PlayStation 2

Boogie

I'm on the fence, but I'm leaning toward the Wii version being more fun, at least in the controls department. You're swinging a remote to the beat, rather than pressing a button, and doing combination actions is a bit easier. Between the two, just for graphics, you should go with the Wii version. Either way, you'll be stuck with a pretty short game. Looking back, I probably should have expected more from the Wii version of this game. But with no improvements or real changes over the Wii version, Boogie for the PS2 probably shouldn't be your first choice for karaoke fun on the PS2.

As mentioned above, Boogie is mediocre karaoke game. On the PS2, the game isn’t helped by an equally mediocre dancing component. It isn’t horrible by any means, but there are cheaper, better karaoke alternatives available on the PS2.

All in all, Boogie is a fun, albeit easy, rhythm game. If Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero intimidate you, then Boogie should be an adequate substitution. The selection of songs may even appeal to parents who used to boogie to the tunes. If you're a hardcore gamer who's already mastered expert on Guitar Hero or heavy on DDR, then you want to pass on this game.

If you're willing to commit to Boogie, mind, body and sooooul, it's a goddamned blast. But as much as we're ashamed to admit it, tapping buttons can't channel the exuberance of standing up and swinging around the Wii Remote like an idiot. It still stands out as a decent music game, but it's no less shallow on the PS2, and just as easy and short. And in case you couldn't tell, this is a game exclusively for kids and families, so don't throw out SingStar or that DDR mat just yet.

Our time with Boogie can certainly be described as unique. It's not cut and dry like the latest Dance Dance Revolution or the latest Karaoke Revolution, but instead offers up a strange hybrid with a look and feel all its own. The biggest problem is the lack of difficulty and subsequent lack of replayability, but while it lasts Boogie offers a pleasant distraction from the usual crop of rhythm action games on the market. It's a strange title but one that's not without merit.

It's a real shame that for every flicker of promise Boogie shows, there are twice as many setbacks just around the corner. For a karaoke/dancing merger, this is nowhere near as fun as it should be and for all the noise it makes, EA's Boogie just doesn't have the substance to succeed.

There’s a reason why we have the PlayStation Store. It’s for games like this that might contain some value but aren’t appropriate for a full $40 - $60 disc or bundle. Boogie is one of those games. It requires the Logitech microphone, which the average player does not have (hence the bundle). But as a $5 download, this game could have had a real market.

While Boogie seems like a good idea on the surface, it suffers from poorly executed gaming mechanics and too many bells and whistles without much substance. There are better karaoke games and better dancing games out there. For your money, you’ll be frustrated to have such a sub-par game with little going for it but a nice USB mic. You'll do better just to stay away from this one.

I guess if you really love your rhythm and karaoke games, have played all the Singstars, Dancing Stages, and Guitar Heroes to death, and are really looking for something new then you could justify picking up Boogie. However, be warned as if you have put a considerable amount of time into those games you will find Boogie’s offering quite limited. Everything about the game unfortunately seems a little off, and even though most people may buy Boogie with party intentions in mind its problems are still to big to be masked by any party atmosphere. On the other hand if you are a parent buying it for your kids then I would advise you to just not bother, as it offers no reward at all to entice kids to keep playing. Even the easy to use ‘create a music video’, which EA hype as the most exciting part of the game, is something that only the most stalwart amongst us would only use once or twice so the game more or less fails at ever juncture.

Très décevant que ce petit Boogie. La faute à des mécaniques de jeu bien loin d'être rodées. Trop tolérant et trop simpliste, le jeu semble s'évertuer à couper court à nos velléités de star. Boogie nous laisse en sueur, mais moroses. Peut-être qu'un deuxième épisode, mieux calibré, saura nous faire retourner sur les planches.

Boogie managed to hide some of its flaws on the Wii because the singing and dancing could be fun if you really got into it. Because there are no motion controls on the PlayStation 2, there's nowhere for the game's lousy controls and bevy of other flaws to hide. Thus, most people will likely see Boogie as a missed opportunity. It's far too easy, the tracklist isn't very good, karaoke is straight-up busted, and the dancing just isn't much fun. That's not what people are looking for when they spend $50 on a game.

With the lack of challenge, the absence of fun and no attempt at providing an experience for it’s target audience, EA has managed to produce one of the worst ‘games’ (if it can even be called that) that I have ever had the misfortune to play. It fails as both a rhythm-action game and as a kid’s game and I’m finding it hard to see who would be able to get more than half an hour’s enjoyment out of it. To not even be able to entertain a very easily pleased eight year old should provide enough of an indication as to how bad this really is. If not, the two-word summary from my niece should. ‘It sucks!’