Dirty Dancing
Preview
A series of mini-games for the casual gamer.
by William Thompson
previewed on PC
Getting off on the wrong foot
It is fair to say, that when a copy of the preview code of Dirty Dancing turned up at our doorstep, we all looked at each other and decided to draw straws as to who would take a look at it. Come on. We’re all serious (or at least semi-serious) gamers, looking to play test the next big title. A game based on the 1987 movie starring Patrick Swayze (re-released as a 20th anniversary edition this year) doesn’t exactly seem to fit that bill. But here I am previewing it, so you can guess who drew the short straw.
Dirty Dancing is basically a series of mini-games aimed at casual gamers and fans of the movie. Gamers start by choosing an avatar for themselves. For those of you who were hoping to choose an elf or dwarf character, you’ll be mightily disappointed, as the choices come down to just a male or female character. After selecting the gender of your character, the gamer can then select the look of the character with the options for skin colour, facial features, hair style and dance costume. The option list isn’t huge, but there is enough variation available to make an avatar that slightly resembles you in a cartoonish way.
Plenty of things to do at Kellerman’s
After selecting the avatar of your choice, it is then on to the games which take place at Kellerman’s Mountain House or more precisely throughout the camp area. At the beginning, you only have a limited number of games to choose from, but as you start earning money, you have the option to open up some of the ‘locked’ games.
The mini-games include a trivia game (with questions about the movie), a pinball game (probably my favourite), a game called ‘log balance’ which requires the gamer to walk along a log whilst avoiding a range of hazards, a jigsaw puzzle game and a treasure hunt game, which requires the gamer to find a list of objects (some are hidden in lockers or cupboards) in a scene in a specified amount of time.
There are more mini-games, ten in total, which each have 15 levels and each getting progressively more difficult as you work your way through them. Some of the games can actually get frustratingly difficult. Luckily, you do not need to complete all 15 levels of a particular game all at once. You are free to wander Kellerman’s camp as you choose and do as many levels of the mini-games as you desire.
