Joystiq hands-on: Boogie
Electronic Arts' Boogie for Wii is not a very competitive game. You can stop grooving mid-dance to change your avatar's outfit (just with the push of the A button) and receive no penalty. The purpose of Boogie, though, is not to be involved. This game is very clearly targeted for that Wii demographic aged 5 to 95, and almost everything about it seems tailored to that push.
Playing the game involves the flick of the wrist to the beat of the song, which will subsequently cause your character to dance. You can move your dancer around the stage with the control stick, and at any time you can press a button to Strike a Pose, whereby you must maneuver an on-screen arrow (using the nunchuk) into a target. Singing is just what you've seen in other games, and there is a sliding bar to adjust the volume difference between the recorded vocals and your own.
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Though we saw some rather easy songs, an EA representative told us that the game's difficulty can get difficult, especially in songs such as MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This."
The music video was described by the EA rep as "Avid for everyone," referring to the popular video production software. There are four cameras you can maneuver and text and special effects you can add, including an option to make it pseudo-3D when you wear those red- and blue-tinted 3D glasses.
In terms of multiplayer, there is a head to head option, but you can also play by passing the control and by having one person sing and the other person use the Wii remote.
Boogie is not a groundbreaking title, but we don't think it was ever intended to be. As a game "for the entire family," so to speak, it'll probably do very well. Boogie is due out August 7 in North America and August 31 in Europe.
