(The interlude is somewhat Tl;Dr so if you're less interested in my journey discovering a new controller, skip down to [THE REVIEW]) I somewhat recently picked up a PSX to USB adapter to play with a NeGCon controller I was excited to mess around with, and that made me remember my Konami beatmania controller that was in storage... which led me down not only a novelty controller rabbit hole, but a rhythm game rabbit hole, exploring controllers and games I either long ago played and forgot about, but also down some new paths I haven't went down.

I picked up my old beatmania controllers, messed around with some Guitar Hero controllers, then finally picked up a new controller for DJ Hero, Taiko Drum Master, and finally Spin Rhythm XD.

I was intimidated to get a random midi dj controller in the hopes it would work right... that said, I finally caved on the Hercules DJControl Serato (edit: whoops, I meant Starlight, Serato is the name of the software) and I'm glad I did. While you can obviously get better controllers (there is one in one of the promo videos on this page where the wheels are not only noticeably bigger but have a good spin action that matches with what is happening on screen), this was a worthwhile investment for someone wanting to dip their toe into messing around with this game on an actual DJ controller (or a DJ controller in general, especially portable ones for mixing on phones). Would recommend if you have the extra $90 to blow on it... not sure if there are cheaper/better options in that price range. {As far as the controller goes, I find the jog wheels to be very accurate as long as you are using the touch-sensitive platter... for some reason, the jog wheels are jittery if you are spinning from the side without touching the platter. And yes I configured the the jog wheels to work with and without touching the touch-sensitive platter. Still recommend and find the controller highly accurate overall...excited to mess around with mixing in the meantime when I finally get around to it :p) All that said, I hope some people in the replies can recommend better controllers, would like to explore different options at some point.

[THE REVIEW] I was reluctant to get this game... but I'm glad I finally caved on it. Between all of the rhythm games I mentioned earlier that I either discovered or revisited, Spin Rhythm XD has been the most fun for me to jump into, just barely edging out beatmania. I dunno, maybe I have an attraction to the spin mechanics... but that said, I still find this game to be ahead of DJ Hero which has arguably similar mechanics. I've seen people in the review section say they enjoy it on keyboard/mouse, and I suppose I can see it... though as a novelty controller player first and foremost (I have never done any rhythm game on keyboard/mouse... the novelty controller is a large chunk of the fun for me :p) I could not tell you for certain.

As far as the song selection goes... lotta dubstep. Takes you back to an era for sure lol. Still some good songs sprinkled throughout (both dubstep and not-so-much, cold rock it is a noticeably catchy song imo).

In conclusion, I can absolutely recommend this game to anyone even remotely interested, even at full price. I will absolutely be picking up the dlc packs once I've played the songs already on offer.

Spin to the rhythm, it's FUN.

unique rhythm mechanic that doesn't offer too much depth