If you’re up for it you can tackle specific missions, or play whatever you want in freestyle mode, which supports a head-to-head component with another player. Respect is a whirlwind of artistry, so much so that it can’t really contain itself in any given song. Some of its songs, several of which span its entire history, are really good. The main menu makes me smile every time I see its little icon doodads and hear the title theme. It’s hard to explain why DJMax Respect is such a triumph if you’re just looking at static screens with moving bars on them. It’s good then that Respect wasn’t half-assed with its grand re-entrance, accounting for nearly every potential shortcoming, from the aesthetic to the practical. It reminds me of a bygone era where DDR arrows would sear into a plasma screen television.
Before long I was viewing certain music videos in my head, watching bouncing notes flutter by like dancing fairies. This game has an almost Pavlovian methodology of sensory association.
Cat girls and Super Sentai warriors are also commonplace. It’s great then, that in a rhythm game that demands precision that the game runs at 60FPS, and that said backgrounds can be dimmed with a tap of the PS4 touchpad. All these tunes are accompanied by some insane background animations, my favorite of which involves a cartoon psychedelic mosquito sucking blood from a real person (The Feelings). Hip-hop, pop, jazz, house, eurobeat, industrial, hard rock, electronica, funk - you name it, Respect has it. What seems like an insurmountable task suddenly becomes muscle memory, and with 147 songs (and “all” DLC from the eastern release coming “within a month”) there’s quite a bit to test your mettle with. As you slowly go from the four-button system of mashing to a beat and work your way through its multiple difficulty modes, suddenly the five-note variant is staring you in the face. Respect makes you work for every goal you hope to achieve. It’s unforgiving out of the gate and I love it, especially in an era devoid of marquee rhythm jaunts. Publisher: Neowiz Games, Sony, Arc System Works (JP)ĭJMax Respect gets its moniker from the developer’s “respect” for its fans, and after playing hours upon hours of it, I can confidently say it respects my time.
It wasn’t quite “niche” and it wasn’t a worldwide phenomenon like DDR, but it’s had a respectable fanbase for over a decade and it deserves another lease on life - and not just in a fleeting portable format.Įnter DJMax Respect, which brings the series back into the forefront on PS4.
DJMax was one of those series that was just on the cusp of breaking out into the mainstream.