Boogie SuperStar – WII – Review

The original Boogie was released
last year and was a combination karaoke and dancing game. While sporting a sleek
style and look, the gameplay just didn’t come together and the result was
somewhat mediocre. Now a second Boogie has been released, and things have
definitely improved in this new iteration, Boogie Superstar.

Frankly, this game is squarely
targeted toward the teen girl crowd, although anyone can enjoy it. This is
evidenced by the Saturday morning cartoonish look, the ability to dress up the
avatar and the song playlist. The songs are mostly light pop songs, although
there are a few more edgy songs included. However, the songs that are more
“rough” have been sanitized for the game or are the already clean radio
versions, so parents don’t have to worry about inappropriate material. I don’t
really see the point to including songs that have to be cleaned, as the kids are
usually still aware of the missing content. However, the teens will be pleased.
My 14-year-old niece knew most of the songs that can be played in the beginning
of the game.

There are two main components,
dancing and singing. In the original Boogie, the dancing was not much fun and
could be accomplished by just waving around the controller without any attention
to the actual dance moves. Boogie Superstar has changed these mechanics and now
dancers have to match their movements with the Wii-mote to the required dance
moves and also in time to the metronome.

There are four basic dance moves in
the beginning, which are: crisscross, point, swing and roller. Eventually
players will learn 12 moves in all. Players can learn these moves in the
practice/tutorial area, where they learn to get their groove on. These moves are
introduced by text descriptions, which are then followed by a dancing
demonstration from the animated instructor. Players can practice these moves as
long as desired, and can revisit this area at any time. This is good, because
it’s easy to forget which dance moves the icons represent.
All the dances are designed for the handheld Wiimote, so it’s all about arm
movements. In fact, dancers don’t have to move any other part of their body, as
amusingly demonstrated by my niece, who looks like a statue with waving arms
when she plays the game. But, hey, it works for her, as she beat me every time
in scoring, no matter how much I dance around the room.

While dancing, a metronome keeps
beat with a bouncing ball that moves back and forth across the screen in a small
arc. The ball changes color to reflect the player’s performance. Green is good,
red is bad, and yellow means the player needs to either move slower or faster.
The controls are tightly designed for the most part and the Wii-mote movements
are registered accurately. However, sometimes the beat metronome is a little
slower on the screen than the required speed.

The avatar will dance the current
moves designated by the icon showing on the screen, but some of these arm
movements are not quite the same as the actual movements the players have to do,
which can be confusing at first. But if players get confused as to the correct
dance move, a miniature trainer will appear at the bottom left corner of the
screen and helpfully demonstrate the right moves.

The karaoke component works much
better than in the previous game, and while still too easy on the easy levels,
is more difficult on the harder levels. Accuracy does count on these later
levels. Players will try to match their voices to the notes and words that are
scrolling across the screen. The horizontal bar notes are easy to match, as
players just need to move their voices up and down, and hold the notes to match
the length of the note bars on the screen. It does help, though, if players are
already familiar with the song.

The main mode is Star mode, where
players will play sets of challenges that are grouped in trios. Here, players
can choose the type of challenges they want and the number of human players.
There are different background sets to choose, as well as whether to play
karaoke or dance mode alone or with a partner. The song lists can be randomized
or selectable. Star mode is similar in concept to American Idol, complete with
mean judges and smart-aleck emcees.

By playing Star mode, players will
earn tokens depending on how successful they have been. These tokens can be
spent on new songs or new duds for their avatars. When first starting the game,
players only have a few items to place on their avatars, but more clothes and
accessories can be purchased with tokens during the game. The other modes allow
players to practice, shop for items with tokens, and to choreograph shows. The
choreography mode sounds cool, but while it does offer a lot of choices in show
design, it’s not as much fun in reality as in concept. It’s too much like work
and playing the pre-designed sets is easier.

Visually, this game is gorgeous. The
colors are vivid and bright, and everything in the game is highly detailed. The
different settings are attractive, and the characters are drawn and animated
superbly. This game looks great on the Wii, which usually displays cartoon style
animation much better than more realistic visual designs.

As to the music, I don’t really know
if the songs are sung by the original artists or not. Many of the songs I’m not
that familiar with, but my niece thought they sounded correct. I thought the
Jonas Brothers and Maroon Five sounded legitimate, but I could be wrong. The
in-game credits list the writers and publishers, but not the singers as such.

One odd note about the sound, the
audible speech (not songs) is not English, despite the English subtitles. The
game was made by EA Montreal, but I’m not sure if the language is French or not.
It does seem odd to have it in a different language for an English release. I
looked, but didn’t see an option for languages in the game’s settings.

We had looked forward to last year’s
release of Boogie, and were disappointed when we played it. It just wasn’t a
whole lot of fun. Boogie SuperStar, on the other hand, is almost everything we
wanted in a karaoke and dancing game. While both of these genres have been done
better singly in other games, this combination of dancing and singing
successfully draws in groups of girls and gets everyone on the floor to perform.
While the single mode does become a little boring after awhile, the multi-player
party mode is a hoot.

Boogie SuperStar is SuperCool, and
girls will love to get together and play it. It will be interesting to see how
the similar Disney Sing It (karaoke) and High School Musical (dance) games that
are soon to be released will compare. But as they just offer one of these two
genres of dance and karaoke, Boogie SuperStar will probably reign.

Gameplay: 8.0
Dancing and singing is what young teens love and this is a solid approach to
that concept. It’s easy enough so the singing-challenged can play with all their
friends and not worry about bombing out right off the bat, but challenging
enough on later levels so as to keep interest high. It’s all about party fun and
this fits the bill exactly.

Graphics: 9.0
Some of the best graphics I’ve seen on the Wii. The animation is smooth and
fluid, and everything is bright and colorful. Just the look that teen girls will
like.

Sound: 8.0
The music playlist is spot on for the target age group.

Difficulty: Medium
The level of difficulty increases as the game advances, but never becomes too
difficult.

Concept: 7.0
Well, there is nothing new here than from other karaoke or dancing games, but
the execution is excellent.

Multiplayer: 8.0
The most fun with this game is with friends.

Overall: 8.0
Teen girls will really enjoy this game, especially in groups. A definite hit for
any party or get-together. While there could have been more variety in the type
of content, what is here is solidly designed and appealing. Much better than the
previous Boogie, Boogie SuperStar is a good choice for any family with young
teen girls.

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