These days, we only lace up our raving shoes twice a year: once at the Future Publishing Christmas party and again when the annual edition of Dance Dance Revolution (known as Dancing Stage Unleashed here in Europe) comes out.

Just in case you don't know the drill, this is a ruthlessly addictive dancing game where you tread along with the on-screen dance steps using a big plastic floor mat (you can also use a pad, but who'd want to?). The concept is uniquely astute. It's one of the few games where your real-life actions are just as much fun as what's going on on-screen.

Another great thing about the series is that Europe always gets a better deal when it comes to the music. This year, only we will be getting hot licensed tracks like Where's Your Head At? by Basement Jaxx, Love Machine by Girls Aloud, Step On by the Happy Mondays, Alright by Supergrass, Hot Stuff by Donna Summer and A Town Called Malice by The Jam. All have their promo videos playing in the background, which is great as long as you don't mind being put off by Rachel Stevens' gorgeousness. Complementing this solid set of toe-tappers are global hits like Fatboy Slim's Wonderful Night plus his radio edit of Groove Armada's booty-shakin' I See You Baby. And if you like your music really cheesy, there's an astoundingly shameless trance remix of Flashdance, What a Feeling.

Fresh new tracks are essential to keeping the DDR series going, because the basic gameplay is always identical. There are more than 60 in Dancing Stage Unleashed 2, with just a few repeats (like Dam Dariram and Moonlight Shadow) to satisfy DDR veterans. Samba and D'n'B fans might feel a little left out this time, but overall the selection is eclectic. There's a healthy dose of reggae, trance, rave, pop and disco, and thankfully, like a good album, it never loses cohesion.

Edit mode now allows you and a friend to swap your custom dance routines over Xbox Live. Also, you'll now be able to play selected songs (ones that are common to both DDR Ultramix 2 and DSU2) against Americans, something that wasn't possible in last year's game.

All the old game modes are back. Training mode, Edit mode, Battle mode and Workout mode plus four all-new Party mode variants that can also be played online. Our favourite is Quad, where one player uses four dance mats simultaneously! Sync, where four players have to play co-operatively to complete a routine, is another great new addition.

The four new game types add value, especially if you're playing on Live, but that doesn't really raise it above the level of a fairly expensive update disc. Just as with every other edition of DDR, whether you are willing to part with £40 for this will depend on whether you like the music selection. We love it and we're going to boogie until we're sick.

1. Excellent new tracks especially for Europe. The Americans will be pulling their hair out over Basement Jaxx.
2. More than sixty tracks equals almost unlimited gameplay when you also consider the range of modes and difficulties.
3. Presentation is very good overall, from friendly menus to hypnotic background visuals. Pop promo videos are also sweet.
4. Party mode and the new Xbox Live features like being able to swap dance routines are very welcome additions.

1. Still more of an update than a brand new game and maybe a little expensive as a result.

Dancing Stage Universe 2 has an excellent soundtrack and some top new Live modes but it's not quite enough to merit the asking price.