Overview
I have to be honest, when I first received “Dancing with the Stars” in the mail, I was a bit nervous. I’ve only seen about 3 episodes of the show and wasn’t too sure about the video game version. I knew it would be a rhythm based game that involved using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, but would I be doing twirls? Jumps and spins? Pirouettes? I’m not that good on my feet and hoped that my lack of dancing skill would not translate to an unpleasant time of no fault of the game itself. Being a fan of rhythm based games did pique my interest in the title and with this curiosity driving me along with a bit of anticipation of what was to come, I popped the game in the Wii. In the end, I found myself to be happily surprised! This is one game I probably would not have personally considered for purchase, but now that I’ve played it, I can say it’s a great game that provides a unique and fun experience for gamers of all ages. Especially gamers looking for a rhythm or party game on the Wii that doesn’t rely on using your legs to step on different arrows. Its balance of simplicity mixed with good control methods and a true to the TV show way of judging your performance makes for an entertaining game.

Dancing with the Stars also features a multiplayer component that has you and a partner dancing to the beat side by side. No online play is included in the game, but no biggie, it’s more enjoyable playing right there with a friend than with some online person who doesn’t share in the physicality with you. Half the fun of the game is watching the players get up and “get down” and the “flair” they add to the moves as they dance. You can go all out and perform outlandish moves with your hands as you play, or you can keep it simple and sit on the couch just going through the motions. For the full experience, I highly recommend you stand up, feel the music, and get into the game, pushing aside any worries of looking “silly.” That’s what it’s all about! Having fun with your friends and family while enjoying the music and moving and grooving.

Graphics
Graphically, Dancing with the Stars does its job very well. The menu and cursor used to select various options, the scenes showing the judges giving you scores, and the dancing and stages
themselves are all cohesive to the theme of the show. It sparkles like a dancing game should! Flashing lights, bright colors, and elegant ballroom style outfits flesh out the visual effects. The actual motions and time line you are watching to perform moves fit perfectly with the art direction and in no way detract or look out of place. Everything pops and works very well. The famous people you dance as, with big names such as Emmit Smith and Mario Lopez, are as recognizable as the judges themselves. The accents from the judges are even spot on, and we’ll touch on that next.

Sound
When it comes to playing rhythm games, one thing I expect is a good mix of music that is played back clearly and with the best quality possible. Dancing with the Stars delivers in this department with a great selection of music for each dancing team. Depending on which famous couple based on the actual show’s contestants you play as determines the selection of music. Each team has different songs they perform to. The music ranges from licensed music like “The Final Countdown,” “She’s a Lady,” “I Like the Way You Move,” and much more. Playing the game in single player mode will unlock more songs for you to conquer as you progress with different teams. The music is high quality and sounded top notch coming from our 5.1 surround setup. If you’ve seen the show at all, the music will be familiar and sound as good as from the TV program. It is so easy and fun to get in a zone while playing thanks to how well the moves match up with the beat and style of dancing.

When it comes time to be judged based on your performance, there is an announcer just like the MC from the show and the judges give you their opinions with their regional accents intact. The dancers don’t speak in the game but that’s OK as their body language reactions to the judging speak volumes. In the end, the sound and musical selection is fantastic and exactly what you would want to hear when playing a rhythm game, especially if you are a fan of the show. It does not disappoint.

Gameplay
If you have played rhythm based games in the past, Dancing with the Stars is going to be very easy to pick up and play. If you aren’t used to rhythm games, it doesn’t take long to understand what’s going on and how to get into the groove of the game. On the main menu, select from Quickplay, which puts you right into the game with a song from your unlocked list, Single Player mode, which you can use to unlock more songs, Multiplayer mode, which offers a Versus and Co-op mode, a Practice mode to help you work on your moves, and Options, which allows you to tweak various aspects of the sound and such. If you select Single Player mode, you are then asked which performer set you would like to play as. Choosing a team of dancers determines which music and dancing style you will be performing as you play through a total of 4 songs. Finishing the set with a particular team then unlocks more performers and in turn more music and styles for you to choose from.

