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This thread has been linked to the game 'Diva Girls: Diva Ballerina'.
My girls love dancing and ballet so it was no surprise to find myself with a copy of this game in my hands after seeing it cheap on the store shelf.
The game uses the Balance Board and Wii Remote to teach children to control their movements and learn a series of steps which will later be re-played in a complete routine. In addition, there is a story to play through which acts as an introduction to the moves through a ballet school and beyond in to a routine in front of an audience.
Despite the box art featuring a photo the actual in-game graphics are bright and colourful cartoons of ballerinas. It works, though, because the characters are well drawn and can be dressed in different costumes that you can unlock as you play the game. A star in a sparkling circle around the ballet dancer shows you where your arm should go (only one arm, though) and at certain points during the performance an arrow will appear and the star will follow this. The player needs to follow the star at the same speed with their hand holding the Wii Remote in order to complete the move.
The Balance Board is also displayed on screen for the foot movements and will glow pink to show where your weight needs to go. This requires the player to move forward, backward or put the weight on one leg. The animated dancer on screen shows you what the end move should look like but after a few attempts its clear that there is a lot of leeway in pulling off the move by simply leaning rather than lifting the leg. While it could be seen as a disappointment to some, it’s actually better for kids who can’t quite balance and means that they can have a go without feeling too disheartened by rules that could have been a lot stricter.
Once issue we did find, which was more to do with the board than the game, is that my youngest daughter, who is 4, didn’t have enough weight for the game to recognise her leaning on the board. She could do the hand movements but the board often didn’t spot when she was leaning unless she really put a lot of weight on it.
The game keeps an eye on progress and lets the players keep a record of how well they’ve done. They can compare this to other players too. Other options include being able to check your wardrobe and swapping clothes with other console owners over the Wii’s wifi setting.
Best of all, you can use the Wii Wireless connection and your friend code to connect to other players and have a competition. Not knowing anyone with a copy of the game I couldn’t try this out but it’s a great option to have.
While it’s not as strict as Ballet school, the game captures the feeling of progressing through training and my kids got a buzz from performing in front of a virtual crowd, especially when they did well. If you have young girls and a Balance Board then it’s well worth picking this game up if you can find it under £15.
7/10
The game uses the Balance Board and Wii Remote to teach children to control their movements and learn a series of steps which will later be re-played in a complete routine. In addition, there is a story to play through which acts as an introduction to the moves through a ballet school and beyond in to a routine in front of an audience.
Despite the box art featuring a photo the actual in-game graphics are bright and colourful cartoons of ballerinas. It works, though, because the characters are well drawn and can be dressed in different costumes that you can unlock as you play the game. A star in a sparkling circle around the ballet dancer shows you where your arm should go (only one arm, though) and at certain points during the performance an arrow will appear and the star will follow this. The player needs to follow the star at the same speed with their hand holding the Wii Remote in order to complete the move.
The Balance Board is also displayed on screen for the foot movements and will glow pink to show where your weight needs to go. This requires the player to move forward, backward or put the weight on one leg. The animated dancer on screen shows you what the end move should look like but after a few attempts its clear that there is a lot of leeway in pulling off the move by simply leaning rather than lifting the leg. While it could be seen as a disappointment to some, it’s actually better for kids who can’t quite balance and means that they can have a go without feeling too disheartened by rules that could have been a lot stricter.
Once issue we did find, which was more to do with the board than the game, is that my youngest daughter, who is 4, didn’t have enough weight for the game to recognise her leaning on the board. She could do the hand movements but the board often didn’t spot when she was leaning unless she really put a lot of weight on it.
The game keeps an eye on progress and lets the players keep a record of how well they’ve done. They can compare this to other players too. Other options include being able to check your wardrobe and swapping clothes with other console owners over the Wii’s wifi setting.
Best of all, you can use the Wii Wireless connection and your friend code to connect to other players and have a competition. Not knowing anyone with a copy of the game I couldn’t try this out but it’s a great option to have.
While it’s not as strict as Ballet school, the game captures the feeling of progressing through training and my kids got a buzz from performing in front of a virtual crowd, especially when they did well. If you have young girls and a Balance Board then it’s well worth picking this game up if you can find it under £15.
