Michael Jackson wasn’t a man without his problems, but if there’s one good thing
we can draw from his passing, it’s that when Michael Jackson the man died, so did
all the flaws that so often accompany man.
I didn’t know him personally, so the problems he had in his personal life aren’t how I
want to remember him.
I want to remember “Thriller,” because that song is awesome.
It’s just nice to see all his controversy finally cede the spotlight to his music, because
playing this game, you’re reminded how insanely talented Michael Jackson really was.
And you know, this is coming from a Slayer fan.
The dude was incredible.
Unfortunately, his video games have been less so.
Michael Jackson: The Experience arrives on the Nintendo 3DS about a year after its debut
on the Nintendo Wii.
We’ve reviewed that game here on CGRundertow, a video for which I wore a glove.
Regrettably, no gloves are required for this 3DS version, a game that is obviously quite
a bit different than its Wii counterpart.
And I guess a little bit better.
So if you had this experience on Wii, you know all the experience really amounted to
was controller waggling that is either very generous or very **** broken.
Of course, that’s more an inherent problem with Wii dancing games in general than any
specific game, and so as a result, the King of Pop is a bit more regal on this platform.
There’s no waggle in the 3DS version.
Instead, you have to tap the screen and make specific shapes in time with the music.
If you’ve played Elite Beat Agents, you have a good idea what to expect here.
Swipe, tap, circle—this is basically Elite Beat It.
See what I did there?
Elite Beat It.
Oh, come on, that’s gold!
The choreography of the tapping is fine, but I did run into some problems with swipe recognition.
The game often didn’t recognize what lines I was drawing, which can be a frustrating
thing in a game based on drawing lines.
My sucking may well have been the problem, but even then, it’s hard to accurately draw
lines on the bottom screen when you’re looking at the top.
What am I, some sort of one-gloved Jedi warrior?
Even so, it still plays better than waggle, and in terms of content, it’s actually not
far from the Wii version.
There are 15 songs here, which is less than on Wii, but not by a whole lot.
You can also adjust the difficulty in this game, which is something you were not able
to do in the Wii version...and uh, what else...what else...
Oh yeah, Michael Jackson is actually in this one.
This isn’t what I would call a world-class portable rhythm game, but it’s not a terrible
one, either.
It’s in that solid middle ground that’s so overpopulated these days, but for 3DS owners
looking for something to tap to, it’s not the worst choice in the world.
It’s better than looking a strange glowing MJ, at least...and uh, there are zombies.
So there’s that.
It’s Michael Jackson: The Experience 3D.