Red Bull BC One
Score: 40% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Ignition Entertainment USA Developer: Playlogic Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 (1 - 2 Wireless Multi-Card Play) Genre: Puzzle/ Arcade/ Classic/Retro
Graphics & Sound: There are plenty of Nintendo DS titles out there that are a bit sub-par in the graphical department, and Red Bull BC One may very well fall at the bottom of the list. While not at all necessary to the gameplay mechanics, the environments (if you could call them that) and the extremely low polygon characters are laughable. On the other hand, you can totally customize your character, so that's a bonus... or is it? Did I say totally a second ago? What I meant by that was that you can change the colors of his low-poly outfits or change up the features to other extremely low-poly alternatives. Simply a joke. From an audio standpoint, you had seriously better love, and I do mean LOVE, techno. Of course, these dance styles are all about the beat, so I can't really razz the game too much for that. In that respect, the music is actually decent, and I do have to admit that I felt a bit drawn in, partly because of the beat, and partly because of the cheesiness of the sound. The game reminds you each time you boot that it is recommended to wear headphones to play Red Bull BC One, and it really does make a great difference as the DS speakers are pretty pathetic. With that said, if you're looking for a title that has very, very little production value, than BC One may be just up your alley.
Gameplay: It's time to hit the club and challenge your rivals to a dance competition like no other. It's up to you to take your b-boy moves to the tournaments through the exclusive use of the DS's stylus and touch screen. The way to perform moves is simple, yet increasingly difficult. As shapes appear on the screen, it's your job to basically play a timed version of "connect the dots" on the bottom while your b-boy works his magic on the top. Of course, you won't see any of the moves, because if you don't keep your eyes glued to the dots, you'll easily mess up and lose valuable lives. The main "dots" that appear are in the form of different shapes and colors, and range in number and frequency. The goal is to connect as many like-shapes together as possible, and in as many different patterns as possible, before the timer runs out and a new set appears. You'll also gain bonus points and multipliers for connecting the full amount of dots in one fluid path, no matter how jerky your line ends up appearing. Doing so will not only give you more points immediately, but also at the end of a successful round. You can earn quite a few bonuses like this as well. There are, of course, a couple of catches. The first is that if you let up from the screen as you're drawing, you will lose your entire line and have to start over. In the early rounds, this isn't that big of a deal, but as the amount of dots gets greater and greater, you'll need to connect the dots (and there will be a lot of them to connect) with definite precision. The other catch is that if you happen to run your line into a dot of another shape/color, you'll immediately lose a life. The gameplay action will not break there, however, so you can easily drop lives like bad habits if you get frustrated with a break in your drawing. The good news is that just because an unfriendly dot is directly in your path, you can actually draw a line around it and the path will continue uninterrupted. Red Bull BC One is quite repetitious, so don't expect a whole lot of variety in the gameplay. There are a ton of music tracks, although they are all quite similar in nature. In the single player game, you'll have to battle through 8 stages, covering 36 competitions, each getting more and more difficult. You can also go head-to-head with a friend in multiplayer mode, but you will both need a copy of the game to do so as BC One does not support Download Play.
Difficulty: As mentioned above, Red Bull BC One has an increasingly difficult flow to it, similar to that of puzzle games like Tetris or Klax. The difference here is that instead of falling shapes and tiles, you have to play connect the dots with the different colors and symbols. As you start, the game eases you into the foray with only a few different dots to connect, and with easy paths from dot to dot. As you continue on in your efforts to become the b-boy champ, you'll be faced with an ever-increasing number of dots, as well as many different colors/shapes to work around. While the nature of the game does seem simple (and it truly is), there is a level of addiction and difficulty that encompasses you as you continue. Feeling the pressure of time when you need to connect a large series of dots does get a bit difficult, but it is usually running your drawn line into the wrong colors/shapes that cause the biggest problem. Doing so causes a loss of life, and they can go fast in your frustration. You'll also have mini-games from time to time that have you drawing outlines around shapes of b-boy moves and drawing alternating circles on the screen to collect bonus points.
Game Mechanics: This title is very, very simple. There is nothing more than using your Nintendo DS stylus on the touch screen. You'll have to draw a line from dot to dot of like-colored shapes, avoiding the release of pressure on the screen or hitting an off-colored shape that stymies your connection. Learning to do this quickly will garner you some great (cough, cough) character dialogue. Red Bull BC One is very repetitious, but I do have to admit that there is a certain level of addiction to the game. From an outward appearance, BC One is a horrible looking game and only hard-core fans of this type of dance would want to check it out. However, it may be worth a rent for anyone interested in puzzle-style games, especially those that require quick thinking and reflexes, yet don't require much thought. In terms of overall content, however, Red Bull BC One is very basic and doesn't offer a whole lot of replay value. I would recommend waiting until this one drops in price if you plan to buy, because I would be quite surprised if it holds its value for a great length of time.
-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele
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