The DJ Max Portable titles are a series of music/rhythm games on the PSP that have become a smash hit in Korea. Now they’re being brought over to the US as DJ Max Fever.

Gameplay is similar to other music games like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, or for the more internationally inclined: Pop ‘N Music. Icons scroll downward and when they reach the bottom line, you must press the correct button in time with the music. Right from the get-go, there are more than 50 songs to jam to, and they all have a techno hip-hop vibe to them. Each song is accompanied by an animated music video in the background that looks great on the PSP.

You can select to use 4, 5, or 6 buttons as you play, with multiple difficulty levels for each. However, it’s still pretty challenging no matter how you perform. As you play, you’ll level up and earn gold that you can use to buy unlockable goodies like artwork, videos, and other items that change how the playfield looks. The neat thing about some of these unlockables is that when you equip them, they can give you a bonus as you score points, depending on what you’ve got equipped. There’s also a mission mode with extra challenges and you can even compete against a second nearby PSP owner with their own copy of DJ Max Fever. Plus you can watch the music videos and just listen to the songs, too.

If you don’t like techno music, than you may not enjoy DJ Max Fever as much. The only other problem is the instructions and menus in the game aren’t as descriptive, and it might take a little while to figure everything out as you fumble and wade through everything. An in-game tutorial or more comprehensive menus would’ve helped. But other than that, DJ Max Fever is one of the best music games on the PSP.

Kid Factor:
DJ Max Fever is rated T for Teen with ESRB descriptors of Language and Mild Suggestive Themes. I really didn’t hear too much bad language in the songs, it’s really nothing worse than what you hear on the radio. Some of the anime girls in the cartoon videos wear somewhat revealing clothing, but it’s more campy than suggestive, really. I’d be OK with letting a kid younger than a teen play this. The challenge level may frustrate very young players, but I bet they’d be perfectly happy just watching the music videos and listening to the music.

Tags: Game Reviews