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Michael Jackson: The Experience (Wii)
by Anti
'Michael Jackson: The Experience' is a rhythm game released for the Wii in 2010. This is a spin-off from the successful 'Just Dance' series except, well, it just consists of Michael Jackson songs of course! My mom bought this game for our Wii at home because she wanted a game to do dance workouts too and all of us in our household are ... big MJ fans. I've started playing 'Michael Jackson: The Experience' since I came home for Easter holidays with the rest of my family and I can firmly say it's become an addiction- some flaws notwithstanding.
==---Gameplay---==
Gameplay for MJ: The Experience is pretty simple. You choose one of 26 tracks, all with varying difficulties to dance to. On the Wii version up to four players can play either as Michael or his backup dancers if they come in the song. You dance by following the avatar of either Michael or his backup dancers' movements on the screen with your Wiimote in your right hand, which corresponds to Michael's white glove, with different movements moving up along the left (or right if playing as backup) side of the screen; one has to time the move when it hits the top. How well you time and execute the move determines whether you get an 'OK', 'Good' or 'Perfect' star score for each. At the end of the song the number of stars is totalled up to give you both a number score and another star rating, this time out of 5.
That's really all there is to gameplay, and as a result it's very simple for people of any age to get into as all you're really doing is waving the Wiimote with no extra buttons to press. It's much more fun playing with others than solo and my sisters and I compete to beat each other's high scores. Providing your sensor bar is in a suitable place, it does a good job of tracking Wiimote movements and isn't forgiving on sloppy timing or movement. Sometimes I do think it has trouble tracking more than one player on screen, but then again this may depend on the size of your dancing area. Even though many of Michael's signature dance songs have been simplified so Joe Bloggs really does think he's doing 'Thriller' perfectly, the harder songs still do provide a real difficulty and a good workout! Trust me- at the time of writing this review I haven't achieved the full five stars on any song! Depressing...
==---Graphics---==
The graphics for the game aren't anything special. The menus and screens all have the same dark blue colour scheme which I think really fits the game's tone. The animation for avatar Michael and backup dancers is quite blurry and lack attention to detail, but at least they get all of Michael's signature outfits in and I like that the background videos pay homage to either the real videos of the songs or change throughout the song ('Black or White' is the best example of this because just like the real thing, the country background and backup dancers change every so often). Besides since the Wii isn't known for games which push graphical barriers on video game consoles I think I can let the average graphics slide overall.
==---Music---==
The 26 tracks in the Wii version of this game include:
-Bad
-Beat it
-Billie Jean
-Black or White
-Dirty Diana
-Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough
-Earth Song
-Ghosts
-Heal the World
-In the Closet
-Leave Me Alone
-Money
-Remember the Time
-Rock With You
-Smooth Criminal
-Speed Demon
-Streetwalker
-Sunset Driver
-The Girl is Mine
- The Way you Make Me Feel
-They Don't Care About Us
-Thriller
-Wanna Be Startin' Something
-Who Is It
-Will You Be There
-Workin' Day and Night
As you can see, there is a mix of MJ classics and some less notable ones. Annoyingly I have noticed that some other version of this game include more and/or different songs instead of having the same number available across all systems. Furthermore the Wii version doesn't come with the option to download new songs to play to like the Kinect and PSMove do.
==---Extra Content---==
The only other menu option other 'Dance' (that is the main gameplay mode) and 'Options' is 'Dance School. Basically, the overall number of star rankings are added together, so getting certain achievements on songs (i.e. getting your first 4* rating, getting 3* across a number of songs) unlocks training videos where professional choreographers demonstrate the real, complex dance moves of the MJ songs. Unfortunately this is the only extra content available in the game; there are no other modes that you'd find in other rhythm games (such as a Workout Mode) and whilst a lack of bonus options don't detract from the games fun, they do help stop me from getting bored of the game fast once I've mastered several of the songs by giving me something to work towards.
==---Overall---==
'Michael Jackson: The Experience' is fun for all the family and very easy to get into, but compared to other games in the same genre it's pretty basic- I believe that once I've had my fill of dancing to MJ songs I'll get pretty bored unless I want a quick exercise session at home. If you're an MJ fan the fun to be had dancing to all the classics might help you overlook the lack of content here, which is what I find myself. If you're a big rhythm game fan used to the likes of Dance Dance Revolution or even Just Dance you may not find a true 'Experience' here.
'Michael Jackson: The Experience' can be bought for around £9 on Amazon or even cheaper second-hand, which I think is an appropriate price for this game.
(Review also on Ciao under the username Anti_W)
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Dance on Broadway (Wii)
by sammy00
I have recently been reviewing all my collection of Wii Dance Games and if you have read any of the previous reviews you'll know they keep us entertained for hours! So I thought it was time to review the "Dance on Broadway" game, which until know I had been putting off as it was my least favourite, but after trying to play it ... again last night I figured I'd review it this morning while everything was still fresh in my head.
