DJMax Ray Review

It's been a while since I fell in love with DJMax Portable on the PSP and was caught up in it's smooth motion, pressing buttons as tiles came down the screen, timing things perfectly to go with the sound of the music. It was absolutely wonderful. DJMax Ray on iOS is now providing me with those same lovely moments once again. It plays similar to games like Rockband or Guitar Hero as it's the player's responsibility to make the songs sound the way they are meant to be heard.

DJMax Ray consists of Korean and European music including Pop, Trance, Hip-hop and Rock, and it's fun playing a rhythm game with music I've never heard before. It makes the game more exciting because it's still quality music that fits well into the overall gameplay. Not knowing the music also provides the opportunity to fall in love with a new song.

DJMax Ray features 20 groups of 5 songs each. Only two groups are available for free while the rest cost $1.99 through an in-app purchase. There are three table modes that consist of 4, 5 or 6 button rows for tiles to appear on, each adding their own level of difficulty. As songs play, tiles drop down in each row and the player must touch the correct key as those tiles reach the bottom of the table.

DJMax Ray is a tough challenge, especially as tiles drop in greater numbers at the higher difficulty level. Players know when they're not in sync with the music and when they miss a beat as it affects the sound of the song. It’s up to the player to make a good song shine and it’s a satisfying feeling to press and hold the keys at the right moment to make a guitar riff rock out or a voice sound amazing.

Since most will not have heard any of these songs prior to the game, the music player is helpful, too, as it allows players to listen to any song. This helps players learn every sound and beat so that they can successfully complete each track while attaining higher scores.

DJMax Ray is a fantastic title with plenty to keep players busy including a challenge mode that features a list of trials to complete in order to unlock additional songs.