U-Dance
U-Dance Reviews
Ok, you’ve seen trailer here & it’s also on youtube com as well as now 3 videos showing hard level in action & 1 video showing the box, tutorial, easy & medium modes. Search “U-Dance game” on youtube. Also is “Chris Brown on Ellen” from megami284 & the end part is him using it on EASY: youtube com/watch?v=YeQmddHX24Q
Plastic structure: It’s basic hard plastic in 3 pieces that you click together. Once put together, it’s VERY hard to pull apart w/the plastic tabs (manual says not to), luckily it’s very small considering. It take 4 AA batteries & the lid has a small screw, not a tab closure. There is no DC plug out. The included a/v plugs are sealed into the unit w/place for it to wind around for storage. They are composite yellow for video & white for MONO sound which plugs directly to the TV. You cannot use any other cable for better a/v. The unit has a simple on/off slider switch on the back. The sensors are simple, stretchy soft fabric straps even for bare feet w/simple grey colored semi-reflective octagon top. I’m surprised it’s that simple & it works great/perfect.
Video/Audio – Very simple graphics, but great choices considering all the memory/programing is somewhere small in the plastic housing. The background dancers on are a loop, but they are good choices & you don’t notice while you’re concentrating on the feet graphics. Knowing which is your feet & the ones you are suppose to step on is very easy to see. The background colors are bright & positive w/o being so colorful you can’t see where you are suppose to go or where you are at the time. The menu is very simple & you step & hold on the “buttons” on screen to make your selection. It can do up to 12 profiles using 3 initials & it has 2 player option (take turns). You can choose which song & easy, medium & hard (locked until do all 12 on med). There doesn’t seem to be any score retention that I can see except an ultimate high score when you are actually playing & only a check mark by a song if you cleared it, I’m not sure what score you need to get a check mark. This is one of the only cons. There is an up to 9.9 score right after you do a dance is done like a reality judging show as there are a static drawing of a woman & 2 male “judges” who turn over a circular card. If you do very poorly, which is practically missing EVERY SINGLE step, after a lot of low volume boos, the song ends w/a cheery, “Keep Practicing”. The scoring on Easy is VERRRRRYYY generous which is a good touch for kids & not be too negative & keep them motivated. The sound quality considering is good enough to keep you motivated w/o complaint & the cover songs are good as well.
Extra Mini Games: There is “Lounge lizard” with very basic floating semi-static drawn lizards that accumulate & move faster on higher levels that you kick out of the way to keep them out of the center spotlight. I found it too simply done & not enough time/effort on programming & dull. There is also “Workout” which looks like a treadmill & with tiny sneakers being your feet, you step on the diamonds, lightning feet & health circle & avoid gum, invisible feet & the air hockey looking circular controllers since they will literally put bars to keep you from moving fwd & then untimely push you back until you can’t move & ends the game. I found this mini game fun & great for foot/eye coordination.
There are 12 songs to choose from: ABC (Jackson 5) Run It! (Chris Brown) Don’t Stop the Music (Rihanna) 1, 2 Step (Ciara) Everybody Dance Now (C + C Music Factory) U Cant Touch This (MC Hammer) I Like to Move It (Reel to reel) Cotton Eye (Joe Rednex) Temperature (Sean Paul) Crazy in Love (Beyoncé) Dance, Dance (Fall Out Boy) Get the Party Started (Pink)
Gameplay:
Your “feet” glow, then smolder, then have small flames if do really well. The crowd boos & cheers & you get a metal bell ding or a low buzzer sound depending on how you do as well. You step into the newly displayed feet when the feet turn from dull green/red (green = left, red = right) to bright so you know when to move on beat. This is handy in EASY mode where the movement demand is very slow & you’ll move too fast & off tempo sometimes. The feet displayed are numbered as well so you can tell how to do them in order when several are on the screen. As I said, the sensitivity to your movements is precise & impossible to do any better. I was blown away by this. You step where it tells you & even sweep over any arrows between where you are & should be for more points. You don’t have to be perfect on the steps, a good 60% is fine, it only comes an issue if when you’re a bit off & the a new step shows up is partially on where you are & it will see it as a mistake/too soon. Easy I would say is 1/8 the time of normal dancing. Very slow & easy for anyone with low coordination or low physical endurance. In Medium, the speed was 2/3 the speed of normal dancing, quite a difference, but easy enough to pass even the first time though many mistakes & fun trying to keep up. Still very simple for those who are natural dancers. Great for teenagers or adults to play with for many hours as well as kids. Oh, btw, there is almost no learning curve, you get used to watching what you see & knowing where your left/right feet are within 2-3 song attempts for teenagers or adults. Just like any other video game/controller.
At the end of the song, before you get “judged” there is a bonus 10 seconds where you sweep/move your feet to get rid of all the arrows to add to your score. In some songs, watch out for the white “bumpers”, if you hit them, you lose all bonus.
It’s a GREAT idea, works well, almost perfect toy & a GREAT gift for anyone who likes to move/dance, who wants to learn to dance, who wants a fun way to exercise, who wants a way to improve coordination, or even a party game w/friends. The only cons/minor inconveniences are the batteries, the a/v plugs, mono sound (though considering doens’t sound bad), lack of score retention, more songs & lack of foldability in half to make it really compact for storage.
I have tried a DDR knock-off 2 years ago before I got my wii & I couldn’t do it AT ALL after even an hour or so trying. I’m impressed with anyone who can follow little arrows & hit them at the perfect second. I found this style MUCH easier/less learning curve, not as strict on perfect timining on easy or med & as said, more freedom in movement.
I really hope this kills DDR & opens up more games ideas & play both for dancing & possibly other game ideas & uses. In a lot of ways, this is as good as a Wii title. This really has a potential to be used for other games for great interaction, maybe even for the hands? I hope this game idea is marketed unlike the Playsation 2′s Eye Toy camera game line which was also great but wasn’t marketed at all.
This was written when I paid 70 & hence cons/quibbles & 4 stars. For anything under 50 this is a GREAT value/STEAL & 5+ stars.
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