Last updated at 09:13, Thursday, 22 July 2010

From Broadway music to brain-eating zombies

Dance On Broadway: The toe-tapping sequel to the phenomenally successful Just Dance game

Dance On Broadway
n Publisher: Ubisoft
n Price: £24.99
n Format: Wii
n Age rating: 12+

IF YOU don’t mind losing your inhibitions and dancing in front of your friends without a care in the world (or a shred of dignity), then Dance On Broadway might be for you.
It’s the toe-tapping sequel to Just Dance – the phenomenally successful dancing game that married contemporary choreography with classic dance tracks – only this time the emphasis is on shaking a tail feather to 20 songs from popular musicals.
Instead of bustin’ some moves to MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This or Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic, players can dance and sing along to some of Broadway’s biggest hits. It’s quite an impressive list, too, with everything from All That Jazz (Chicago), Time Warp (Rocky Horror Picture Show) and Luck Be A Lady (Guys And Dolls) to Fame (Fame: The Musical), You Can’t Stop The Beat (Hairspray) and an absolutely brilliant Aquarius/Sunshine medley (Hair).
The idea is simple: you select a song you’d like to dance to, hold a Wii remote in your right hand and copy the movements of one of four on-screen dancers. It’s more of an interactive dance video than a game, if we’re honest, but it’s great fun waving your remote in the air (like you just don’t care). Although you’re scored for each move and are awarded an overall points tally, the motion tracking is all over the place, often telling you that you’re not performing moves when you know you are, but it really doesn’t matter if you’re enjoying yourself.
Up to four players can take part at the same time, dropping in and out of the action as the mood takes them. Each song is rated from 1-3 stars on both difficulty and effort and an indicator at the bottom of the screen previews upcoming moves to help you fine-tune your performance. Production values are top notch, with every song given its own choreographed dance steps, backdrop and suitably-attired dancers, so Time Warp features lots of leather, garish makeup and suspender belts while My Favourite Things from The Sound Of Music is all about frilly skirts, improbable hair-dos and bright colours.
Despite a flawed rating system and poor motion controls, Dance On Broadway will have you grinning like a loon in no time at all. It’s the perfect game for family get-togethers or letting off some steam after a hard day at the office or school, with a difficulty level that’s pitched just right so young and old alike can join in the fun.
Score: HHHHI

PokéPark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure
n Publisher: Nintendo
n Price: £39.99
n Format: Wii
n Age rating: 3+
ORIGINALLY only destined for a Japanese release, this Pokémon spin-off has finally made it to the UK. Aimed squarely at younger players, the game begins when legendary Pokémon Mew summons Pikachu to the Poképark – based on a real-life Pokémon amusement park that’s since closed – to find missing Sky Prism pieces to help restore the place to its former glory. Typically, this involves competing against other Pokémon in a series of mini-games, including ice and water slaloms, rope swinging, quick sprints and other mundane challenges. You can also befriend other Pokémon by beating them in side-quests – such as quizzes and real-time battles – and then swap between them to use their abilities to complete specific challenges. It’s definitely one of the best-looking Pokémon games we’ve played, but at 5-6 hours long it’s also one of the shortest.

Pro Zombie Soccer
n Publisher: Chillingo
n Price: 59p
n Format: iPhone
n Age rating: 9+
WHAT’S a guy to do when he’s surrounded by a horde of brain-hungry zombies? In the case of Pro Zombie Soccer the answer is easy: reach for the nearest football and fire off some of your best shots to takedown the approaching ghouls. Standing on the left side of the screen, you’re faced with waves of the undead entering from the right, so you need to move a slider to aim your kick and then release it to send your football hurtling towards your intended target. Holding down the button for longer periods will produce a more powerful kick – essential for taking out bigger zombies – while power-ups include a rapid shot, a ball that literally slices through several zombies at once and a screen-clearing laser strike. With 19 zombie-packed levels to play through, it’s an engaging if slightly brief arcade game.

Everybody’s Tennis
n Publisher: Sony
n Price: £19.99
n Format: PSP
n Age rating: 3+

EVEN the perpetually miserable Andy Murray would probably crack a smile or two if he spent some time playing Everybody’s Tennis. With its simple controls, admirable array of shots and bright cartoon visuals, anyone can pick up a virtual racquet and jump straight into a game.
Whether you’re competing against some of the world’s top players in the single-player campaign, taking part in an exhibition match or challenging your mates to a doubles match using the local ad hoc multiplayer mode, you’ll be lobbing, slicing and volleying with the best of them in no time at all.
As an added incentive to keep playing, post match points can be spent in the Pro Shop to unlock funky new hairstyles, ridiculous clothing items, extra equipment and several mini-games while a loyalty meter rewards with new moves and stat boosts.
 

GAMES NEWS
NEW XBOX 360 UNBOXED
A slimmer, quieter and noticeably lighter Xbox 360 was released on July 16. The revamped console sports an internal 250Gb hard drive, a super-fast Wi-Fi card, a whisper-quiet fan and a shiny black finish. It also comes with a built-in shut down mechanism that’s triggered if the device overheats, a problem that plagued earlier versions of the console . We got our grubby mitts on a pre-release version of the machine and were impressed with its stylish new looks. Expect to pay £199.99 or less.

LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED
It’s been 30 years since the first Pac-Man arcade game gobbled up blue ghosts and coins, so its makers have decided to celebrate the occasion with a new mini-game compilation. Due for release this autumn, Pac-Man Party is a Wii exclusive that features the famous yellow blob in his never-ending quest to escape from four hungry monsters. As well as a single-player story mode, the new game will also sport a points-scoring party mode for up to four players, more than 40 separate mini-games and the original 80s Pac-Man game in all its glory.

A PALER SHADE OF WHITE
Not content with tricking his way down mountains on a snowboard, Shaun White has decided to show off his skateboarding skills in a new videogame. Due for release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC later this year, Shaun White Skateboarding sees the 23-year-old Olympics gold medallist swap snow for concrete as players are challenged to race through urban streets and transform a dull, lifeless city into a massive skate park. With more than 80 tricks to master plus plenty of obstacle-packed races, co-op and competitive challenges and a local split-screen mode, it looks like Shaun will be skating all the way to the bank.
CheatZone
TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON; PS3.
BEAT the Autobot campaign to unlock Arcee while completing the Decepticon campaign will unlock Slipstream. Both characters can be used in Escalation and multiplayer modes.

MotoGP 09/10; PS3
TO GET your hands on a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR bike, simply beat level 20, while completing level 26 will unlock a Yamaha YZR-M1.

EARTHWORM JIM HD; Xbox 360
DEFEAT Billy the Bin to be able to equip your Avatar with an Earthworm Jim t-shirt or beat a Bonus Stage to unlock a Supersuit.

SimANIMALS: AFRICA; Wii
PAUSE the game and go to the Code menu. Enter ‘fcwj6w’ to unlock your very own pink elephant.

First published at 15:39, Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk