Michael Jackson: The Experience (Wii) - Review by skarma

Introduction

With his sudden departure in 2009, music lovers worldwide had thought they had seen the last of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. But the aftermath of his death proved just how popular an artist he was as his albums quickly began charting once again all over the world proving that even in death, he was still a money maker. Noticing the appeal for anything Michael Jackson, developer and publisher Ubisoft have set about creating a game similar to their Just Dance titles on the Wii focused on the music and dance moves which made the man so famous. Does this leave a lasting legacy for the King of Pop or is it simply a cheap attempt to cash in?

Gameplay

Michael Jackson: The Experience is very similar in premise to Ubisoft's other dancing games, Just Dance, whereby you'll follow on-screen prompts to produce a dance routine timed to a variety of songs. As the game's name suggests, everything included in this game is focused on the King of Pop himself, with song selection and dance routines coming from everything the man has created throughout his career, from his early days all the way up to his more modern stuff. The name alone will be a big draw for certain people yet while the dancing is undoubtedly fun, it doesn't match Ubisoft's other games and the shear lack of content is sure to be a big turn off for some.

Composed of primarily one mode, simply known as Dance, you have instant access to all of the 20 plus songs included in the game, each of which either comes with a single or multiple difficulty settings allowing you start off easier and work your way up to the full blown routine later on when you think you're ready. As mentioned, you'll be dancing along to the song's routine, as created by Michael Jackson himself, by following on-screen prompts. For hitting each of these moves, you'll be awarded a rating and points which will add up to a final total and a star rating, with these stars being used to unlock the game's only other content: choreography videos showing you how to undertake the routines properly and giving you a few helpful tips. It's a simple enough premise and works but these on-screen prompts usually only appear for the start of a specific move and at times, you'll have to repeat the same move for a little while before the next one comes along. As the prompts disappear, you'll find yourself trying to copy the on-screen dancers and it's something that younger gamers may have issues with and something which could have easily been avoided.

You can't setup a setlist of songs to play in consecutive play so you'll have to return to the menu after each song before you can pick another one or even add in extra players. It's far from making the game a streamlined process, rather at times dragging it out in the hope of people not noticing the lack of content but it doesn't work. It's clear early on that there's little substance to the game and although having 4 player multiplayer certainly makes for a very enjoyable and entertaining experience as everyone tries to replicate the moves, there's little change to the gameplay and there's nothing to progress towards making it feel very cheap in comparison to other games carrying the same price tag, let alone other games in the same genre. While it does present some fun, the lack of content really is a major disappointment given the man whose name the game carries.

Controls

The Wii-mote is the only thing you'll need to control the game, with everything handled by way of motion gestures and a few button presses to navigate the menus. While there is a slight lag in the pointer functions in menus, the motion gestures fare well enough, although in most cases you can simply get away with shaking the Wii-mote in time to the general routine being played out, showing that the motion controls aren't particularly sophisticated so as to make it accessible for all types of gamers. There is the obvious issue of the Wii-mote's limitations and not being able to detect full body movement meaning that certain moves don't really translate well to the game at all yet they're still attached to some arbitrary movement of the controller to keep things moving along. They could have perhaps been a bit more sensitive as at times moves aren't detected or are detected slightly later than they should be, making it nearly impossible to get perfects for certain moves. It's manageable and will certainly suffice during party play.

Graphics

Very basic menus and a basic but clean HUD give way to colourful dance routines and sets for the gameplay and while it does bode a heavy resemblance to Ubisoft's other dancing game, Just Dance, this more than carves out its own visual style thanks in large part to the routines and the characters taking part in them. Each song has its own setting, again colourful and cleanly designed to make everything aesthetically pleasing although it's not exactly pushing the limitations of the hardware, as well as their own string of dancers, who've been motion captured to give a more authentic, natural look to the moves you'll be asked to replicate and look great in the various themed costumes, although the almost neon-like lighting surrounding the characters does look a little odd.

Sound

20 plus songs come included in the game, with instant classics such as Beat It, Smooth Criminal and Billie Jean included alongside lesser known tracks such as Streetwalker and Heal the World all making the cut alongside many more songs which cover many of the artist's albums released throughout his career. They're all original recordings and sound great but as you'd expect, there are only songs by Michael Jackson. The music comes in all types but there are some odd inclusions which feel out of place with the overall setlist, producing a much slower rhythm to dance along to which really causes these songs to drag a bit.

Final comments

Far from offering a truly engaging experience, Michael Jackson: The Experience is a bare bones dancing game which hopes to ride on the coattails of both recent success of Just Dance and the legacy of the man himself. It fails to provide the same level of content or fun as Just Dance which is a massive disappointment because of the number of classic songs and world renowned dance routines the man gave the world and feels like nothing more than a cheap cash-in. You'll get some fun out of it with friends and if you're a fan of Jackson's work but there's truly little here to sustain much in the way of prolonged play.

Pro: Dance routines are expertly carried out on screen, nice selection of tracks, fun in multiplayer setting
Con: Very little in the way of content, game hampered by the limitations of the controls, some odd presentation and song choices
Final score: 5.5

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