Over the course of about two weeks I have become the "Bust a Groove guy" in my friend group of about 2 people. That being said, I take that title very seriously and made it in my best interest to play through every single entry in the series with my upmost concentration... even if one of them happens to disregard nearly everything I fell in love with the series for. So I begrudgingly sat through this game until I unlocked every team.

If I'm giving off the sense that I hate the game, it's actually far from it. In fact, I was ready to set it apart from the previous two games and give it some sort of isolated appreciation like you reserve for games like Jammer Lammy. But the difference here is that unlike this game, Jammer Lammy actually kept the formula that its predecessor was best known for. In the case of Dance Summit 2001, it feels like an entirely different game.

Let's start off by talking about the characters. I find that most of the playable characters designs range from good to mediocre. Not a lot of them really stand out nor are as memorable as say, Hiro or Kitty-N. Each character has their own personality; I guess, in the form of an application sheet or something and they all have goals and reasons for doing what they're doing. I guess the problem I have here is presentation, in the previous games we got FMV endings for each character (unless you count our version of BaG2, haha) where we got a more animated glimpse into who they are as a person. In this game, every character's personality is summed up in a "What's your hobby? What would you do with a million yen? Who do you respect the most?" very cookie cutter level of characterization in my opinion. I only ask that each character had their own unique ending showcasing what they did after obtaining the Groovetron, rather than just explaining it to us.

I can't say I really cared about most of the characters. I like some of them, like Betty, Banbi (girl on the cover), Tomoe, Imawa, and Duck; but all in all I'll probably forget about the others in due time. Very unfortunate. I think if more time was spent fleshing them out, they could've been one of the game's stronger points.

Can't have a Bust a Groove game without a banger soundtrack though! Too bad this is hardly a Bust a Groove game. A majority of the songs aren't as catchy or charming as the previous tracks, I have about 2 that I actually enjoy listening to, the others are like, let's get this over with already. Quite a shame too. And unironically, I like the opening and the credits song more than the actual stages. How?!

Finally moving onto gameplay, it is no longer a 1v1 - head to head dance off. What this game is - is a missed opportunity. You're essentially competing with your team trying to rack up the most points out of all of them. It gives you time to read the button prompts, then gives you time to do them on beat.

One thing I wasn't quite sure how to wrap my head around was the "Free" part of the stage. Every 2 button prompts that show, it gives you a free spot to press whatever button you wish. And the outcome of pressing a button all varies depending on what your team picks as well. If you and all your other teammates pick a button that match, everybody gets a ton of points. Sounds good, right? Right. Well there are also other times where - for example; if you press X, and another bot presses X, and ANOTHER bot presses X, but the 4th bot presses something like Square or Triangle, points are deducted from EVERYONE ELSE, except the rebel who pressed an alternate button, and points are added to them instead. Dom Monaghan: wHy?

I found out early on that you can actually press a face button when an upcoming "Free" beat is on the measure, and it appears on your character's face icon. I would've figured this would be used to strategize with your fellowship, instead I really don't think it means jack chit. The bots do their own thing and it's hard to actually synchronize with them. Is it normal to hate my own team? Because I do. Stop stealing my gotdang points, Candy.

Now I think its interesting to talk about what I was exactly expecting before going into this. Of course, being very obsessed with Bust a Groove, I was expecting them to take the teams and actually having them being pitted AGAINST each other, sort of like a 4v4. If everyone's points accumulated at the end of the stage, it would actually entice players to actually strategize and want to work together, because if I'm being honest all I want to do in this game is screw everybody over... they started it!

Ultimately, this is not my favorite game. Not top 5, not top 10, probably top 50 because I haven't played that many PS2 games; but I can't really see myself playing this again. Funnily enough, the first thing I did after unlocking the final team was play a game of Bust a Groove 1. It doesn't really bring me any joy or pleasure saying I didn't enjoy this game. I really wanted to like it but when compared to what came before it... it's just not what it could've been.

Before I wrap up I want to spit out some small things that I actually do like about the game. Weirdly, I love the box art. Yeah, you can say its an odd choice but nothing screams early 2000s than a literally picture of a CRT screen. It's the AESTHETICS MAAAAAAN. I thought people were into that. I also do like the idea of teams, I just wish they; again, had teams pitted against each other rather than just one team trying to 1 up each other in the most random way possible. Those are just my thoughts anyway, maybe some people will prefer Dance Summit over the first two Bust a Groove games, and all I have to say to that is... I salute you for doing what I cannot.

Again, I feel really weird saying I didn't enjoy this game, but you know, if you really love something, explain to others why you dislike (using that word loosely) its third entry.

Yuck. The switch to teams is really awkward. Even the change to it being a watch and repeat, would be cooler for more engagement, but the older more fighting game style from the first two games is called out to me more. It looks better, that's for sure, but the music is sadly the weakest part of this game. The songs just aren't that catchy and don't feel like the songs I would choose for a dancing centric rhythm game.

I should like this game, and that's the part that's tearing me up inside. It just doesn't feel right. Every time I finished another team's story, I was kinda lukewarm about it. The visuals during the stages are a little too over the place, which took me away from enjoying the dancing once it got too hectic.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the team system, nor with the change in the core gameplay to more simon say-esque button presses. Yet the jump into the next generation didn't necessarily call for such sweeping changes, when Bust-A-Groove 2 was already a great improvement on the first. A more fleshed out story and interaction between characters that the PS2's power would've allowed for could've been the right call for the game. More depth into the actual combat that happens in stages. idk