From 2003-06, the DDR series went on temporary hiatus, and there was community fear that Konami/Bemani were potentially canning the series. In that space, Roxor Games created In The Groove, an arcade clone built on the StepMania engine. The intent was to pull in expert (or 'stamina') player who wanted more intense and lengthy stepcharts than Konami offered, while leveraging StepMania's open source features to allow custom tracks and community-driven add-ons. While the series has been on permanent suspension following a Konami lawsuit, the series lives on in both the StepMania community and the subsequent 'StepManiaX' spritual successor.
How does it fare as a standalone PS2 release? Pretty poorly. Without the ability to add custom content, the weak side of ItG's song list becomes loud and ugly. Few to none of the tracks stand out against the timeless earworms and chaotic originals of DDR; chalk it up to a difference in licensing and budget. Poor load times and odd quirks with menu features also make this much less user-friendly for the at-home experience, even if it's technically more 'robust'. It's tolerable as a substitute or 'booster pack' if you've already mastered Konami's official PS2 releases, but your time is better spent elsewhere.
How does it fare as a standalone PS2 release? Pretty poorly. Without the ability to add custom content, the weak side of ItG's song list becomes loud and ugly. Few to none of the tracks stand out against the timeless earworms and chaotic originals of DDR; chalk it up to a difference in licensing and budget. Poor load times and odd quirks with menu features also make this much less user-friendly for the at-home experience, even if it's technically more 'robust'. It's tolerable as a substitute or 'booster pack' if you've already mastered Konami's official PS2 releases, but your time is better spent elsewhere.