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6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Not quite Clazziquai-level quality, but still superb Oct 19, 2010
By C
My introduction to the series was the excellent, overseas-only (but VERY import-friendly) DJ Max Clazziquai Edition, so that may skew my viewpoint a bit. Having played through Clazzi, Black Square and Fever, and now having picked up DJ Max Portable 3, I can safely say that DJ Max 3 is a great game, but I'm not quite feeling it the same way I did Clazziquai.
First the pros: there are a couple things that strike me right off the bat. The classy packaging. I'm just talking about the plain old UMD version here, not even the limited edition. Just oozes class. Very understated. The excellent presentation follows into the game itself, which is slick, sleek and shiny. The interface is drenched in black, and it looks very refined and understated compared to the diamond-encrusted Black Square.
Unique and new to DJ3 is the "Remix" mode. First, some perspective: each DJ Max entry tends to have some sort of hook or gimmick that sets it apart from it's brothers and sisters. DJ Max Portable, which moved the series from the PC to the PSP, introduced features like use of the shoulder buttons and the analog nub. Clazziquai Edition featured a couple of easy modes for beginners, the Club mode, and a sophisticated musical selection. Black Square added an auto-correct feature that helped correct mistakes, but was seen as distracting.
So along comes DJ3 with it's remix mode. At the moment, my feelings on it are, uh, mixed. Basically you have your standard deck (4-6 face buttons) and then two more decks, one on each side. By holding the analog nub left or right, you select the deck on that side and are now in control of that deck. So you'll be really going crazy on the harder tunes, which is great. However, it just doesn't quite feel right to me, as the analog nub is inherently a little mushy and doesn't *snap* the way the other buttons do, making the timing trickier and the combos a bit less satisfying. The tactile feedback of the shoulder buttons has me longing for Clazziquai - there was something special about rolling off a huge chain with some stylish shoulder button work, and the "clack clack" of the shoulder buttons really felt snappy.
The musical selections, while not bad by any stretch, also have me pining for Clazzi, but that's not quite fair - Clazziquai is a very popular electronica group, and their songs are not only gorgeous and catchy, but produced to a sheen. That puts the usual DJ Max contributors at a bit of a disadvantage. I personally loved the mellow, soulful, smooth but upbeat sound that was all over Clazziquai Edition. But I understand that CE is sort of the odd one out in the series, musically speaking, so in that sense, DJ Max 3 is a return to the classic "DJ Max" sound.
I'd say DJ Max 3 has a consistently above-average tracklist, as opposed to Black Square and Fever, which had some absolutely gorgeous music and some very poor songs, so the overall quality is definitely up. There's a good mix of music: a couple rock tracks, some hard-hitting breaks, some trance, and plenty of sugary pop, but it does distinctly lack the late-night, easy going groove of Clazziquai.
Sorry for the comparisons, but another thing I miss is the Tour mode from CE and Black Square. It was an excellent way to play the game and I don't know why they dropped it. Basically, in those games, you had an overworld map dotted with clubs. You would travel from club to club and perform - whether it was as simple as finishing the song in one piece, or pulling off a certain score, you had to pass a specific challenge to continue on. It was well-paced, well-structured and really gave you a sense of accomplishment. DJ3 does not have this. Instead, you are left with a simple arcade mode, meaning you pick three songs and play them in a row, get a "thanks for playing" screen and start over. It lacks soul, and makes it less enticing to go back and perfect your scores to continue on.
All this makes the game sound bad, but it's not - it's great. After all, the name is DJ Max Portable 3 - all this Clazzi/Black Sqaure stuff was an offshoot of the series called the Metro Project, so in reality DJ3 is just picking up from where DJ2 left. In that regard, the game succeeds, as it's sleeker, more polished, and much tighter than it's main-series predecessors. And we are very lucky to get this slice of heaven overseas - thanks PM Studios! It's just too bad we couldn't maybe see more of the Metro Project influence too.
Ignoring that, just dig in and enjoy the game.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Brings new aspects but forgets old ones. Oct 25, 2010
By Solid
"Snake"
This review is short and simple for those who like to go straight to the point.
(Disclaimer: Review made in Oct 25, 2010, and having unlocked quite a deal of stuff in the game. Which means, some features may not have been reviewed due to still being locked in the game. The review will be updated if necessary):
+ New songs. Amazing tunes, as expected from Pentavision. With genres that range from Reggaeton to k-pop to techno to ambient to rock to all sorts of tunes, this game has a song for everyone to enjoy.