7/10
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My girls love dancing and ballet so it was no surprise to find myself with a copy of this game in my hands after seeing it cheap on the store shelf.
The game uses the Balance Board and Wii Remote to teach children to control their movements and learn a series of steps which will later be re-played in a complete routine. In addition, there is a story to play through which acts as an introduction to the moves through a ballet school and beyond in to a routine in front of an audience.
Despite the box art featuring a photo the actual in-game graphics are bright and colourful cartoons of ballerinas. It works, though, because the characters are well drawn and can be dressed in different costumes that you can unlock as you play the game. A star in a sparkling circle around the ballet dancer shows you where your arm should go (only one arm, though) and at certain points during the performance an arrow will appear and the star will follow this. The player needs to follow the star at the same speed with their hand holding the Wii Remote in order to complete the move.
The Balance Board is also displayed on screen for the foot movements and will glow pink to show where your weight needs to go. This requires the player to move forward, backward or put the weight on one leg. The animated dancer on screen shows you what the end move should look like but after a few attempts its clear that there is a lot of leeway in pulling off the move by simply leaning rather than lifting the leg. While it could be seen as a disappointment to some, it’s actually better for kids who can’t quite balance and means that they can have a go without feeling too disheartened by rules that could have been a lot stricter.
Once issue we did find, which was more to do with the board than the game, is that my youngest daughter, who is 4, didn’t have enough weight for the game to recognise her leaning on the board. She could do the hand movements but the board often didn’t spot when she was leaning unless she really put a lot of weight on it.
The game keeps an eye on progress and lets the players keep a record of how well they’ve done. They can compare this to other players too. Other options include being able to check your wardrobe and swapping clothes with other console owners over the Wii’s wifi setting.
Best of all, you can use the Wii Wireless connection and your friend code to connect to other players and have a competition. Not knowing anyone with a copy of the game I couldn’t try this out but it’s a great option to have.
While it’s not as strict as Ballet school, the game captures the feeling of progressing through training and my kids got a buzz from performing in front of a virtual crowd, especially when they did well. If you have young girls and a Balance Board then it’s well worth picking this game up if you can find it under £15.
7/10
The game uses the Balance Board and Wii Remote to teach children to control their movements and learn a series of steps which will later be re-played in a complete routine. In addition, there is a story to play through which acts as an introduction to the moves through a ballet school and beyond in to a routine in front of an audience.
Despite the box art featuring a photo the actual in-game graphics are bright and colourful cartoons of ballerinas. It works, though, because the characters are well drawn and can be dressed in different costumes that you can unlock as you play the game. A star in a sparkling circle around the ballet dancer shows you where your arm should go (only one arm, though) and at certain points during the performance an arrow will appear and the star will follow this. The player needs to follow the star at the same speed with their hand holding the Wii Remote in order to complete the move.
The Balance Board is also displayed on screen for the foot movements and will glow pink to show where your weight needs to go. This requires the player to move forward, backward or put the weight on one leg. The animated dancer on screen shows you what the end move should look like but after a few attempts its clear that there is a lot of leeway in pulling off the move by simply leaning rather than lifting the leg. While it could be seen as a disappointment to some, it’s actually better for kids who can’t quite balance and means that they can have a go without feeling too disheartened by rules that could have been a lot stricter.
Once issue we did find, which was more to do with the board than the game, is that my youngest daughter, who is 4, didn’t have enough weight for the game to recognise her leaning on the board. She could do the hand movements but the board often didn’t spot when she was leaning unless she really put a lot of weight on it.
The game keeps an eye on progress and lets the players keep a record of how well they’ve done. They can compare this to other players too. Other options include being able to check your wardrobe and swapping clothes with other console owners over the Wii’s wifi setting.
Best of all, you can use the Wii Wireless connection and your friend code to connect to other players and have a competition. Not knowing anyone with a copy of the game I couldn’t try this out but it’s a great option to have.
While it’s not as strict as Ballet school, the game captures the feeling of progressing through training and my kids got a buzz from performing in front of a virtual crowd, especially when they did well. If you have young girls and a Balance Board then it’s well worth picking this game up if you can find it under £15.
7/10