AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party is the first DDR game for Wii, and if the console's spectacular success continues, it probably won't be the last. If you've played DDR before, then you're already familiar with the gist. You dance on a mat, pressing the corresponding arrows as you see them on screen. However, this is a Wii game, so there's a catch. You get to use the Wii-mote along the way.

What's Hot
Despite being a Wii title, Hottest Party isn't radically different than past DDRs. If you're a fan of DDR, then you'll probably dig this Wii version. We're pleasantly surprised with the quality of the song selection – it's rather solid. Some songs are better than others, but tracks like "You Spin Me Right Round" and "Disco Inferno" quickly become favorites. There's another surprise, too. The new Wii remote controls don't entirely destroy the game, despite that they are essentially tacked on. Having to shake the remote and nunchuck here and there even adds some variety to what is otherwise a standard DDR game.

What's Not
If you've played DDR before, and you fell in love with it, then Hottest Party might just be your ticket. However, unless you'd describe yourself as a hardcore DDR fan, we'd have a hard time recommending Hottest Party to you. It's sort of a run-of-the-mill DDR sequel with tacked-on Wii controls.

The main mode, groove circuit, falls short of what it could have and should have been. From the get-go, you have access to a sizable list of songs. Most of these challenge you to get a specific score. However, the mode would have served as an ideal tool to introduce you to each song and allow you to master each before moving on to the next. As is, it's a pointless free-for-all of tracks that does nothing good to distinguish itself from free play. One of the few things it does do, though, is boss battles, which in practice is actually regrettable. These "fake" boss fights try to trick you into thinking you're competing against an AI, but in truth, you're simply trying to match a preset score. Lame.

Mechanically, there are worse problems. Most songs are good for dancing, but others are just too slow. Also, as you play, your screen is sometimes bombarded with "gimmicks" – a fitting name -- which are more annoying than entertaining. For example, an arrow capsule will sometimes try to sneak its way through your arrow line – miss it, and your screen will be blocked by a huge version of the capsule. The other gimmick – Wii shaking controls – isn't as intrusive or vexing, but the Wii-mote and nunchuck can be unresponsive, failing to detect clear shakes, which frustrates. What's more, the whole Wii-mote thing is a bit lame. We can't help but feel like losers as we tap our feet and shake our hands playing Hottest Party. Sorry, but it's true.

There are a few other issues, still. You can't simply restart a song, for one. Instead, you have to hold down the plus button to auto fail. Baffling design. Worst of all, the announcer is maddening – echoing not only through your speakers, but through the Wii-mote, to boot.

Even though Hottest Party can be decently fun, it's, like, the 100th DDR iteration. At this point, the $70 price tag is a Wii-bit high.

Final Word
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party is a mildly fun DDR game with Wii-mote functionality thrown into the mix. Unfortunately, it just feels so standard. If you're a huge DDR buff, you might like this one, but everyone else can skip it. That said, we'd be perplexed to hear somebody spent $70 on this game and didn't at least slightly regret it. It's just not worth it.