All-Star Cheer Squad does Wii rhythm gaming 'better than Konami has'

All-Star Cheer Squad may be a cheerleading game intended for young, "casual" players, but it doesn't sound like THQ and developer Gorilla Games have made a dumbed-down experience at all. If anything, it sounds more complicated than non-cheerleaders can handle, delivering a multifaceted motion-controlled rhythm game that, according to IGN's Mark Bozon, "(pulls) off the DDR-like experience on Wii better than Konami has."

Movements scroll by from right to left, and players are to maneuver the Wiimote and nunchuk into each position when the movement hits the middle of the screen. The game doesn't just judge successful motions, it also awards points for successfully "locking in" each pose (presumably holding still in the target position for a short time). If that's not enough, you can get the Balance Board out and add various step positions to the mix. Cheer Squad even includes a routine editor that can save custom routines to the Wiimote.

We've never had any interest in cheerleading, but as a premise for a rhythm-action video game, it sounds surprisingly fun.