I believe the ratings were really good from reviews across the board. Perhaps a bit of a hidden gem with most of the focus still on Parappa the Rapper a year earlier in 1997 or some of the many releases around 1998. (I just did a quick search to see what all was released and my goodness '98 was filled with titles ranging from Resident Evil 2 to Medievil to Xenogears. Hot dang.)
The eclectic cast of characters along with their respective tracks & backgrounds were spilling over in personality. Were I to pick only one (character & tune together) as a favorite, it would probably be Strike followed by Heat. I loved Frida's design and adored Kitty-N's theme. Hamm was so absolutely absurd, I couldn't help but have fun. Ha.
It is possible to beat single player using only the dodge to evade the opponent's special without attacking back. I've done it. A couple of the AI though could get spam heavy like Heat and the final boss Robo-Z or would attack just right before a 'dance solo' section was coming up making you unable to do anything until the dance off resumed as normal if you got hit. Strike was real nasty at that. He also had a tendency to perform his character specific 'secret moves' in the solo section for crazy high points. I think the sequel introduced a way to reverse or reflect the opponent's special back at them but some reason I never really got the timing perfected so I kept to dodging instead.
Speaking of which, the second title in the series was mostly good yet did not stick to landing as strong as the first one in my opinion. Now it was not bad at all. I still had great fun. Just between the two, the original felt better blended altogether whereas the sequel was well done. Strike continued to be my favorite (character & tune both) with Heat second and Kelly's track was freakin' dope.