Fans of Konami’s DDR will recognize the gameplay in DWI: choose a song you want, then press the arrow keys in the right order that they appear on the screen to simulate dancing and score points (the actual DDR game comes with the dancepad, which allows you to actually dance on the arrows, but DWI allows you to use dancepad as well). That’s all there is to the basic gameplay, but there are tricks you must master to beat difficult songs that include more sophisticated elements used in later versions of DDR and Beatmania, such as ‘freeze’ arrows and ‘stealth’ modes. As with most DDR clones for PC, DWI allows you to add new songs of your choice in various formats including MP3. If you want to recreate the exact DDR experience including background graphics to your song, there are many guides on the Internet such as this one at DDR PC Central that teach how to convert MP3 songs to BMS format.

In addition to excellent graphics and gameplay that is very faithful to DDR, DWI allows you to easily set up a dancepad for use with the game without using any external program (you do need to set your pad’s drivers correctly, however). Overall, if you have never played DDR but are wondering what it is about this game that seems to attract every arcade and Playstation gamer, Dance With Intensity is the best way to find out. If you are a fan of DDR or similar games, then this is a great way to recreate the fun on your own PC – using your own songs to boot. Two thumbs up, way up!