+ Old tunes, remixed. For those who are familiar with classic DJMAX tunes, you'll be pleased to know some of them are back with a new kick to them.
+ New Remix mode*. Aside from 4 button and 6 button, the game now has a 3.2, 4.2, and 6.2 (B) button mode (now named T, for Trax).
+ Stunning Visuals. Pentavision has never failed in delivering a good deal of eye candy. It was also kind of strange to have a video that used a real life model. In Portable 1 and 2 they were always animated or pre-rendered videos in both 2D and 3D.
- Classic Intro no more. In Portable 1 we had an awesome 2D animated intro. In Portable 2 we had another awesome animated intro but in 3D. In Portable 3... we got no quality animation intro whatsoever. We get the name of the producers and a picture of 3 girls... Kinda lame and lazy from their part.
- 5 button mode is completely gone. I still don't understand why they took this one away. It was so much fun and a great learning step for those who wanted to move from 4 to 6 buttons.
- Multiplayer was removed. Portable 2 brought multiplayer to the table so, why take it away? Take it for granted it wasn't really well done, it was still fun to play with a friend. It was also a great mode to rack experience and unlock goodies faster.
- Link disc is nowhere to be found. This basically allowed you to play older versions of djmax using part of the new scoring system. Although not a critical factor, it was nice to change UMDs on the fly and play almost all songs with a single interface.
- Hidden HARD MODE (6.2T mode). You have to select the difficulty setting HARD in order to have access to this mode. If you have it on Normal, you have to unlock it by playing a lot. Apparently it appears randomly.
- Bad Translation. The booklet is kind of misleading and some of the sentences in the game are severely mistranslated.
(-+) 8 button mode is also gone. If you played this mode and loved it, it's not there anymore, sorry. However, for everyone else, like myself who never played it it's no big deal. This can be either a positive or negative aspect depending how you look at it.
*Remix Mode basically adds two new "highway of notes", one on the left and one on the right. By default, the center highway is selected and you move to the left or right highway with the analog stick. You may ask, how does that benefit the gameplay? Simple: Instead of rotating the analog stick every time a "long rainbow note" comes down, you now press left or right depending on where the rainbow note is falling. That's not all, however. When you are highlighting the left or right highway, it also means you are in control of a new set of keys: square, triangle, and circle which you have to press depending on what's falling. In theory it sounds simple (and it is, at least on the 3.2T mode) but in 4.2T and specially on 6.2T modes things can get really chaotic. In simple words, you are now in control of 9, 10, and 12 notes, where 6 of them are activated by moving the analog stick to the left or right side.
Overall it's a great, fun, and addicting game that will last for hours if not months. The fun rating for this game is obviously 5 while the overall rating for the game is 4 because of the missing modes and features.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Rebooting the series Oct 23, 2010
By IntelijentGamer
The DJ Max Portable games are rhythm games similar to other games in the genre, like Pop'n Music, Beatmania, and Guitar Hero/Rock Band. Rhythm games usually have some sort of "gimmick" to differentiate themselves from the other titles, and the first DJ Max Portable's gimmick was simply being one of the first rhythm games for the PSP. The soundtrack ranged from rap to pop, probably to appeal to a larger audience. I loved the first game because its game mechanic was simple but the songs were still difficult to beat.
DJ Max Portable 3 feels like both an upgrade and a step backwards. The songs are easier to beat than in previous DJ Max titles, the song variety seems to be missing, and features like multiplayer and O.S.T mode are missing. The new "remix" system seems to be the only challenge the game imposes on the player, and only when playing the hardest of the "remix" varieties (the "6.2 Track"). This new system is a combination of three classic modes during one song. Players must navigate the three zones using the analog nub to hit the correct notes. The analog nub does not feel responsive enough to shift through each zone when more notes start to appear on screen. This makes the game feel clunky during this mode. If your PSP analog nub is not very responsive this new remix system will be nearly unplayable at harder difficulties.
What DJ Max Portable 3 has going for it seems to be higher production value. All of the songs sound decent at the very least, especially if you are a fan of pop or electronic. The background videos are a huge improvement when compared to the first two DJ Max games. Even the menu screens look better than previous versions (imo). Pentavision wanted DJ Max 3 to ooze style, so they rebooted the series to start from scratch. If this was another spinoff title (like Clazziquai or Black Square) I would not have minded as much, but I wanted my classic DJ Max game mechanic in the forefront instead of this new mechanic.
