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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Sport Developer: Gorilla in Tampa Publisher: THQ |
When players look at “All Star Cheer Squad 2,” especially those who have done any sort of cheerleading, they may be a little bit cynical
about whether or not a game of this type could really be much fun. Cheer games seem to be aimed to teenage girls or younger, but
after a couple of hours with this game, even those who aren’t teenage girls may have a little bit of fun to be had with this game.
Before players are able to start running their own cheer squad, they will get to customize their character, as well as the outfit and colors
for the entire squad. Once they have gotten that all figured out they will get to choose how they would like to play the game. Players can
perform cheer moves with either the combination of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk or with two Wii Remotes. Unless players have an
extremely short reach with their arms, players are going to want to use two Wii Remotes to get rid of the restrictive wire between the Wii
Remote and Nunchuk. Players can also use the Balance Board as part of the controls if they want to increase the difficulty of the game.
When it comes down to it, the game is hard enough using the Wii Remotes, so most players won’t want to use the Balance Board with
this game.
“All Star Cheer Squad 2” works quite a bit different than its counterpart, “We Cheer 2.” Instead of following motion lines on the screen,
the game play is similar to the game play format of rhythm games. A Cheer Line on the bottom of the screen scrolls and prompts
players when they need to perform a move, dance and do different stunts, but players will only get full points if they are able to hit them
once they reach the center of the circle at the left side of the screen. A majority of the prompts consist of a blue and pink arrow, but as
the moves get more complex additional markers are included. The blue arrows refer to the direction that a player’s left hand should
face and the pink arrow refers to their right hand. The concept is fairly easy, but sometimes the directions of the arrows can be a little
confusing.
Unfortunately the game wasn’t able to take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus controller because that may have made the controls a little
more precise. At times some of the moves won’t register, even if the player’s Wii Remotes are pointing in the correct direction. Other
times it will show that players have done move that they haven’t. Some odd things happen in every routine, but the Wii Remote has
never been very precise. The controls can be a little frustrating but it doesn’t ruin the experience.
The tutorial system in the game unlocks as players advance through the game. Players will start by learning the basics of the game
and once they have worked through the campaign far enough another tutorial will become available to teach players new moves and
stunts. The annoying part of the tutorial system is the fact that players have to completely leave the career mode, go back to the tutorial
screen, finish the tutorial and then head back to the career mode where they left off. It would have been a lot more functional to have a
tutorial option inside of the campaign. One nice aspect of the game is the fact that any moves that players miss during a routine can be
put into flashcards decks that can be practiced. Of course players will have to head back to the tutorial section to access the flashcard
routines, so players may not use them very often.
The storyline of the career mode is very typical. The player take on the role of the new cheer captain on the Tiger Squad and that doesn’t
sit well with the former captains. It is up to the player to prove their worth to the team and in the end, lead them to a victory against their
rival squad, the Wolf Pack. Although a lot of the major story line pieces are very typical, they will still hold the interest of many players.
Also, the voice acting of the game is actually done very well, which makes the cut scenes of the game much more enjoyable to watch.
In order to be the ultimate cheer squad, players will travel to a variety of parts of the world, including India, Australia and Europe. There
are a total of fourteen locations that offer at least five events, with two or three routines to perform at each event. Also, in some of the
event areas players will be challenges by other squad captions to a one-on-one dance off. This means that players will get a good
amount of game play out of this single game.
The biggest problem with “All Star Cheer Squad 2” is that the motion tracking of the game is far from perfect, so players will get
annoyed with the game at times. However, the game moves very quickly, so players will forget about the bad areas of the game that
they run into. Other than the controls, the story and music will help keep players happy with the experience. Even though the storyline is
very typical of a game of this type, it is fairly addictive. Though the game may be a little difficult for young children, anyone that can
handle the controls will have a great time with this game.
about whether or not a game of this type could really be much fun. Cheer games seem to be aimed to teenage girls or younger, but
after a couple of hours with this game, even those who aren’t teenage girls may have a little bit of fun to be had with this game.
Before players are able to start running their own cheer squad, they will get to customize their character, as well as the outfit and colors
for the entire squad. Once they have gotten that all figured out they will get to choose how they would like to play the game. Players can
perform cheer moves with either the combination of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk or with two Wii Remotes. Unless players have an
extremely short reach with their arms, players are going to want to use two Wii Remotes to get rid of the restrictive wire between the Wii
Remote and Nunchuk. Players can also use the Balance Board as part of the controls if they want to increase the difficulty of the game.
When it comes down to it, the game is hard enough using the Wii Remotes, so most players won’t want to use the Balance Board with
this game.
“All Star Cheer Squad 2” works quite a bit different than its counterpart, “We Cheer 2.” Instead of following motion lines on the screen,
the game play is similar to the game play format of rhythm games. A Cheer Line on the bottom of the screen scrolls and prompts
players when they need to perform a move, dance and do different stunts, but players will only get full points if they are able to hit them
once they reach the center of the circle at the left side of the screen. A majority of the prompts consist of a blue and pink arrow, but as
the moves get more complex additional markers are included. The blue arrows refer to the direction that a player’s left hand should
face and the pink arrow refers to their right hand. The concept is fairly easy, but sometimes the directions of the arrows can be a little
confusing.
Unfortunately the game wasn’t able to take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus controller because that may have made the controls a little
more precise. At times some of the moves won’t register, even if the player’s Wii Remotes are pointing in the correct direction. Other
times it will show that players have done move that they haven’t. Some odd things happen in every routine, but the Wii Remote has
never been very precise. The controls can be a little frustrating but it doesn’t ruin the experience.
The tutorial system in the game unlocks as players advance through the game. Players will start by learning the basics of the game
and once they have worked through the campaign far enough another tutorial will become available to teach players new moves and
stunts. The annoying part of the tutorial system is the fact that players have to completely leave the career mode, go back to the tutorial
screen, finish the tutorial and then head back to the career mode where they left off. It would have been a lot more functional to have a
tutorial option inside of the campaign. One nice aspect of the game is the fact that any moves that players miss during a routine can be
put into flashcards decks that can be practiced. Of course players will have to head back to the tutorial section to access the flashcard
routines, so players may not use them very often.
The storyline of the career mode is very typical. The player take on the role of the new cheer captain on the Tiger Squad and that doesn’t
sit well with the former captains. It is up to the player to prove their worth to the team and in the end, lead them to a victory against their
rival squad, the Wolf Pack. Although a lot of the major story line pieces are very typical, they will still hold the interest of many players.
Also, the voice acting of the game is actually done very well, which makes the cut scenes of the game much more enjoyable to watch.
In order to be the ultimate cheer squad, players will travel to a variety of parts of the world, including India, Australia and Europe. There
are a total of fourteen locations that offer at least five events, with two or three routines to perform at each event. Also, in some of the
event areas players will be challenges by other squad captions to a one-on-one dance off. This means that players will get a good
amount of game play out of this single game.
The biggest problem with “All Star Cheer Squad 2” is that the motion tracking of the game is far from perfect, so players will get
annoyed with the game at times. However, the game moves very quickly, so players will forget about the bad areas of the game that
they run into. Other than the controls, the story and music will help keep players happy with the experience. Even though the storyline is
very typical of a game of this type, it is fairly addictive. Though the game may be a little difficult for young children, anyone that can
handle the controls will have a great time with this game.
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