Boogie (Wii)
- Publisher:
- Electronic Arts
- Developer:
- EA Montreal
- Release Date:
- 09.08.2007
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Music
- Reality Factor:
- Fantasy
- Extra:
- Comic Style
8 movies
We play Boogie...
Many press releases, many concept videos, many character explanations. After a weight of content from EA about their (literally) all singing all dancing new franchise for the Wii, the rubber finally hits the road. With the game in our hot little mitts we finally get to see if it lives up to all the hype.
Popping the game in the slot and firing it up, the first 20 minutes show why it was a difficult concept for them to communicate to the press and public. It provides a variety of game options that are loosely tied together by the use of a common disco styled character. The danger of all this variety is that it unavoidably results in a game that is mightily close to what we like to call a 'party games'. EA are trying to steer the franchise somewhat up market towards the family-gamers out there, so this isn't all to the good.
Let's try and untangle the game fro these various competing expectations. At the most basic level this is a great little series of music related play-things that will deliver enjoyment to a wide variety of players. This is evidenced by the fact that I spent one happy Sunday afternoon playing Boogie with my family, and before we knew it a couple of hours had whizzed by. The beauty of the game is that it really does suite a wide range of players, from the grown up to the just out of nappies.
Before you can get into the game proper, a tutorial stage leads you through the various decisions to be made about outfit, accessories and songs. Although this was something of a delay to the fun, it did a good job of introducing the main elements of the game.
Once you finished the tutorial you can start to enjoy the different game components. The first of which is likely to be the sing star style karaoke. Before playing this you need to unpack the microphone and get it plugged in round the back of the Wii into either of the USB ports. The singing is much like we have seen before in the SingStar series of games. It does a pretty good job of detecting your voice and scoring accordingly. The song list is somewhat limited though, we had expected there to be a wider range of songs as well. The majority on offer err towards pop and disco tracks. There isn't much here that your four year old will be familiar with.
Our favourite part of the game though, was the dancing. The whole family could enjoy the loose application of dance detection employed by the game. This worked by waving the Wii-Mote in time to a particular element of the song, so that your on screen character performed various dance moves, much to the hilarious laughter of our kids. The more gestures you managed to chain together, the more outrageous the dance moves become. It really is great fun tapping along to a song with your four year old. Particularly when you realise she is beating you, having strung 20 or so beats together.
The two main events of singing and dancing are rounded off by the ability to take the performances and produce a music video. This lets you apply different effects and edits to the recorded action and vocals. It is surprising how much fun can be had fiddling with the various settings. Although without the ability to share these creations with the wider world, there being on online function, we have to say that the enjoying here is limited.
Graphically, whilst the game isn’t going to win any awards it does have a unique look and feel. This strong art direction means that the characters are full of life, and the dancing is interesting and amusing to watch. Pretty much every part of the screen oozes character. For a game of this nature this has been an excellent design decision. The sounds also follow in the same vein. It provides a good collection of stylised hits and pops that accompany the movements of each character. This gives the characters a much more fleshed out feel as you can hear as well as see their personalities.
All in all Boogie is strongest when considered in a family setting. It isn't going to hold its own amongst the likes of Sing Star, Rock Band or Guitar Hero. What it does do however, it does well. This is particularly refreshing and makes you realise how much games neglect the wider-gaming audience. So often we find games playing to the same old hard-core that are subsequently pretty redundant for younger (or older) players. Whilst Boogie is pretty expensive for what it delivers, those of you with kids should certainly consider grabbing a copy as it will provide excellent entertainment (if not babysitting) value for money.
Top Game Moment: There is a moment when the singing and dancing suddenly click and start to make sense. Rather than two separate game elements, at times they really work together as the music rolls on. If only it happened a bit more frequently, this would be a much better game.
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| Pile up those combos! | So many dancers so little time! |
Popping the game in the slot and firing it up, the first 20 minutes show why it was a difficult concept for them to communicate to the press and public. It provides a variety of game options that are loosely tied together by the use of a common disco styled character. The danger of all this variety is that it unavoidably results in a game that is mightily close to what we like to call a 'party games'. EA are trying to steer the franchise somewhat up market towards the family-gamers out there, so this isn't all to the good.
Let's try and untangle the game fro these various competing expectations. At the most basic level this is a great little series of music related play-things that will deliver enjoyment to a wide variety of players. This is evidenced by the fact that I spent one happy Sunday afternoon playing Boogie with my family, and before we knew it a couple of hours had whizzed by. The beauty of the game is that it really does suite a wide range of players, from the grown up to the just out of nappies.
Before you can get into the game proper, a tutorial stage leads you through the various decisions to be made about outfit, accessories and songs. Although this was something of a delay to the fun, it did a good job of introducing the main elements of the game.
Once you finished the tutorial you can start to enjoy the different game components. The first of which is likely to be the sing star style karaoke. Before playing this you need to unpack the microphone and get it plugged in round the back of the Wii into either of the USB ports. The singing is much like we have seen before in the SingStar series of games. It does a pretty good job of detecting your voice and scoring accordingly. The song list is somewhat limited though, we had expected there to be a wider range of songs as well. The majority on offer err towards pop and disco tracks. There isn't much here that your four year old will be familiar with.
Our favourite part of the game though, was the dancing. The whole family could enjoy the loose application of dance detection employed by the game. This worked by waving the Wii-Mote in time to a particular element of the song, so that your on screen character performed various dance moves, much to the hilarious laughter of our kids. The more gestures you managed to chain together, the more outrageous the dance moves become. It really is great fun tapping along to a song with your four year old. Particularly when you realise she is beating you, having strung 20 or so beats together.
The two main events of singing and dancing are rounded off by the ability to take the performances and produce a music video. This lets you apply different effects and edits to the recorded action and vocals. It is surprising how much fun can be had fiddling with the various settings. Although without the ability to share these creations with the wider world, there being on online function, we have to say that the enjoying here is limited.
Graphically, whilst the game isn’t going to win any awards it does have a unique look and feel. This strong art direction means that the characters are full of life, and the dancing is interesting and amusing to watch. Pretty much every part of the screen oozes character. For a game of this nature this has been an excellent design decision. The sounds also follow in the same vein. It provides a good collection of stylised hits and pops that accompany the movements of each character. This gives the characters a much more fleshed out feel as you can hear as well as see their personalities.
 |
 |
|
| To be this good takes ages! | Sing it! |
All in all Boogie is strongest when considered in a family setting. It isn't going to hold its own amongst the likes of Sing Star, Rock Band or Guitar Hero. What it does do however, it does well. This is particularly refreshing and makes you realise how much games neglect the wider-gaming audience. So often we find games playing to the same old hard-core that are subsequently pretty redundant for younger (or older) players. Whilst Boogie is pretty expensive for what it delivers, those of you with kids should certainly consider grabbing a copy as it will provide excellent entertainment (if not babysitting) value for money.
Top Game Moment: There is a moment when the singing and dancing suddenly click and start to make sense. Rather than two separate game elements, at times they really work together as the music rolls on. If only it happened a bit more frequently, this would be a much better game.
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Boogie Wii Trailer
Posted 08.05.07
Length 00:41 Views 496 -
'One That I Want' Trailer
Posted 21.06.07
Length 01:34 Views 383 -
'Movie Maker' Trailer
Posted 28.06.07
Length 01:06 Views 326