If you are new to the DJ Max series I would recommend DJ Max Clazziquai edition before recommending DJ Max Portable 3. I may be wrong, but Clazziquai seemed to have more songs than this game. The type of music in Clazziquai is similar to Portable 3, only better. A patch for Clazziquai edition also allows players to play the game with a higher difficulty.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
1 Step Forward, Too Many Steps Backward Oct 24, 2010
By bfaleimu
I own all the DJ Max games for the PSP, including the excellent Black Square, and Clazziquai edditions (Metro Project). I play DJ Max all the time, and I absolutely love the series. Needless to say, I was very excited to get my hands on DJ Max Portable 3. However, as soon as I started to play, the flaws were immediately apparent.
In my opinion, the biggest flaw in the DJ Max Portable 3 is the addition of the new 3.2T, 4.2T, and 6.2T button modes. Although the classic 4 and 6 button mode still exist, gone are the 2, 5, 4FX and 6FX (played with the shoulder buttons) that existed in the prior games. Instead, DMP3 focuses on the new X.2T remiix modes which require you to push the analog stick left or right in time to the remix tracks. (sigh), this just dosen't work (for me at least). The analog nub is just not capable of of the precision necessary to play this mode. It feels sluggish and unintuitive, and even though the remixes sound pretty good, they break up the flow of the gameplay, and it's just not fun, nor does it hook you like the gameplay in the previous titles. As I played this X.2T mode for the fist time, I thought to myself, "why on earth would they do this". They could just as easly have mapped the left and right analog motion to the shoulder buttons, or at the very least made it an option. And speaking of options, I really liked how you had the option of having the combo meter and fever guage outside of the place where the patterns fall. But alas, that option has been droped too!
The game is also quite sparse in terms of content and things to do. There is no OST mode. and link disc and network have also been cut. Also missing is the career mode. So really all you're doing is playing arcade mode over and over just to ulock the songs in freestyle. There is the mission mode, but you only unlock one mission for every level you advance.
It,s not all terrible though. DMP3 does have some great things going for it. For one, the presentation is quite nice. Just like Black square and Clazziquai, the presentation is sharp and sleek, very modern and classy. This also translates into the music and the excellent unlockable wall papers. I actually like the songs quite a bit. Although not as varied as the music of DMP 1 and 2, non of the music seems out of place, and the remixed older songs were treated very tastefully.
I'd still recommend this game to fans of the series, but I know that this could have so much better. Hmmmmm, I wonder if they can create the classic button modes as add ons?!?!
Great song selections keep the long running series alive Mar 28, 2012
By Richard Baker
"Gaming Guru"
The Good: Great new song selection, the new tracks mode adds depth, unlocking comes at faster rates, tighter menus
The Bad: Still not enough to change the series
DJ Max is probably the best rhythm game on the PSP, but that isn't saying much since there aren't too many on the system. The game has been well-known for its great song selection, and addictive rhythm game play, but after so many iterations of the same thing people were longing for some changes, and thankfully Portable 3 adds something new. While it may not be enough the game tightens some of the sloppy menus, and other minor issues with the long running series.
The new mode is 3.2 and 4.2 tracks. You use the analog nub to new side bar that have purple streams running down them. You play the middle bar as usual, but when a purple stream runs down the side you move the analog nub accordingly. It remixes the songs, and adds a new layer of depth and fun to the game and makes it even more addictive.
If you aren't familiar with the series you press the corresponding button (depending on difficulty) to the track icons running down the screen. You are scored on timing and a percentage will pop up after each hit telling you how accurate that note was. You will see a little meter filling up in the middle of the screen and when it's full you activate your fever mode to double your multiplier. In Portable 3 you can stack these up by getting your meter up again fast enough to add-on top of the multiplier. Once you finish you are scored and as you level up you unlock new gear and collectibles.
Portable 3 also lets the unlocking come much quicker and there's more to unlock. There are more characters, gear, notes, wallpapers, videos etc. and it's all great. Of course if you get bored with the arcade mode you can unlock missions and these have certain parameters such as getting a certain score, hitting a certain multiplier, or breaking under a number amount of times.
DJ Max 3 is well worth the purchase for series fans and new comers a like. There's enough content to unlock to keep you very busy and replaying the excellent song roster is very enjoyable. I hope to see further changes in DJMP4 because this series has lots more potential.
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