Britney's Dance Beat
Score: 70% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: THQ Developer: Art Co Media: Cart/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Rhythm
Graphics & Sound: As Darth Vader once said, 'The circle is now complete.' Name a media, and Britney has probably taken it over. Now with the release of Britney's Dance Beat for the GBA, Britney can add one more notch to her belt. While THQ could have just slapped Britney's name on a crappy game and it would have sold; they actually put together one that is fun and somewhat addictive. The in-game graphics are rather bland and mainly consist of one of two static backgrounds, a clock-like dial, and Britney, however the true star is the animation. This is one of the most well animated games I have seen on the GBA. Every dance move flows smoothly into the other - even when she stumbles. It's unfortunate that for most of the game you are so focused on the rotating dial, that you won't notice Britney dancing. Since this game is based around music - you would expect good sound effects. Britney's Dance Beat does not disappoint - unless you are expecting CD-quality music. Instead, the game contains very nice instrumental renditions of five of Britney's songs: Hit me baby one more time, Slave 4 U, Oops I Did it Again, Stronger and Overprotected. Each song also contains a digitized sample of the 'important' parts of the songs. If you have ever played Moonwalker on the Genesis, the music is very similar in quality, only a little cleaner.
Gameplay: A, B, B, B, A, A, A, A, B, B - this isn't rocket science. Just press the buttons when the arrow on the dial points to them. Although the game gives total credit to Britney for the concept, this is Bust-a-Groove, meaning Britney contributed about as much to the concept as Al Gore did to inventing the Internet. For the most part, I liked the system, but would have preferred a more traditional horizontal scroll for the button combinations. But, if that is what Britney's concept called for, who am I to argue with a master game developer such as herself. :) Of course, the point of the game isn't just to watch Britney wiggle her way across the screen (although that adds to the appeal). As you progress through the game, you can unlock pictures of Britney for your 'Tour Album' as well as pictures for a Tile Slide' mini-game. These are okay, but the real reward comes after beating the Concert mode. Once again, this game does something to impress the hell out of me by including a 1-minute movie of Britney on stage. Okay, I know half of you are laughing right now, while the other half stopped reading when I said this game was fun - but hear me out, the FMV clips are really neat to see considering this is the GBA. Watching it is definitely worth playing through the game at least once. The biggest thing going against Britney's Dance Beat gameplay-wise is the length. This is a very short game. It's engaging enough to have you coming back to play again and try to get a better score, but unlocking things is way too easy and sucks all of the challenge of it. Unlocking new outfits, backgrounds, or songs for completing certain challenges would have beefed the game up a bit. Hell, I would have been happy if I could at least unlock the Pepsi commercial song - just give me something else to play towards and make it worth my money.
Difficulty: If you have slow hand-eye reaction times, this game is going to be hard. This game is all about timing and rhythm. From the options menu you can choose between Easy, Medium, and Hard. The difference being that the dial spins a little faster and a few more button presses are added as you move through the game. It is hard, but the learning curve is very generous (perhaps a little too generous at times) and with practice any player should be able to pick it up in no time flat. As the game progresses, it also throws in D-pad presses; this gives the game a much-needed kick in the pants in both difficulty and breaking up monotony.
Game Mechanics: Since the entire control scheme is basic and considering how important responsiveness is, you would hope that Art Co. would have spent a lot of time making sure it controlled perfectly. For the most part, it does - however I did run into a few parts where my button press would score a 'Miss' because the game didn't realize I was pushing the button at the right time. I will readily admit it could be that my reaction time was a little off - but throughout the game the controls never felt as tight as I would have expected. Ultimately, this game is going to come down to whether you like Britney (and her music) or not. If you think she is a godless jezebel and brazen hussy, you are obviously not going to like it. On the flip side, those who have shrines built in her honor will love it. Personally, I am ambivalent to Ms. Spears, but found the concept interesting enough to give it a rental. The great animation, as well as the FMV clip are good enough to warrant at least a rental.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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