it just doesn't have that same feel as the arcade. Also the negatives about the game heavily outweigh the positives. ITG is definately made for bar raping, while i do ok without the bar it hurt all of my scores horribly. i can honestly say that i score higher in the arcade than i do with my Cobalt Flux. load time totally sucks unless you have a HD loader but it's nice to know some people who have their game try to keep their spirits up. the censorship issue just depresses me, playing some of these censored songs made me lose all motive to play. the confirm button should always be the O button, why is it an X? practice mode is totally confusing compared to DDR, it's very very complicated and time consuming. the new C450... i'm not feeling it, i prefer having the C400 and c500 back. overall look of ITG console and screens is not very cool, i would have been happy with just the Step Mania ITG version instead or if they just made a StepMania ITG PS2 game. if i didn't mention any positives it's because i really couldn't find much other than having ITG avaliable for PS2. if Redoctane can make an updated PS2 version and reimburse us i would be happy, otherwise if you don't have a decent bar to hold on you will not have as much fun. once i buy the new cobalt flux MOD and build a bar for the cobalt flux i may just change my opinion about the game.

4/10

this section is just really made for comments or reviews that you have on the game so please no flaming or harrassing other peoples comments. also no ITG VS DDR should be allowed on this topic, just talk about the ITG PS2 game. -DJ FMF

[Edible Bondage Tape]

the return of magic dance is a nice touch and i can kinda of dig the songs (even if dissconnected is paranoia + phone modem noise) the arrows seem a little wonky (i didnt fiddle with any options and yet the arrows seem smaller at the bottom of the screan than on to and the targets seem small also makeing it look like ive gotten two mods turned on even when the game says i dont) the backgrounds are rather plane and while you think you dont look at backgrounds when you play danceing games its very noticible now

and the loading times suck period(.)

7/10
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[DDRpizza]

I just recieved ItG in the mail today. I agree with everything posted above, especially the FACT that ItG is made for bar raping. I have to constantly have a sturdy chair behind me just to survive the 9s. This is terrible for balance, as holding the bar for so long can make your body feel as though it doesn't need to balance itself anymore, and thus, after a long period of bar use, I almost fell of the damn pad when I attemped an 8 without the bar. Ugh. But... I can't deny that when done right, it is a fun game. Even if it has no soul lol

EnglishBastardizingTerror, you have to put the modifier "Overhead" on for the arrows to look normal. The game is default-set on "Hallway", in which the arrows look as if they are coming from a point set deep into the screen, thus they are smaller at the bottom of the screen and get larger up to the top. Oh, and another major change from DDR that can easily confuse people: you have to press O on the modifier you want for it to be selected, otherwise it will not show up in the song.

[rampage]

I posted my review the other day here: http://adam.theficus.com/archives/2005/06/in_the_groove_p.html

[Reenee]

This guy must really hate DDR: http://www.thejadedgamer.net/review_ps2_inthegroove.shtml

IGN gives it a C: http://ps2.ign.com/articles/624/624853p1.html?fromint=1

The IGN review is inconsistent. It mentions NOTHING about the...erm...chaos that is the difficulty. =p

[CHUCK BASS]

Coming from a main DDR player...

First thing I noticed when I popped the game in was the fact that you can SKIP the intro credits. + 1 on DDR. The warning's with the pad's look like that from Konamix, but who gives?

I browsed through the song list, and I noticed there is some really good music in there. Maybe I can actually find the CD's of these artists?

I chose Disconnected. Went to the options menu.

I notcied the wide varitey of Mod's and such. A 2.5x, something I've actually really needed in the past with DDR. The C450 mod's I don't use and I just put it on 1.5x overhead.

First thing I notcied when the playing screen popped up was the playbar at the top. Give's me an idea of how far I am through the song, which is a feature I really like about this game. I also like how the arrows are already there own version of Solo/Note. Something I really appreciate.

I chose another song, " Bend your Mind", to test out the Handpress feature. It is a really fun and challenging thing to do during a dancing game. It makes it alot of fun and makes you do a little freestyle. 3/4 arrows at once is something something I only thought was possible in Stepmania.

I played Battle Mode in the arcade with this game long before. But have since forgot about it. I decided to play it. This is a really great feature, that makes you know which arrow goes where, and it's really fun.

I really like the fact that there are no announcers or vibrant backgrounds to mess up my gameplay. It's something that didn't need to be incoorperated into the game. Same goes for the characters to. No annyoing difficulty menu to mess around with. It's all incoorperated into one single menu. Which is really convinent.

Overall, this game won me over entirley.

