Jungle Book Groove Party

by Bryony Harrison (follow)

2 players (71)      1 player (236)      Playstation (40)      PS1 (37)      Disney (16)      Dance (3)      PS2 (2)     

Summary
Sher Khan the tiger is after Mowgli, so Bagheera decides to take him to the man village for his own protection. But Mowgli doesn't want to leave. To prove that he can survive, show Bagheera his jungle moves.

Description
Type: Dance
Platform: Playstation 1, Playstation 2
Players: 1 - 2 players
Age: 3 plus
Game Time: 10 hours
Developer or Designer: Ubisoft
Publisher: Disney

Pros

Cons

Review



Long before the wizardry of the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft's X-Box Kinnect, Sony was way ahead by creating dance games that could get you moving. Sony developed a dance mat that worked just like a control pad, and brought out several games that could be played with it. The Junglebook Groove Party is one of those, and one of the few that games released for both the Playstation One (2000) and Two (2003) during the transition period.



Although the game included the dance mat when it originally came out, when buying second hand you are likely to have to purchase them separately. If you don't want to do this, you can still play using the control pad. That does however mean that when you have to press two arrows at once, it won't work.



One thing I appreciate about The Jungle Book Groove Party is how closely it follows the plot of the film; barely anything is changed. Due to this, they could easily have been lazy by using clips from the film for the cut scenes, but they didn't. They reanimated all the scenes so that you get a taste of what film might have been like in 3D.



Another bonus is the music. The Jungle Book has some fantastic songs, such as 'The Bare Necessities', and 'I Wan'na Be Like You', but new original songs were also created specifically for the game. These have great catchy rhythms that are sung by the characters. My only disappointment was that 'Colonel Hathi's March' was replaced with a new song that isn't quite as good.



There are five difficulty levels starting from easy (arrows fall slowly, one at a time) to crazy (multiple arrows falling very fast). Not only does this mean you'll always have a challenge to suit, but it is particularly good when it comes to two-player mode. If one person is advanced, and the other a beginner, the difficulty can be set the more experienced players have a handy cap, to make it more fair.



As well as pressing arrows at the correct time, there is another element to the game in the form of power-ups. These are performed in between dance moves, and can either help you or hinder your opponent by obscuring arrows or making rocks fall on top of them. The power-ups also use the arrow buttons, which I find can get slightly confusing. I think it would have been better if they utilised the symbols, such as X and O for this part.



There are two boss levels in Story Mode, in which you have to face King Louie and Sher Khan. Here it is slightly more challenging because they can make rocks fall on top of you if you don't beat them to a power up.



Aside from the main game, there is also a bonus challenge against King Louie. Here, 'I Wanna Be Like You' is sung by Lou Bega, who is most well known for his song 'Mambo No. 5'. If you complete the challenge, then it unlocks a music video, in which The Jungle Book characters dance with live action kids.

If you want to play a video game, but get exercise at the same time, then this is a great option.

Categories
#Dance
#Disney
#Playstation
#PS1
#PS2
#1 player
#2 players

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