DDRGame.com Tournament Metal Dance Pad

by Miss Toy, 6 December 05

When the DDRgame.com tournament metal dance pad arrived at my door, the first thing I noticed was that it seemed solid. It weighs about 30 pounds, is almost entirely metal, and about 1.5 inches thick. It was also nicely packed and triple boxed.



One of the most important factors when considering a home pad is stability. At 30 pounds, this pad is light enough so that a 12 year old could easily move it, but heavy enough that it stayed in place while my 160 pound boyfriend played 10-foot songs on it.The DDRgame tournament metal dance pad stayed firmly in place on a carpeted floor, even during songs with fast eighth-note runs and body turning where the player must shift his or her weight, like Max 300.

I immediately liked that the pad had lights around each of the arrows that illuminate when an arrow is pressed. All arrows light up at the same time. It would have been nice if the arrows worked independently, but it is still a very nice effect. I was also pleased to see that there was no metal between any of the arrows, and that they depressed easily, allowing me to feel where the arrows were located.



Instead of metal bars between each of the arrows, DDRgame used round rivets that hold the arrow in place. These rivets are easy on your feet if you step on them while playing barefoot. This pad also does not have a bar behind the player, which may affect the players that use the bar for very technically difficult songs. I found that the lack of a bar makes the pad more pleasing to the eye and easier to prop up against a wall for storage.



The DDRgame tournament metal dance pad only has one sensor in the center of each of the arrows. While this did not affect me as a casual to serious player, it would definitely affect the very serious players who are looking for a metal home pad to practice perfect attack. Only having one sensor sometimes results in delay or lack of response by the pad if the player steps to the outside or inside of the arrow rather than the center. This can result in a larger percentage of "greats" and "misses". There is also an occasional crunching noise from the arrows, which may just be the pads breaking in.

Overall, the DDRgame tournament metal dance pad is an aesthetically pleasing reasonable simulation of the arcade in their home, but is not suitable for truly hardcore players that are interested in perfect attack.