Actually, yes! It's far from perfect (more on that later), but RedOctane's clearly done their homework during development, even implementing contributions from some of the best DDR players in the States to address the errors of older models. The biggest problems gamers encountered in the past have involved lousy circuitry, flimsy layers bunching up on fast songs, and lightweight pads sliding all over the place. Much of this can be fixed with a decent mod job, but RedOctane sought to get it right without requiring a trip to Home Depot.
For a soft pad, the Ignition Pad thoroughly impressed me after just a few plays. I've owned many pads -- three different soft pads (two modified), one hard plastic, and now this one -- and I have to say this is the quietest, most comfortable one I've ever used. I'm sure my neighbors downstairs can appreciate the foam layer zipped snugly in the middle of the pad, and after having to use an older RedOctane model taped to a slab of particleboard for the past few months, my feet are definitely ecstatic. Since there's no hard material to break or external wiring, the Ignition Pad also gets two thumbs up for durability. Stomp on it, throw it around, drop a few bowling balls on it... and the pad should still be fine for at least a few more thousand plays. Well, that's the impression I get, anyway.
Yet perhaps the most thoughtful feature lies in the four arrows' raised button areas, so newcomers can feel where to step while playing without having to glance down at their feet. I remember having to constantly look down several times per song when I first started out with Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Mix on my Dreamcast two years ago, simply because my pads at the time were too thin and unstable to stay in one place for more than ten seconds. These days I'd never have to do that with any competently modified pad, but the Ignition Pad addresses the issue nicely as well.
RedOctane also expanded their sensors across the full borders of each arrow to decrease missed steps and boost sensitivity. They might've made it too sensitive, actually, but I can't really say it'll hurt your combos one bit. One of the first songs I tried on the pad was 'R3' on Maniac, and I nailed a full combo with around a 95-percent Perfect score. I've done slightly better on my modded pad, but this wasn't bad at all for a first try on a new pad! Just for fun, I also lined up the Ignition Pad with the modded one for a few games of Doubles (where one player uses two pads), and while I did see some sliding on harder tunes, I was able to land a few 100-something combos despite the difference in size and texture of the two pads.
