Boogie (Wii) Review
The innovative design of the Wii has led to the development of a number of titles designed in a pick up and play manner. Hardcore gamers have been left in the dark, with a noticeable absence of lengthy, deeper, more involving titles. The balance between more accessible, pick up and play titles and games like Zelda appears to be becoming more balance with the impending release of games like Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For now though, there is an abundance of party titles on the Wii, and with so many titles being released, the genre is becoming increasingly crowded. Games such as Rayman: Raving Rabbids led the way, though even now such a title is being drowned in a pool of poor imitation.
Boogie is another title that has the difficult task of standing out in the overcrowded party title genre. Fortunately, Boogie deviates slightly from the norm in that it is a karaoke and dancing game. With the huge success that the Wii has already become, and the popularity of games such as SingStar, it was only a matter of time before a karaoke game was released on the Wii. Does Boogie set a gold standard in karaoke games, or does it join the long list of Wii games that fail to deliver? Read on to find out.
Karaoke games might not appeal to everybody out there. In fact, I wouldnt hesitate to guess that many readers wouldnt even consider a karaoke-based title a game. Karaoke just might be something that people even love or hate. The question is whether people who do enjoy karaoke will find something to enjoy in Boogie. Upon starting the game, you are forced to play through a tutorial aimed at helping you learn how to sing and dance in the game. After this, you choose a Boog the characters in the game and customize him or her to your desire. After you are satisfied with the appearance of your character, your next step is a choice of games modes.
There are four main game modes in Boogie: story mode, dancing mode, karaoke mode, and battle mode. The story mode allows you to play through a series of levels (some dancing, some singing) for each character. Supposedly, there is a story behind each character, but the story mode come across as unnecessary and a little stupid. On top of this, the story mode is incredibly short, taking just a couple of hours to get through, if that. Apart from unlocking some items to customize characters with, there is little point to the story mode. You will earn tokens, which can be exchanged for new songs, levels, and items, but tokens can be earned the other modes too, so there is little incentive to play through the story mode.
The dancing and karaoke modes are obviously the main modes of play in the game. As their name suggests, one mode will allow you to dance to your choice of song whilst the other will allow you to sing along with your favourite song. Dancing involves shaking the Wiimote in any direction in time with the beat of the song. As you dance, your Boogie meter fills up which will allow you to execute combos (e.g., swing Wiimote up, down, left, right), pose for the camera, change your facial expression, and even lip sync. All of these actions will increase the amount of points you receive, and medals are awarded depending on how well you do. The dancing isnt incredibly deep; though trying to achieve gold medals across the songs is a decent challenge, especially on harder difficulty levels. Keeping in time with the song will require some rhythm, so those without rhythm will struggle to score it big. Each song has a slightly different tempo too, so youll need to adjust accordingly depending on the song. You can also change your dance move set by hitting the A button. Its a good idea to mix your style up a bit to accumulate more points. Moving around the stage is also possible, simply by tilting the control stick or dpad in the desired direction. Strange characters will also appear on stage from time to time holding little signs that when collected, will fill your Boogie meter or award you tokens etc. It can often be quite a task to dance in time with the rhythm whilst walking around the stage.
The karaoke mode allows you to sing along to a number of hits from yesteryear and today. Matching the pitch of the song is the key to getting more points, though it is very possible just to mumble the tune of the song and still score highly. Singing is certainly an embarrassing experience for many, including me, but with a few friends singing can be blast. Its hilarious watching a mate singing along to Dont Cha by the Pussycat Dolls, if slightly disturbing. The karaoke component of the game works pretty well, though the quality of the mic isnt special. Perhaps its just my horrible voice, but the vocals sounded a little dry and rough. Still, there is a good selection of tracks in the game, including such hits as Karma Chameleon and Cant Touch This. It should be noted that the songs are all cover versions, though most of them are done pretty well. If you enjoy karaoke, then Boogie should be enjoyable for you. Like the dancing mode, there are medals to be earnt if youre good enough, though humming should suffice for those who prefer not to sing. I even sung a song in a made up language and still managed to score decently. If you have a friend nearby, they can use the Wiimote and Nunchuk to dance too, thought it wont add to the score it allows a second player to be involved.
The battle mode in the game is the only real two-player mode, and it is simply a two-player version of the dancing mode. You each choose a character then choose how many songs you want to dance off to, and youre on your way. The only real difference is that there are some items you can collect that will hinder your opponent; one that freezes them for a short period of time and one that reverses their moves. The battle mode is ok, and having a dance off with a friend is fun for a little while before it tends to become a little boring and repetitive.
The final mode of sorts I havent mentioned yet is a mode that allows you to create your own video clips. After dancing or singing to a song, you will have the option of editing a clip to save and watch another time. I really cant see the point of this mode personally. Sure, it would be fun to direct your own clips, but the number of editing options at your disposal are few. You can choose from a few different camera angles and add some effects like black and white or inverted colours for example, but beyond this there isnt much to do. Some gamers may appreciate this mode, but a deeper editing mode with many more options would have been preferable over the limited mode that is presented.
Visually, the game is quite pleasing with its unique character design and clever use of cel-shading. Its a colourful game beaming with personality, though I just wish this personality came out a bit more in the story mode. The characters are interesting, but they story is slapped together in a way that fails to capitalize on the interesting characters. Sound wise, the game is a mixed bag. Whilst the song selection is good, the use of covers is slightly annoying. As mention though, the covers are mostly good and if youre singing loud enough, it shouldnt matter.
For those who enjoy karaoke, Boogie offers a decent entry into the genre for the Wii. The games main problem lies in that its two main draw cards dancing and singing are flawed in design. Whilst the dancing is repetitive and overly simple in design, the singing suffers an inability to detect singing from simply mumbling. Boogie is not a deep game in any respects, and for any lone players out there, Boogie cannot be recommended unless youre a diehard karaoke fan. That said, as a party game, Boogie can be a blast. The track list is pretty impressive and theres sure to be a song that everybody is dying to sing. Boogie has much room for improvement should any future sequels be developed. Personally, I hope a sequel is considered because with a few tweaks and a deeper, more intuitive dancing mode, Boogie could be a surefire party hit. As it stands, it fails to stand out in the crowd in which it stands. Its main redeeming feature being it is the only game that offers karaoke fans a chance to sing. Worth a look for karaoke fans, but for all other players, a rent is advised.
