EyeToy: Groove

"Play was good. Is groove better?"

When eyetoy play came out, a lot of people went mad for it. It was a simple concept for a game; basically, you are put on the screen of the game, and you interact with the characters and objects in game yourself. This means that there is no controller. You are the controller.

Anyway, when Groove came out, some people, including myself, were rather skeptical of the gameplay. It sounded pretty much like a souped up version of Beat Freak, a game on Play.

But with that, on with the review.

Graphics- 9
Wow. The graphics on Play were good, but these graphics have improved the few flaws effortlessly. The new effects they have included include rippling of the screen when buttons are activated, disco lights in the background that do seem to be in the room with you, smooth movement of buttons and the like, and far more picture manipulations. There is no play room though.

Instead of the playroom, there is a chill out room where you can listen to one of the twenty five tracks in the game, even if you haven't unlocked them yet. This is very good, as the songs are not just instrumentals. Also, there are ten songs you can watch the music video to.

There are no characters in this game, which is both good and bad. There is no waiting while a character speaks to you about nothing, but also no introduction to the menus.

The movie that comes on at the start of the game is brilliant, but very long. And you ahve to watch it. It takes about a minute just to set the game up, then another five minutes watching the animated manual and intro movie, which incidentally you have to watch. This is a bit annoying, especially when it comes to replaying.

Sounds- 10
Being a dancing game, the sounds need to be good. And they are. Instead of having the first minute of 15 songs, there are full (or nearly full) versions of twenty five, count them, twenty five songs. Also, they are actually songs, nnot instrumentals apart from one or two. And the songs are good, apart from Las Ketchup, and the >shudder< Cheeky girls. But oh well. There are also tracks from Elvis, Junior Senior, Fat Boy Slim, and dozens of others.

Story- N/A
What do you want? The world is being invaded by anti dance martians? Basically, it is a dance game that is more involving than dance mats.

Controls- 8
They have improved from the last game in some ways, but faltered in tohers. As I have mentioned already, the animated manual has to be watched, which is quite sucky. But you can leave the screen for a bit, right? Background movement doesn't matter as much in this game as it did in the last, and won't screw up your go majorly. Some things are a bit fiddly, but oh well.

The menus are easier to navigate than before, and adjusting the camera no longer activates anything. How, I do not know. But it doesn't. The buttons are clearly marked, and the selection menus do not shoot past anymore. Howver, at the end of each game, you have to enter your name, which is bad. And slow.

Gameplay- 10
Basic and simple. All you have to do is stand in the middle of your screen and hit the little buttons as the images hit them. This is good, but some of the buttons move, which are hard to follow exactly, and others have trails behind them which means holding your hand there for a bit. Not th best idea on a motion sensor game. But once you have played a song or two, it is easier to get used to.

Overall- 9
Great, but a few small things just stop it from reaching the perfect ten. Not having to enter your name as much would be good, and so would slightly less movie to watch. But still, the great sounds and addictive gameplay more than make up for this.

Rent or buy?- Buy
Get this if you have the first eyetoy. Oh wait... I forgot to mention. You need the first eyetoy to play this one. Why? The camera. Bit sucky that, but maybe in the future they will sell the camera seperate. Anyway, buy this if you LIKED the first eyetoy. Yes, buy and enjoy. I (almost) promise you will.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/03