Country Dance returns on the Wii with all new tracks, choreographed routines, and modes to give you the dance fever as you fire up your favorite country tracks.
There’ve been a lot of dancing games lately on the market, all of them utilizing pretty much the same magic formula of mimicking dance moves performed onscreen by digital dancers and getting the player to actually build up a heavy sweat while having fun. The combined power of dance and exercise is a force to reckon with, and it’s probably the major reason why these titles are so popular in the video game community at present.
With the over saturated dance genre, the Wii Country Dance 2 game tries to stake its own territory by catering specifically to country music fans. In the game, players take a Wii remote in one hand, pick out a country song from an extensive list, and mimic the song’s choreographed dance routine performed onscreen by animated dancers. To aid in this endeavor, icons highlighting the next few moves scroll on the bottom to cue players in on the upcoming steps. Also, the song’s lyrics appear as well in order to cater to those who like to sing while dancing.
The tracklist features over 30 hits from various popular country artists. You’ll get to groove to Carrie Underwood’s “All American Girl”, Gwyneth Paltrow’s “Shake That Thing”, Rodney Atkins’ “Take a Back Road”, Eric Church’s “Hell On The Heart”, Easton Corbin’s “Roll With It”, and many more. All country hits have their own unique dance choreography, so nothing feels rehashed. In terms of song list, the game hits the nail right on the head by including the best country stars and their greatest works (although they seem to have missed out everyone’s favorite country song “Cotton Eyed Joe”).
However, Country Dance 2 simply isn’t up to par with the leaders of its genre like Just Dance. The game looks and plays like a slipshod and hurried release. The digital dancers look pretty blocky and uninspired, often cut out from the same generic model and only given different hairstyles and clothes to distinguish them from one another. The backdrops also use dull colors and boring set pieces.
The dance routines in the Country Dance 2 Wii don’t really hold up too well either. Sure, they’re choreographed nicely, but unlike Just Dance, they are neither hilarious or goofy enough to make you and your friends crack up, nor are they difficult enough to pose as an appropriate challenge.
Probably the worse aspect of all is the poor motion detection. If you aren’t that concerned about points and only want to dance, then you don’t need to pay attention to this detail. However, those who are keen on getting top marks in every dance level will be frustrated to learn that the game’s detection system is really awful. There are also actions that don’t seem to be compatible with the Wii sensors at all such as kicking dance moves. It’s baffling. Overall, Country Dance 2 may hold the current top spot in the country dance genre, but its position is pretty shaky.
Country Dance 2 can be played on the Wii console with the standard Wii remote. The game has multiplayer options as well.
Country Dance 2 feels like a hurried job that attempts to capitalize on the current craze in dance related games, and it probably is. With poor graphics, average dance routines, and forgettable gameplay, Country Dance 2 doesn’t feel like it’s a viable contender for the top spot in the dance genre. It may appeal to country fans, and the game still could give you a sweaty workout, but you may want to skip this one in favor of more well-developed titles.