Grease is the word, in case you hadn’t already heard. The popular 70’s musical, encapsulated by the spectacular performance of John Travolta and Olivier Newton-John in the movie of the same name, is a show whose music is on the tip of tongues in nearly every household. Now it comes to a console near you, as 505 Games bring you Grease Dance.
The core aspect of the game, in case the name didn’t give it away, is dancing. Grease Dance gives players the chance to perform dance routines to the show’s many hits, set to the backdrop of the famous scenes from the movie. In case you are new to dancing games, you need to mirror the dancing on-screen, pulling off the moves seen in front of you. Timing is everything and the game does give some pre-emptive pictures of the next move to help you along.
As said before, timing is everything and depending on your accuracy you will get graded as either poor, ok, good or perfect. Getting anything above poor turns in a streak count and will multiply points earned in order to get that A+ rating at the end of the routine. In the midst of the routine is a small change where you are told to “Show your Moves”, giving you a chance to freestyle in any silly manner you see fit and earn some extra points.
The dance section is thoroughly enjoyable and the PS Move controls do a great job of picking up your moves as you try to keep up with the dancers. The background sets add to the fun and give the feeling of truly being apart of the musical masterpiece. Another plus is that all the great hits from the show are included, each with a different difficulty depending on the routine associated with each song.
As with most dancing games, the multiplayer enhances the fun, with up to 8 players being able to take part in some of the modes. For the standard dance mode, up to 4 players can take part either in a battle for the highest score, or in challenge mode which requires you to do various poses during the routine. Co-op gives a dancer and singer a chance to work together to get a high score, while team co-op sees two dancers and two singers going head to head for the most points.
Apart from the Dance mode, there is also Karaoke Mode and Minigames. Karaoke allows players to sing along to hits from the show. The karaoke works similarly to the singing in Rock Band and Guitar Hero titles, though perhaps not quite as accurately. Players need to hit the right pitch, though it appeared that singing the correct words was not really required and simply mumbling to the tune was good enough. A lot of fun can be had from singing the songs, but from a precision point of view it is slightly out of tune.
Minigames are a number of challenges set to the backdrop of more music from the show. These minigames require players to complete various tasks in a set time limit. These range from performing certain dance moves at given times, a panel beating level, as well an almost air guitar type challenge to name a few. Most of the minigames are a nice change of pace, but come across as a rather rushed experience. Pleasant to have some change of pace, but some more work on them would not have gone amiss.
Overall, Grease is an entertaining game. You would not buy it if you weren’t a fan of the musical, or interested in dancing games. If you have an interest in both, you simply cannot go wrong with Grease. It perhaps doesn’t promise too much, but what it does promise it delivers appropriately and its enjoyment as a party game certainly will not go down badly at all. Now if you will please excuse me, as I just met a girl… tell you more, tell you more? Okay, this way please.
Scoring
Gameplay: 7/10
Your enjoyment of Grease Dance will almost fully depend on whether you are a fan of the musical. If you are then you are in for an incredibly fun time. It is by no means an amazing game, but it does a good job of sticking you in Rydell High with all your favourite songs and dance routines. If you are not a fan, perhaps it is best to take your hair gel and leather pants elsewhere as you may very well be bored, and become a beauty school drop out.
Design and Presentation: 6/10
It has all the hits and some great animation, but it is far from mind blowing in any way. The sets are colourful, but it perhaps would have been more enjoyable if players danced with actual clips from the movie showing in the background, as opposed to animated versions of the characters.
Value: 7/10
There is plenty of content in the game with the dance mode, karaoke and all the minigames. Despite some of the minigames being a tad mindless, most of the options are good fun and will have you coming back for more.
Overall: 7/10
505 Games does a decent job of bring Grease to your home. With options of singing and dancing, as well as up to 8 player modes, there is a great deal of enjoyment to be had. Sure the loading times are annoying, the animations are just okay, but the music and dance routines are more than enough fun to make up for that.
Last Updated: December 13, 2011
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