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Michael Jackson: The Experience (DS)

Status: Finished playing
I started playing this game on Sunday 31 January, 2021  //  I stopped playing this game on: Wednesday 3 February, 2021
Current opinion of this game
No comment, yet.

February 3, 2021 10:47:28 AM
I played a few more songs and it looks like I've unlocked everything and...yeah, there aren't that many songs. 12 maybe? I think MJ had more #1 hits than that! (Thriller is noticeably missing...)

As a rhythm-action game I enjoyed how the creators toned down some of the usual elements to broaden the appeal of the game. The "hit" detection is binary in the sense that you either get it or don't - this is instead of the usual 5 levels of "quality" (poor, good, great, excellent, perfect) you find in most of these kinds of games. Arguably it's a simpler experience, but it makes the game feel less competitive and judgmental. I think this would appeal more to MJ fans...so, a broader audience than just rhythm-action fans? (I'm guessing hit detection was also more generous? I could be wrong though)

I also noticed that the game's UI sound feedback was nicely calibrated to NOT get in the way of the songs! I only really noticed this in a few slow/low volume songs when I could finally hear the audio UI feedback. Again, I think this was a smart decision - prioritize the music over the feedback because most people will want to play for the music.


February 1, 2021 04:52:44 PM
Huh. So this game is almost 100% Elite Beat Agents (Osu Tatake Ouendan) in terms of its gameplay. I think the only difference might be the "star power"? If not, it's exactly the same - uncanny! I haven't looked at the release dates or even the devs behind it but I was really surprised - especially for the "follow the dot with the stylus along the path" - it even includes those where the path gets to the end and you have to do it in reverse! Same arcs even!

As for the game, well, it's Michael Jackson's hit songs (mostly hits? well, some real hits and others not so much). It doesn't look like there are very many songs though (not surprised 'cause cart size/capacity?) but still..we'll see how long I play.

I did think that the use of a Jackson stylized cartoon was interesting. They could have used actual pictures? I'm not even sure if he was still alive when the game came out which would have made a difference/impact for sure.

I'm also sure I've seen this game for other platforms as well so I wonder how they differ since the DS version uses the touch screen - what did the other versions use?


 
kudos for original design to Rodrigo Barria