Totally Rocks My Socks: Great Job EA! Lets Boogie!
Dancing and Singing is the main focus of the game. Entirely! The dancing is accomplished by simply moving the Wii mote in four main directions, using the nunchuk, if one desires to slide around on the stage. The nunchuk is also used when the player goes into the mode of Solo. In this mode you use the "Z" button to match the little blue bars flying across the screen. Each time you match correctly the model on the stage will move their lips to sing as well. The nunchuk also presents another case in which you are able to strike a pose by pressing the B button and then using the C and nunchuk control pad to move a cursor to the target. It is quite difficult to control at times for this but the payout in points is definitely good.
The controls are quite simple by themselves but once the music starts things can get quite hectic. There are two ways in which a player can really score points. They can either time their movements to the bar on the screen that goes green whenever it is time to move or they can listen to the chime in the Wiimote and then move in relation to that. Every correct move in accordance to the beat rewards points. The only problem is that if you continue to do the same move they give you less and less points so you are forced to not only keep moving in one direction but to alternate your movements. Another nice thing about controls is that you are also able to switch styles by pressing the A button to continue to score mega points.
After finishing dancing to a song you are able to make video edits and save these videos to the Wii and show them to friends. It would be best if there were a way to export videos. Video editing mode takes a while to get used to but with practice mode you are able to explore. It is quite nice because you can make up to 100 edits and show off those bangin moves!
There are several characters each with their own story modes. You get to unlock songs in this mode, listen to hilarious sounds and read hilarious text. I started with the "world famous Jet" character and it was funny. He kept calling himself the "world famous Jet" and he was able to "serve" the audience members. The story mode features a mix of karoke songs to sing with the included Logitech microphone (connected via the USB port) but you are able to skip this mode entirely and just do dance mode. You still are able to unlock everything so it really isnt that necessary if you have a desire to not sing. Singing is quite easy and is just accomplished by following the bars on the screen.
The song selection is fairly good. Most songs are classic favorites and are all family friendly. Some of the good ones are Karma Chameleon, SOS, and Dont Cha. They all have different beats and take practice to master but with the multiplayer mode if there are some friends around, you are able to score points well into the millions and then attempt the story mode for the songs that you missed. Multiplayer is one of the best parts because you have the dance off between two people. There are powerups that can freeze and reverse their controls, as well as the normal powerups in the story such as multiplier and boogie boost (which in boogie boost if you press the B button you are able to do special moves by staying in beat and following the directions on screen). It is quite fun and you do get to pick songs that you have bought and unlocked.
Boogie is basically a great game to have fun and play. It is quite amazing for what it is worth and is sure to please you if you like the music selection and can learn the controls to a fair degree. Sure it isnt suited for everyone, the hardcore guitar and rock fan probably wouldnt dig this game but probably others would. It is a great first entry for EA into this genre on the Wii. Hopefully they continue to do more with this system and expand their presence in this realm.