Once you select your dancing duo you will then be prompted to choose between the male or female performer, and this is just up to you, it has no impact on the difficulty of the moves. After selecting your character, you choose to play either Amateur or Professional which does impact the difficulty of the moves. Completing a Professional set unlocks the music and dancers for both, Amateur and Professional gaming, whereas completing an Amateur set only unlocks the songs and dancing teams for further Amateur games. Once you choose your difficulty level, the show begins and it’s time for you and your partner to hit the stage. When you are done with your routine, the judges will give you their opinions with fully modeled replicas of their real life counterparts complete with their voices and even the little paddles they raise with the scores. Each judge looks for a different quality in your dancing be it precision, hitting each move and not missing one, or how well you perform the “Flair” moves which are discussed in the next section.

The multiplayer mode offers both, a versus style of gameplay that pits you and your opponent against each other with the same song and dance moves to see who performs best whereas co-op mode features you and your partner working as a team to complete a list of 4 songs. Practice mode allows you to select any song from the unlocked list and work on your steps.

Controls
Playing Dancing with the Stars is quite simple with a few twists. Literally! There are no moves to carry out with your feet in the Wii version, it’s all handled by the motion sensing capabilities from the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. There is a timeline on the bottom of the screen where the moves are displayed for you to follow along, going through the shown motion and hitting the Z or B button as the move enters the target window. Holding the Wii Remote and Nunchuk out in front of you, you will fling the Nunchuk up, down, left, or right and press Z or you may need to move the Wii Remote in a determined direction while pressing B at the precise time the move hits the target window. Sometimes the moves are kept simple while at other times you are moving both controls in different directions simultaneously while pressing the corresponding buttons. There are also hold moves that involve you holding the button and the movement shown until it shows you when to release. Ideally, you want to not only ensure you pull off each move shown but also at the precise time the move strikes the center of the target window.

“Flair” moves, special moves which are quite fun, involve performing a certain dance for a few seconds. Whether it is the Mashed Potato, the Locomotion, the Hand Jive, the Wave, or another popular dance, you perform these for the length of time as shown by the extended Special Move bar. This is honestly one of the most fun aspects of gameplay. Whether you’re the one doing the “Twist” or watching another friend or family member trying their best to “Stir it up”, the Flair moves really bring this game beyond just your average rhythm game. None of the Flair moves are tough, and it even shows you on-screen how to do each move. There also seems to be a bit of leeway in the area of making sure you’re performing the dance moves exactly, or just doing it the best you can. You don’t have to be MC Hammer or Fred Astaire to carry out the Flair moves, just do your best “Wave” and have fun!

The controls also seem to be very precise given the fact they rely on the motion controls inherent in the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. The only time we felt frustration setting in was when we couldn’t perform the moves due to our own confusion, not because the controllers weren’t doing as we thought they should. Overall, the controls work very well, but it’s up to you to decide how into the game you want to get when it comes to giving it your all to the dance moves as they come across the screen.

Bonus video of my wife playing! Special guest: Our baby Andrew!

Last Word
I myself am a long time gaming fan across all consoles, PC first person shooters included, and can mix it up with the most hard-core out there but I still have a soft spot for these rhythm games. Being someone who is not taken to watching Dancing With the Stars on TV, I probably would have skipped the game over thinking I wouldn’t know what is going on, but it’s really quite inviting to all kinds of gamers of all ages, even those that have never seen the show. It doesn’t rely on you knowing the stars in the game or on the show nor does it have any kind of ruleset that could be confusing. It’s a very straightforward rhythm game with controls that the whole family can pick up and have fun with. The graphics do their job nicely as does the sound, the controls never hinder the experience, and the package as a whole equals a good time. I would recommend Dancing With the Stars to anyone even remotely curious about a rhythm game on the Wii, especially one that doesn’t need an additional investment in dance mats, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is a fan of the show.