9 out of 10

[michelle9sd]

Well, I have had the game for two days now, so I haven't tried out everything, but here's what I like and dislike so far. I really like the fact that there is more trance/techno type of songs in the game. The length of the songs is also a plus. The step combinations are different and seem to be more balanced. The very worst part about the game so far is the loading time. I bought this game for fun, but primarily to get a good workout. I feel like I am waiting around way too much . Aside from that, if you fail (even on event mode), the game ends. This makes it difficult to try out new things while getting a workout. I also don't like the fact that it doesn't show the highest grade (not percentage) while scrolling through the screen. Another thing that I thought was really wierd is that even if you turn off hands, you can still get a few. I think the hands that are considered "holds" still stay in. I think the song that this happened in was Bend Your Mind, but it originally had like 27 hands, and when I turned off hands, it still had 2 on the list at the end in my score. That is not good for someone who doesn't want to be falling off the dance pad just to try to hit all four dance keys. I feel like a retarted break dancer when I have my hands on all four arrows. All in all, I am not dissapointed that I bought the game, because it's always nice to have some new music, but I think that some of the problems need to be fixed before I will like the game as much as DDR.

[xxxplizit Eta]

[Jaunty Ravyn of TLF]

I just got the game this afternoon, and one thing that I noticed that's a HUGE upgrade from DDR console versions is that the game saves your modifiers. Now, DDR will save mods as long as you stay in the main game mode and don't leave it, or turn the power off, or anything like that. No such worry with ITG. If, for example, you always want to play with 2x arrow speed and an Overhead view, it saves that and automatically selects those options. Plus, it saves the options for both players, so if you have one person that you ITG with fairly often, you don't have to worry about resetting options every time. However - and maybe this is just my copy/pads - I did notice that it was easier to get into the options screen than to skip it. If you held down X more than half a second after selecting a song, it would automatically go to the options setup. Oh well. Still, IMHO, it's a necessary addition to any hardcore DDR player's game collection.
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Every time you overstomp an arrow, God kills a Domo-kun.
Please, think of the Domo-kun.

[tortoise]

ITG has a lot of negatives. Wonky, cheesy interface. Poor music (sorry, I don't really like any of the songs, at least not yet), and long load times.

But all of that is irrelevant when you're streaming your way through intense arrow patterns that are a sheer blast to play. ITG does what I always wanted DDR to, and for that I love it.

I just have to keep resisting the urge to put on 2x, those 16th note runs are hard to read!

Oh, and I've never played the arcade version ...

[Houou Don't You Want Me]

I don't get the original poster, djfmf: Lately I've stopped attemtping 'counter' someone else's opinions because, well, its their opinion. But I don't understand, how it is RoXoR's fault that your pad doesn't have a bar? That pad wasn't even made by RedOctane.

[Edible Bondage Tape]

[Sinistar]

My review is over here, but please keep in mind when reading it that the review is geared towards my site audience and does not come close to a full review of ITG.
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CF cbox mods and more at the 'Pad'

[gu002]

Does anyone know if it is possible to unlock songs by playing in event mode? Or do the songs played in normal mode only count towards the amount needed to unlock

[Wolfman Jake]

Songs played in event mode do count towards unlocks, so don't worry.
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Wolfman Jake

[djfmf]

[Synaesthesia]

Well, I just finished playing ITG on the pad for the first time, and I feel very dead. I managed to pass a few 9s, and even 2 10s (which impressed myself greatly ). The longer song times really took a toll on me. The very first thing I tried to play was Disconnected Expert. About 1:20 into the song, I was pretty tired. If it were DDR, I could've lasted for that remaining bit of time--but not with ITG. I agree with the not-so-smooth difficulty transitions; I was surprised at the stepcharts of 6s and 7s (in terms of relative difficulty). Watching my friend play some Hard 8s, I would not have been at all surprised if some could have been 9s on DDR.

The mine mechanic has been quite tricky for me thus far. As my softpad is dying, it's becoming far too sensitive, to the point where stepping in the center of the pad can still register a step on any of the arrows. This leaves me with the rather interesting/tiring solution of jumping over mines (or lifting only one leg in certain cases), but pulling my legs very high off the ground, such that by the time they hit again, the mines will have passed. Arrows will remain depressed for a split second after I raise my foot, so playing Disconnected ~Mobius~ was a lot of fun at the end...

One thing is certain: if I ever become proficient at playing ITG, DDR will be a snap, so to speak. The music doesn't seem to stick with me as much as DDR's did, but that's simply a matter of personal preference.

Replay value: 10/10 - Come on, like an arrow-smashing game won't last me forever...
Stepcharts: 8/10 - Higher difficulties have good charts, lower ones do not.
Songs: 6/10 - Many of the songs' values get raised only by good charts.
Presentation: 4/10 - I simply don't like the interface. Then again, the only DDR interface I would've given more than 6/10 would be Extreme 2, but that's only a first impression.
Overall: (not an average, although it turns out to be one) 7/10
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im a lasagna whale

G_G

[Reenee]

Possibly the most sensible and no-bullshit review of ITG, with the inclusion of a surprisingly high rating of 8.5 out of 10: http://www.bonusstage.com/art2489.html

[Sinistar]

I discovered last night while playing that one of my gripes with the Fitness Mode was totally incorrect, so I've change the affected bits of my review and bumped the score from a 78% to 82%.
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CF cbox mods and more at the 'Pad'

[Char]