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Red Bull BC One Review
Written by Chris Buffa on Thursday, September 11, 2008
User Score
Decent hip-hop soundtrack, stylish though simple looking graphics, cheesy one-liners.
No coupons for free Red Bull, connecting dots and break dancing makes no sense.
Red Bull BC One is the only video game best summed up as "oh snaps". It's a music game, available for DS September 16, that challenges you to break dance and beat wise cracking opponents around the world, or at least that's what publisher Ignition Entertainment would have you believe. Unfortunately, you don't break dance at all. Instead, you connect dots while a blocky character on the top screen spins on his head.
That's basically the entire game. Developer Playlogic mixes things up by allowing you to trace the outline of a b-boy, score bonus points by spinning a disc and complete other mini games, but for the most part, it's your job to create shapes that somehow keep your dude dancing. You'll see a bunch of dots on the touch screen and you must connect them without crossing a line, the goal to score enough points to move onto the next stage. Meanwhile, your chosen b-boy dances in front of a crowd. Keep in mind that you won't see much of this performance, since you'll stare at the bottom screen most of the time.
Although Red Bull has its name and logo on the package, you won't see much of it in the game. Characters don't pause to sip the delicious liquid, nor do lots of ads pop up while you play. As for the visuals, the game has a neat art style that manages to earn style points despite lacking detail. There's a nice mix of oranges and blues, purples and yellows, and the animation (70 plus moves) is smooth and fun to watch when you get the chance.
Ignition also deserves kudos for the game's decent soundtrack, which is nice blend of hip-hop tunes that fit the break dancing theme. You won't move to the beat, but things sound great through headphones.
So here's the deal. On one hand, the game's so ridiculous that we can't help but enjoy it, especially when characters utter the following lines:
"You're new, and you're already the history."
"I'll show you the future."
On the other hand, connecting dots is so pre-school. You can't create a music game, in the age of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Dance Dance Revolution without at least giving us the illusion of creating music or tapping to the beat. Then again, with quotes like these...
"See my style and cry."
"I see your style and smile!"
...at least it's funny. Now excuse us while we go use those lines on the basketball court. We expect to be shot.
Robomo says: Red Bull has a multiplayer mode, but we only have one copy of the game.
posted November 17, 2008