Music Games - ranked by preference

Release Date: June 1, 2000 (JP)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: KCET
Genre: Music - Dance

The childhood rhyme of 3rd is a turd does not apply here. In fact, Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix is a vast improvement over an already enjoyable DDR 2nd Remix...such an improvement that even if you had mastered most of the songs on the previous games, aside from new songs in 3rd Mix, you also had several new modes and options. The previous games in the series, which were amazing for their time, immediately felt dated by 3rd Mix due to all of its additions. Folks accustomed to the North American version of Dance Dance Revolution will be more familiar with many of the modes found here. Plus, if you've got a Pocketstation, this is one of the few games that you can use it with. Overall, this is easily one of the best music games ever created...and one that I fondly remember from my college years.

Release Date: November 7, 2005 (NA)
Publisher: RedOctane
Developer: Harmonix Music Systems
Genre: Music

Japan had Guitar Freaks, with a guitar controller, for years before Guitar Hero introduced North Americans to a similar concept. While I bet that Harmonix knew they'd have a hit on their hands while making this simple, yet great music game, I don't think that they had any idea how insanely popular the series would become. Before Activision got their grubby paws on the franchise and oversaturated the market, like they like to do, the original Guitar Hero was absolutely fantastic. If you're one of the few that have never played a Guitar Hero game, do yourself a favor and give it a go. You'll quickly understand why it was all the rage a few years back.

Release Date: May 9, 2001 (NA)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music

Different from the game with the same name released in Japan, the North American Dance Dance Revolution game includes some of the more popular songs from the various "Mix" editions of the game in Japan. I was first exposed to the DDR series in college, where a friend of mine had imported a copy of Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix...She would set up DDR parties and we'd have a jolly ol' time. Shortly afterward, I went out and picked up this game so I could A) get some practice in and B) have a copy of DDR that I could enjoy if I had the urge to play when no party was going on. This is also one of those games where it's just as fun to watch someone else play as it is to play yourself...Especially if they're absolutely terrible at it.

Release Date: December 20, 2007 (JP)
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment
Genre: Music - Strategy

Patapon is a unique music/rhythm game that has the basic gameplay elements of a music game, but additional elements of an action-based strategy game, resulting in a very unique, very fun game unlike anything that had come before it. The game has the player memorize various drum beats, with each one controlling the Patapons in a different way. One drum beat instructs them to advance forward, another instructs them to attack...Essentially, you need to look at your surroundings and try to give the correct instructions at the right time or you may lose your opportunity to do what you wanted. It's unique, it's unusual, and it's a fantastic hybrid of genres that any PSP owner should give a try.

Release Date: December 6, 1996 (JP)
Publisher: Sony CEA
Developer: NanaOn-Sha
Genre: Music

Master Onion. That's really all I need to say. From the minute you start playing this quirky game, and see Master Onion, it's hard to not fall in love with it. From the various songs and the various characters that help PaRappa sing them, this game is utterly charming from beginning to end. It may not be the best music game that I've ever played, but it's easily one of my favorites.

Release Date: December 16, 1999 (DC)
Publisher: Sega
Developer: UGA
Genre: Music

Space Channel 5 is a very unique music game that has the player controlling Ulala as she tries to rid Space Channel 5 of a swarm of aliens that have infested the area....She tries to do this through dance. It's essentially an interactive movie where you just input commands as you're prompted to, but the story is so unique and the characters so charming that you can't help but keep playing. A musical, video game version of Simon really shouldn't be this much fun...But it is.

Release Date: April 10, 1999 (JP)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music - Dance

The original console version of Dance Dance Revolution was exclusive to Japan...and it brought the awesome fun of embarrassing yourself in the arcade (or having insane skills for some folks) to enjoy at home. The concept of Dance Dance Revolution is timeless - using a pad as a controller, step on the arrow keys as they pop up on the screen...it vaguely simulates dancing when watching, but it's quite fun and quite a workout when playing. Released 2 years before the version that folks in North America are familiar with, this contains many of the series' fan favorite songs, like Butterfly. Later games in the series added some mild improvements, but the original is still fantastic in its simplicity and well worth popping in from time to time for a little dancing fun.

