Riding high on the immense popularity of the relatively young ‘song and dance’ party genre, Boogie SuperStar is a rhythm-action/karaoke hybrid in much the same vein as its wacky predecessor, Boogie. This time around, however, EA have shrewdly set their sights on the burgeoning female tweenie market, many of whom probably harbour secret ambitions of megastardom.
The storyline and setting for Boogie SuperStar are the stuff of pre-teen fantasy: as an unknown wannabe with loads of star potential, you have been selected to compete in a televised global talent show, to determine who’s got what it takes to be a Boogie SuperStar. The contestants are flown to a tropical island paradise, where they practice their moves in various exotic locations before dancing and singing their little hearts out in front of a panel of judges.
One feature which will definitely appeal to young diva fashionistas - besides being able to sing and dance with their friends, is the option to customise your avatar’s physical appearance and wardrobe. To begin with the choices are limited, but more become available as you progress through the game, earning coins with which you can unlock those stylish threads and must-have accessories.
Once you have chosen and styled your girl or guy to perfection, it’s time to hit the studio for a bit of practice and a lot of sweating. Yes folks, like many Wii titles Boogie SuperStar is basically exercise cleverly disguised as entertainment. While most of the dance moves can be executed by moving only the hand that holds the Wii remote, this is considered seriously uncool – bordering on cheating - by the younger generation, who may well refuse to play with such a lame piker. If you’re planning on spending some quality time with your kids on Boogie SuperStar there’s nothing for it but to brave the risk of slipped discs and shake those hips.
If you haven’t hit the dance floor since the glory days of disco fever, never fear; there are a number of prompts to help you get your groove on and impress those judges. First and foremost of these is the dance move icon, which tells you which move to perform. Initially these are (mercifully) quite basic, involving plenty of arm movement such as swinging, crossovers, pointing and rolling. You’ll eventually be able to unlock more advanced moves and stylish combos, but not until you have mastered the basics and can nail them with precision timing. To this end the onscreen ‘beat balls’ are a kind of visual metronome, moving in time with the music and letting you know whether you are moving too quickly or slowly – or performing the wrong move entirely.
The vocal component of the game is far simpler to master, since it operates very much like other karaoke titles, with scrolling lyrics and a pitch lines to guide you. The 40-odd tracks are high quality covers of recent hits, “as made popular by” artists such as Rihanna, Britney, Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, to mention but a few. If there’s a tweenie girl in the house with a collection, chances are you’ll have a good handle on these songs already. If you’re a glutton for punishment you can enable the Vickie’s Pranks option. Vickie is one of the judges and winner of last year’s Boogie SuperStar contest, and she has a number of short-lived but nasty little tricks up her sleeve to make your job a little tougher. These include shifting your voice to a different pitch, muting the music, or even hiding the note bubbles. Of course, a true star will simply take such minor irritations in her stride… the show must go on, after all.
Visually the game is pleasant enough to look at and the glamorous, Bratz-like characters with their big hair and hip clothing are a major draw card for the girls. The various dance moves are well animated, and the special effects are suitably glitzy but simplistic enough not to interfere with your concentration.
Despite having a rather limited range of appeal, Boogie SuperStar is a marked improvement on last year’s effort. If we were to appraise the individual elements on their own merits, nothing would really set either of them apart from other singing or dancing titles. However the whole, as they say, is greater than the sum of its parts. As a complete package Boogie SuperStar has plenty to offer. Pre-teen girls will get plenty of mileage out of this one.
