Dancing Stage EuroMix

Summary
The arcade comes to your living room with this mega dancing challenge. Do you have the rhythm to dance to the beat?

Description
Type: Dance
Platform: Playstation One
Players: 1 - 2 players
Age: 3 plus
Game Time: Endless
Developer or Designer: Konami Publisher: Konami

Pros


Cons

Review


As the name suggest, EuroMix was a game specifically made for the European Market. The sequel to the first Dancing Stage game, it was originally in arcades from 1999 before being released for the home in 2001.



The aim of the game is to follow the sequence of arrows that appear on the screen by tapping your feet on a dance mat. While the concept is simple, the execution is incredibly difficult. Although there are several difficulty levels each with their own sub-difficulty level, even the easiest beginner stage highly challenging to someone who has never played or does not have great co-ordination.



While EuroMix is excellent for those who are skilled at the game and really want to test themselves, it can be quite demoralising for beginners, who are going to struggle with even the easiest levels.



There is a 'Lessons' section that teaches you how to best tackle the dance steps. Transferring those lessons into the main game, however, takes a lot of practice.



There is a 'Training' mode, which allows you to focus on specific sections of a song, so you tackle one sequence at a time. I did, however, find this confusing to operate, and wasn't really sure what I was doing.

EuroMix is not the most user friendly of games, as I find the descriptions of some of the features in the options menu very unhelpful at explaining what they do. During gameplay, the flashing background images can at times be desecrating and make it difficult to spot when the arrows are coming up. Also, you cannot pause during gameplay if you say, need to adjust the portion of your mat or simply don't like the song and want to exit. You have to go through the entire song and let it end, before you can exit.

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EuroMix has twenty-eight tracks, which include Konami originals and the best hits of the time. It is great to listen to nostalgic songs that are hardly around anymore. Among the best you will find 'Mucho Macho (Sway)' by Shaft, 'So Good' by Boyzone, 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor and 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles. You are, however, limited to which ones you can play, depending on your skill. Most are too manic for the average player.

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On the upside, determination and constant practice will improve your rhythm and coordination. The challenging steps provide a good workout and really get your heart pumping. If exercise is the main dimension of the game that interests you, there is a 'Workout' mode too. This counts how many calories you burn during a song - surprisingly few.



You will probably find yourself best motivated in two-player mode, as it is always more fun to compete with a friend to get the high score.

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Although not perfect, EuroMix still a fun way to get exercise. It would be interesting if Dancing Stage made a comeback with a new contemporary game that suited all abilities and was easier to customise.

Categories
#arcade
#playstation
#ps1
#dancing
#video_game
#2_players
#single_player
#1_player
#multiplayer
#music
#dance_mat

%giventogaming