The "Dance on Broadway" Wii game focuses on West End and Broadway show tunes, allowing you to learn and perform the most well known music in the business. As with the other dance games for the Wii, you simply copy the icon on the screen, and follow their moves to score points. The best performer wins!
Dance On Broadway is presented in a standard Wii game plastic case. On the front is "Dance on Broadway" in Bold Black letters - hinting at then being lit up as if for a stage show. Surrounding this is various images of women dancing dressed up as a few Broadway characters.
The game has 20 songs which are:-
All That Jazz Chicago
Roxie Chicago
Time Warp Rocky Horror Picture Show
Cabaret Cabaret
Money, Money Cabaret
Dreamgirls Dreamgirls
One Night Only Dreamgirls
Luck Be a Lady Guys and Dolls
We're in the Money 42nd Street
Lullaby of Broadway 42nd Street
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Mary Poppins
You Can't Stop the Beat Hairspray
My Favourite Things Sound of Music
Bend & Snap Legally Blonde
Thoroughly Modern Millie Thoroughly Modern Millie
Little Shop of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors
Aquarius - Sunshine medley Hair
Fame Fame
Good Morning Baltimore Hairspray
Just Can't Wait to be King The Lion King
These tracks are a mixture of new dance routines and some of the Broadway choreography itself. The game loads quickly and is pretty easy to navigate which is good as it says it is suitable for ages 3 years and over. You simply hold the remote in your right hand and follow the on-screen moves. There are options for up to 4 players to play at any one time and some tracks offer varied choreography for each player. On screen lyrics also allow you to sing along - but this is not rated in your points - just for fun.
The problem with Dance on Broadway is that the song selection is very limited. You only get 20 songs and no option to download more unlike the 'Just Dance' games. Also some of the songs selected are a little slow, i.e My Favourite Things. I much prefer the faster songs to really get the blood pumping and feel like your getting a workout. Also I found the moves boring and they are often repeated in several routines, this lack of variety in both choreography and routines makes the game very repetitive. On the other hand some routines are far too hard and you have no way of keeping up with them as the onscreen icons are too small and do not give you enough warning.
Overall the game does not live up to the quality of Just Dance 1-3, there are so many Broadway shows the song list could have been endless. An option to download more would have made the game much more varied. We tried to get back into the game last night and ended giving up as we could not find it enjoyable!
NB:-When we first purchased the game it was priced at £9.99 from Amazon, it is currently priced at £6.53.
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Just Dance 3 - Special Edition (Wii)
by sammy00
After buying Just Dance 1 & 2, I eagerly awaited the release of Just Dance 3 after seeing some promotional videos on TV. Me and my mates love the Just Dance games and regularly meet up to play on them after a few drinks. As we do use Just Dance 1 and 2 a lot we needed a new game to come out to offer some more songs and ... routines.
Just Dance 3 was released on October 11 2011, and as I had preordered it from play.com it arrived that very day costing at the time £29.99. I soon decided to have a quick go and before I knew it I had been dancing around for an hour.
It has a similar format to Just Dance 1 & 2 although the menu and song selection process are slightly different, but this is an improvement. The menus are more colourful and bigger making it easier and more pleasant to move through the game. It has 49 tracks and with the Wii game you can download countless more in exchange for Wii Points. Some of the tracks include:-
Airplanes
Are You Gonna Go My Way?
Baby One More Time
Barbra Streisand
Beautiful Liar
Boogie Wonderland
Boom
Crazy Little Thing Called Love ]
Dance All Nite
Dynamite
E.T.
Forget You
Hey Boy Hey Girl
I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
I'm So Excited
Jump (For My Love)
No Limit
Only Girl (In the World)
Party Rock Anthem
Price Tag
Take on Me
Teenage Dream
But not only have you got all these songs and more but also more playing options. You can have up to 4 multiplayers and take part in the standard 'Just Dance' option or Duets modes, Medley and a Just Sweat mode to burn those calories off. By copying the onscreen image you score points. The person with the highest points wins and unlocks further songs and levels. With this game, the background changes with your moves as well.
The routines for 'Just Dance 3" are harder than the previous games. You have to use your whole body more rather than just your arms which means you work a lot harder. I preferred this as I feel I am tasking myself and having more of a workout. There are a wide range of routines so don't worry if you can't keep up with the fast paced ones. With 49 tracks you're sure to find loads that you like.
The range of songs is much better on this game and covers rock, pop and dance among others, and there is a lot of current songs featured which I love. The graphics are deeper and richer colours which brings the game up in its class and I feel the creators have really worked hard in maintaining the Just Dance fun while improving on the previous games.
If you love the dance games you're bound to love this!
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