Release Date: January 29, 1998 (JP)
Publisher: 989 Studios
Developer: Metro
Genre: Music

Bust A Groove is basically a dance-off style music game. You battle a variety of opponents in dancing competitions. Instead of simply hitting a button at the correct time, you're required to also input button combinations, which can lead to some frantic button pressing to get the buttons all pressed in the amount of time allotted between beats. If you hit all of your notes and succeed in performing combos, then you'll do well. Miss everything and your opponent will probably serve you up a healthy helping of "served." Does that sentence make sense? Doesn't matter. This is a nice, solid music game and one of the better ones that doesn't involve a peripheral of some sort.

Release Date: July 29, 1999 (JP)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music

Years before Guitar Hero took North America by storm, Japan already had a music game where you played with a guitar peripheral - that game was Guitar Freaks. Guitar Freaks plays pretty similar to Guitar Hero, which most folks reading this are probably more familiar with, but this game pretty much laid the groundwork for the basics that made RedOctane's guitar game so addicting. If you're one of the few that didn't get burned out with the Guitar Hero game years ago and want something new, it might be worth your while to import this game and its guitar controller. I'm sure you'll like it just as much.

Release Date: August 26, 1999 (JP)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music - Dance

Just four and a half months after Dance Dance Revolution arrived on the Playstation console, 2nd Remix hit the shelves and actually added a bit in the process. This version features more songs, and a neat option to make them more difficult, should you feel the need. This option, as simple as it sounds, adds so much replayability to the game - once you've mastered a song, you essentially have two more versions to master should you want the fun to continue. It adds enough to the original game to make this well worth the purchase if you enjoyed dancing to the first release.

Release Date: March 5, 2009 (NA)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music - Dance

Dance Dance Revolution S takes the exact same gameplay that set arcades by storm a while back and packs it all in the iPhone....However, since stomping on your iPhone probably isn't a good thing, Konami opted to make it a game where your fingers do the dancing instead of your feet. The result is very fun and very solid...The only problem I have with the game is the same problem I had with the home console versions....Much like the dance pad liked to move in the console versions, my iPod Touch likes to move in this version, which can throw off your button presses...But anyway, if it sounds interesting to you, give it a try. With plenty of hidden songs and characters to unlock, there's enough here to keep you playing for quite a while.

Release Date: November 30, 2000 (JP)
Publisher: Tecmo
Developer: Tecmo
Genre: Music

Say whatcha want, I adore this game. I can't remember when or why I played it for the first time, but once I started, I was hooked. The unique, analog-controlled music game is fun to play on its own, but toss in a silly, entertaining story with goofy characters between songs and you've got a game that quickly danced its way into my heart. If I ever want to play a quick song or two in a music game, Unison is often the game that gets popped in.

Release Date: April 25, 2002 (NA)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music

A friend of mine once said that Dance Dance Revolution: Konamix was everything that the original North American release of Dance Dance Revolution should have been. While I can't really argue since the North American releases seemed to be behind the times in what Japan was offering, I don't feel that Konamix was that drastic of a step up from Dance Dance Revolution. However, it did offer up enough to be well worth purchasing, even if you played the first DDR to death.

Release Date: October 22, 1998 (JP)
Publisher: KOEI
Developer: Oracion
Genre: Music

Moritaka Chisato: Safari Tokyo completely took me by surprise...it's really good. When I saw that it was a game about a musician, I figured it would be the Japanese version of Spice World. Safari Tokyo DOES have the same gameplay as Spice World...in one part of the game, but there's so much more to do with various musical minigames. You can play a somewhat traditional rhythm games where you press the button at the right time...or more unique ones, like where it's essentially a musical game of Simon with several of Chisato Moritaka's hit songs. I had no idea who Ms. Moritaka was before playing this game, and I finished playing this game a fan - it was a pleasant surprise both in discovering this game and discovering her music.

Release Date: May 8, 2002 (NA)
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Metro Graphics
Genre: Music

I'll be totally honest with you - I thought that this game would be absolutely terrible. I was wrong. Not only is it not terrible, it's actually pretty good. The rhythm-based dance-off concept is fun while playing alone, but a blast when playing with others. Fans of Britney Spears will be rewarded with "backstage passes" that allow you to watch interactive videos, were you can pan the camera around kind of like if you were watching a show from backstage. Unfortunately, aside from that, there's not a ton else to do here. If there were more modes, I would have given it a higher score, since the lack of modes does significantly decrease replayability, but for what it is, it's a surprisingly solid music game for the Playstation 2 library of any fan of the genre and/or Ms. Spears.

