Buy Nickelodeon Dance - Nintendo Wii

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List Price: $19.99
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I bought this for my daycare kids along with my own who are 6 and 2 and everyone thinks its a blast. The songs are great, the dance moves are so much fun and its pretty easy for them to follow along too. The words to the music are on the screen as well which makes it fun to sing along with. I love it just as much as the kids!!

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If you're someone whose TV is turned on to Nickelodeon more than a few hours a week, chances are your kids are going to love this game (and by extension, so will you). As with its predecessor Nickelodon Fit, it features some of your favorite characters from Nickelodeon, including Dora, Diego, the Backyardigans, and the Fresh Beat Band.

While Nickelodeon Fit had a great variety of different kinds of activties, there's only one activity in Nickelodeon Dance: dancing. The dance moves aren't nearly as complex as what you'll see on games like Just Dance or Dance Central, but many are simplified versions of familiar dance moves like the cha-cha or the twist.

The opening menu is pretty simple:

Quick Play

Dance

Workout

Achievements

Options

Whatever you choose for your first choice, you'll be sent to a tutorial. If you are familiar with Just Dance, game play should all be very familiar to you.

Three of your favorite Nickelodeon characters will dance on the screen, and your goal is to match the moves of the character in the middle, as if you're looking in a mirror. There are icons on the bottom of the page that tell you what move you should be doing and what move is coming up. As you hit moves correctly, stars will fly out of the character into a "score meter". The score meter only consists of three stars, and there isn't a numerical score count at all.

There doesn't seem to be any difference between "Quick Play", "Dance" and "Workout", except that with "Quick Play" you'll see a list of all four song categories, while with "Dance" you'll see songs from only three categories ("Starting Steps", "Smooth Moves", "Fancy Footwork), and with "Workout" you'll see songs from a fourth category ("Workout Songs").

You start by selecting a song. If a second player wants to play, they have a few seconds to press the "A" button on their controller to join in.

Each song has one of three icons to distinguish how much physical activity the song involves. There's 1) a "walking" icon, 2) a "jogging" icon, and 3) a "running" icon. If you're a parent that wants to wear out your kids, go for the "running".

Here's a complete list of the categories and songs:

Workout Songs

Down by the Bay Dora the Explorer (3)

Great Day The Fresh Beat band (3)

Limbo Rock Go, Diego, Go (2)

Rhythm is Gonna Get You Dora the Explorer (3)

The Lion Sleeps Tonight Dora the Explorer (3)

We Did It! Dora the Explorer (3)

Starting Steps Songs

A Friend Like You The Fresh Beat Band (1)

Al Rescate Go, Diego, Go (3)

The Backyardigans Theme Song (1)

The Fresh Beat Band Theme Song (3)

Get On Your Feet Dora the Explorer (2)

Dora the Explorer Theme Song Dora the Explorer (2)

Oye Como Va Dora the Explorer (2-locked)

Santa Claus is Coming Aqui Dora the Explorer (1-locked)

Smooth Moves Songs

Alouette Dora the Explorer (1)

Go, Diego, Go Theme Song Go, Diego, Go (2)

Joy to the World Go, Diego, Go (1)

Locomotion Dora the Explorer (1)

We Got the Beat Dora the Explorer (2)

Yeti Stomp The Backyardians (2)

Iko Iko Dora the Explorer (1-locked)

P.U. (Stinky Swamp Song) The Backyardigans (1-locked)

Fancy Footwork Songs

Dancing in the Street Dora the Explorer (2)

Music (Keeps Me Movin') The Fresh Beat Band (3)

Here We Go The Fresh Beat Band (3)

Rockin' Robin Go, Diego, Go (2)

Tuba Polka The Backyardigans (3)

We're Unstoppable The Fresh Beat Band (3)

Animal Jam Go, Diego, Go (2-locked)

Sleigh Ride Dora the Explorer (1-locked)

The songs are all cover versions of popular songs. The singing is done by Dora, Diego, or the Fresh Beat Band, and is characteristically high pitched and energetic, just like their TV shows. From my observations, I've found that adults generally fall into two categories: those who hear such cover versions as fingers on a chalkboard, and those who love them (primarily because their kids' eyes perk up and their feet involuntarily start moving whenever such a song starts playing).

For parents who are worried that the lyrics of games like Just Dance 3 are too suggestive, there's nothing at all to worry about here. Even very, very mildly suggestive lyrics (such as the phrase "every guy, grab a girl" in Martha and the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Streets") are rewritten to something very innocuous (in this case, "ever-y boy, and ever-y girl"). And as is often done in Dora songs, some of the lyrics are rewritten to teach kids about different hispanic and latino concepts (in the same song, places like "Philadephia, PA" and "New Orleans" are replaced with places like "Puerto Rico" and "Columbia").

One think I always check for in dancing games is how accurate the controllers are. In this game, the controller response is extremely lenient. First, I tested it out by playing normally, and easily scored three stars. Second, I tested it out by just waving my arm up and down to the beat, and scored three stars again. Finally, I decided to just lay the controller on the table--and I still got one-and-a-half stars. Of course, this would be a detriment in most dancing games, but because the audience for this game is pre-schoolers, it's actually an advantage. If a child in your family has felt left out while everyone is playing and having fun with Just Dance, they'll love the game that's "made just for them".

On the other hand, I imagine some children may realize very quickly that no matter what you do (or don't do), you'll get a high score. So I think the best way to approach this game is not so much to focus on the score, but just on having fun dancing with their favorite characters. Since they're probably dancing to songs that play on the TV anyway, this game adds an additional layer of interaction with their on-screen friends that they'll get excited about. There are also "Achievements" that you earn as you progress through the game by completing songs and earning stars.

Overall, this is a very basic dancing game that's accessible to preschoolers. I would have liked to see more options, such as the ability for different dancers to dance at different levels (this way a parent or older sibling could dance with a child and be somewhat challenged). I also wish the game could accomodate more than two players, as sometimes the whole family would like to get involved. Finally, it would have been nice to have had a little more personalization in the game, as this is something that would have brought the interactivity beyond what kids already see on the TV--for example, making use of the child's Wii character or allowing the child to be greeted by name (or even to store their name and their progress).

All in all, I'm giving it 4 stars out of 5. I wholeheartedly recommend it for a very specific group of people: parents of preschoolers who are fans of shows like Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go. Parents of older kids may opt for Just Dance Kids, and families of teens and older will probably want to stick with Just Dance 3 or its many variants.

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I started dancing with my daughter who's 3. I lasted 30mins, she lasted 5. I think she got frustrated because she wanted to dance, but didn't know the moves. Even the easiest level sort of assumes you know the moves before hand which is the only disappointing part of this game.

Now I am totally out of shape but I thought the dances were a great way to get me moving and work up a little sweat. And we haven't even gone to the work out section yet!!!

I think this is a great 'game' for the whole family. I don't need Jillian Michaels to get me going, yet!!

Honest reviews on Nickelodeon Dance - Nintendo Wii

The whole family including grandparents in their 60s, parents in the 30s, and tween brother and sister played along with the 2 1/2 year old who is a fan of the Fresh Beat Band. Only two players can play at once with Wii remotes but everyone can dance along. The game interface is pretty user-friendly for a 2 1/2 year old (she keeps pressing the A button on her mini Wii controller when told by the Nickelodeon characters) and really enjoys the music, dancing and familiar songs and characters. It's a good workout for everyone.

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I bought this game because my five year old was having trouble keeping up with my just dance 4 game. This is perfect and we both enjoy it. She can easily follow it and is getting a good workout because she dances through several songs at a time. I am planning to buy Nickelodeon Dance 2 later this week.