Just when I thought we couldn't push the bar any lower for what qualifies as a rhythm action game on a handheld.
- - - - - Gameplay 4/10 - - - - -
In Britney's Dance Beat (Just the name makes it sound terrible right?), you press buttons on your GBA to the beat... sometimes. Theres a circle in the bottom left of your screen and bar thar sweeps around it. When the bar passes a button, you press it... sometimes. I say sometimes because its not always in-sync. Sometimes if you press the buttons with the beat, it won't line up with the bar and youll get a miss. Other times youll press it when the bar sweeps over it, but not with the beat. Its somewhat frustrating but the lame... press buttons to midi Britney Spears gameplay is bad enough. Theres a couple of sliding puzzles, probably the best part about the game, to keep you distracting from the dull gameplay.
- - - - - Graphics 6/10 - - - - -
The graphics aren't that bad, except for the horribly choppy animations of Britney dancing. And dance she will... No matter what. In fact you could stop playing the game altogether and Britney will keep up her choppy dancing that's unrelated to the music! The new buttons you have to press sort of "pop up" on the circle in an ugly way. It would be nice if there was some kind of smooth fade in. There is a video of Britney singing for a minute, but I haven't bothered to unlock it because the game is so terrible... and can we count that for graphics anyway?
- - - - - Sound 6/10 - - - - -
The sound is pretty decent, considering its on GBA and theyre real songs. Occasionally you'll hear something besides percussion and the annoying "ping" sound that they use for her voice (you know how midis sound). You can sometimes hear lyrics like "Hit me baby one more time" or one of Britney's dying moans like "Ohhhhhhohahhhaohhaohah" Out of the speakers it sounds terrible. With headphones, its alright.
- - - - - Value 3/10 - - - - -
Maybe this game has some decent length to it. Maybe its a day long. I'll never know. I stopped playing this abomination after about a half hour. Which is impressive considering every song is the full song. Meaning 3 minutes of rubbish pressing buttons. You might play this game for an hour if youre a die-hard fan.
Just don't buy this game. Theres not a whole lot to say about it. Its horrifyingly easy, boring, and just shouldn't be a handheld game. Go get Daigasso if you have a DS. Or if you only have a GBA... theres always DDR for GBC.