Release Date: November 30, 2000 (JP)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music

There are two key features of Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Mix that makes it worth playing, even for DDR veterans. First is the obvious; new songs from various Disney shows and films. Second is an awesome multi-player mode that allows you to essentially have a dance-off against a friend...Of course, you can battle the computer as well, but there's more satisfaction when putting a pal in their place, then yelling, "You just got served, son!" Anyway, aside from the two mentioned features, this is still the same DDR that you know and love...Just with a bit of Disney tossed in for good measure.

Release Date: December 21, 2000 (JP)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: KCET
Genre: Music

Consider Dance Dance Revolution: Best Hits a "best of" album in relation to music. The most beloved songs of the series up to this point are all in one place. That's basically enough of a reason for DDR fans to pick this up. Also in this game is an Edit mode, where you can basically create your own dances, which is pretty neat as well. If you've never played Dance Dance Revolution before, this is where I would probably point you you to - it's basically the best of all games before it all wrapped up in a dance burrito of happiness...And if you don't like dance burritos, I don't wish to be your friend.

Release Date: February 26, 1987 (JP)
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Human Entertainment
Genre: Music - Fitness

Dance Aerobics is actually pretty fun if you give it a chance...This was in my house the entirety of my childhood and I refused to play it once because I thought it was a "girl's" game. Fast forward a few years and I play games for "little girls" for a laugh, and I thought I'd get some laughs out of this. Instead, I got an aerobic workout and some surprisingly entertaining mini games. In the "Pad Antics" area, you can turn your power pad into a piano or partake in a game of Simon Says. While not incredibly deep of an experience, Dance Aerobics is still a decent little game and worth having in your library if you own a power pad.

Release Date: March 15, 2001 (JP)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: KCET
Genre: Music - Dance

Dance Dance Revolution 4th Mix continues in the trend of adding new features to the franchise - this time the ability to play both with the dance pad and the controller at the same time...or two dance pads at once. Unfortunately, unlike added features in the previous games that anyone that plays can enjoy, these additions are mostly for the hardcore fans. The soundtrack is also one of the weakest in the series up to this point, in my opinion...That's not to say that there aren't some catchy tunes, but most aren't nearly as memorable as other songs in the series' history. Overall, if you hadn't gotten over your DDR fever yet, 4th Mix gave you more that you loved...But there isn't much reason for casual fans to give this one a go.

Release Date: November 30, 2000 (NA)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music

This Japan-only entry into the Dance Dance Revolution franchise has various remixes of Disney songs for you to prance around on a mat to and Disney characters dancing on the screen to watch. You can prance on the DDR dance mat, can't you? Anyway, it's a solid entry in the DDR series and a bit of a novelty if you're a fan of both Dance Dance Revolution and Disney.

Release Date: February 16, 2001 (EU)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music

The great thing about Konami and the Dancing Stage/Dance Dance Revolution franchise is that it didn't simply re-release titles, they created separate games for each region...That said, many titles are pretty much the same, but with different song lists. Dancing Stage: Euromix features several hit songs from Universal records...The one I'm most fond of is "Radio Killed the Video Star." What can I say? I'm an 80's kid. Anyway, by the time that this was released in 2001, other games in the franchise already had a little more meat to them in terms of modes and such...so while this is good, it feels a bit behind the times. It's still worth playing if you're a DDR nut like myself.

Release Date: September 20, 2001 (JP)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: KCET
Genre: Music - Dance

I think the well had run dry in regards to ideas for Dance Dance Revolution when DDR 5th Mix came out...The only real addition this time around was the ability to unlock pictures in a gallery...Not really anything worthwhile. Likewise, the soundtrack, again, wasn't nearly as good as the soundtrack of 3rd Mix...Even if the Neverending Story was one of the songs. If you burned yourself out with Dance Dance Revolution, this won't reignite the fire...But if you're obsessed with the series, this will supply you with the familiar gameplay that you love.

Release Date: February 25, 1999 (JP)
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Genre: Music

Konami was the king of music games on the PSOne - Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Freaks, Beatmania, and this - Pop'n Music. Pop'n Music, in my opinion, is the weakest of Konami's musical games. Instead of having a neat peripheral to help you simulate playing an instrument or dancing, Pop'n Music has players hit the correct button on a unique controller that doesn't really appear to be anything in terms of simulating an instrument or anything - it's just basically a controller to make all the buttons you need to press easier to access and know what is what. Trying to figure out (and remember during fast songs) which buttons on the regular Playstation controller trigger what colors on the screen can be frustrating. Once you get playing, it is kind of fun, but it never reaches the entertainment levels of the other Konami music games in term of enjoyment and quality. It's not a horrible game. It's passable. But Konami alone has much better options for your musical video game needs.

Release Date: September 23, 2008 (NA)
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Gearbox Software
Genre: Music

Sega's Wii sequels really did not live up to the greatness of the original games, and Samba de Amigo is another prime example of that. On the Dreamcast, Samba de Amigo had special maraca controllers that allowed you to play the game in a more interactive way. One would imagine that the wiimote controllers would be a perfect alternative to the maracas...Unfortunately, that would be incorrect. Much of the time the motion controls don't work properly, and as a result, you're left frustrated when you're doing well and suddenly, the motion controls don't pick up on a motion you did, or even register it as a totally different motion...It's a frustrating aspect that bogs down an otherwise fun game.

Release Date: December 23, 2011 (NA)
Publisher: iCreaLabs
Developer: iCreaLabs
Genre: Music - Dance

Tap Belly HD is an interesting game. It's a rhythm-based game with lady folk belly dancing in the background. It features actual video footage of dancing ladies, including audio clips of them trash talking or complimenting you depending on how well you do during the game. The gameplay isn't horrible, but it's far too simple to entertain anyone for long. Basically, you'll see dots scroll down the screen and it's your job to hit the assigned areas on the right and left ends of the screen when said dots enter the area. It's a so-so game, but the odd concept might be enough for pervos and/or fans of weird games to want to pick it up.

Release Date: April 7, 2005 (JP)
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Indies Zero
Genre: Music

Electroplankton is hard to score. On one hand, I really like the concept here and creating music with the plankton is pretty fun...The giant downside, of course, is the lack of any ability to save. It kind of boggles my mind that a save feature was never implemented into this game so that you could share your musical creations with others...Instead it's fun while it lasts, but once you realize that none of the work that you're putting into constructing a song is going to last beyond when you turn the system off, it kind of derails your creativity and makes it hard to feel motivated to keep coming back. If it had a save feature, my score would go way up...But it's such an essential and obvious feature to have that I couldn't help but feel like I had to dock the score pretty heavily. If you like unique music games, definitely check this game out...Just don't create a musical masterpiece and expect to have it forever.

Release Date: October 19, 2010 (NA)
Publisher: Conspiracy Entertainment
Developer: Epicenter Studios
Genre: Music - Shooter - First-Person

I like originality in my games. Combining the guitar peripheral you've got laying around from those Guitar Hero and Rock Band games that you don't play anymore, with the gameplay of a rail shooter is an interesting, creative concept...It's just a shame that the game itself is just plain boring after a while. Near the end, all I wanted was to just be done. There's not a while lot of variety here in terms of disposing of the creatures that attack you, which really makes it feel like you're just doing the same thing over and over and over again. The main character, "Dude," is also quite annoying. At first his comments aren't too bad...But his personality quickly becomes the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. That all said, it still might be worth a play for some, if the concept sounds interesting to you, or if you're just looking for something totally different from the norm. Most folks will probably grow tired of this game very, very quickly, though. This game is a good example of an idea that was nice on paper, but the end result isn't all that fun.

Release Date: January 9, 2013 (EU)
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Catalyst
Genre: Music

Bleh. Imaginstruments is a music creation game. It's not a very good one, either. It looks deep enough, and maybe if you spend hours upon hours with it you'll find some good that I couldn't find, but from what I've seen, this is a music creation game with some neat options to toy with, but ultimately, one that fails to deliver as a quality, portable music creator.

Release Date: June, 1998 (EU)
Publisher: Psygnosis
Developer: SCEE London Studio
Genre: Music

Spice World is....vile. That's really the only word that I can use to describe my feelings on it. I thought I'd be walking into a Bust-A-Groove-style music game featuring irritating Spice Girls songs. Instead I found myself playing an irritating "assign the Spice Girls dance moves and then watch them perform" music game featuring ear-bleed inducing Spice Girls songs. Within five to ten minutes, you will literally have experienced everything that this game has to offer. Heck, you'll then see the credits roll and those last longer than the gameplay itself...This is absolutely garbage unless you're a huge Spice Girl fan...And even then, I imagine that you'd be pretty disappointed with this poor game.