Dance Summit 2001

Dance Summit 2001 is the third game in the Bust a Move series, which is better known as Bust a Groove in the Us. Unlike most sequels, Dance Summit 2001 plays completely different from the first two games. This is a gutsy move as it can alienate fans of the previous games. In the first game, it was a dance off between you and one other. In Dance Summit 2001 you make up one part of a dancing group. The point of the game is teamwork rather than outdancing everyone. You have to sync your moves up to those of your teammates. In addition to a new premise, Dance Summit 2001 also features an entirely new gameplay engine, which I will do my best to describe.

The gameplay in Dance Summit 2001 is now much more akin to Parrapa the Rapper employing the "watch and repeat" style of gameplay. The game will go through a string of commands and then have you input them. The commands are laid out in a sequence from left to right. A light will pass over each icon in the sequence and as it does you have to hit the corresponding button. As stated above, the game will go through the sequence once before you have any input so as to give you an idea of the layout. After the cpu goes through the sequence it is your turn. When you finish the sequence, a new one pops up and the cycle starts over. With this system your timing has to be perfect on all button presses unlike the other two games where only the last button press mattered.

At the end of every other sequence is the free command. This is where teamwork really comes into play. You can press any of the four face buttons during this free space. If you press the same button as one, or all of your teammates you will perform a special team move. While the cpu is going through the sequence you can press which button you want to do for the free command. The icon will then appear over your character portrait at the bottom of the screen. This will let your teammates know what button you plan to press. If three team members press the same button, the fourth goes into fever mode and steals the spotlight dancing solo while the three of you are left dancing backup. If two people choose the same thing they will go into a duet. If one half of your team choose one button and the other half choose another, you will go into Tag mode. This is like a duet only each half of the team gets a chance to nab some of the spotlight. If three team members choose the same thing and the fourth misses the button press you will go into trio mode. Finally, if all members press the same button you go into a quartet. This feature adds a bit of strategy to the game and really emphasizes the teamwork aspect. It works well and can really add to a multiplayer game. You can yell out to one of your friends to join in, or have them sit back so you can get a fever. Dance Summit 2001 supports up to four players simultaneously with the use of a multitap. You all share the same button sequence, so you can't really go off and do your own thing. That's where the free command comes in handy. If you've got four friends who aren't too "manly" to play this style of game, you can have some great fun.

At set points in each song you may encounter an intermission. The intermission will only appear if you have done exceptionally well up until that point. The intermission takes you to a different part of the stage and is much more difficult. It features faster, more complex button sequences. Along with the added difficulty comes more points. These intermissions can either be a blessing or a curse. On the one hand they can really screw you up if you aren't careful. On the other, if you're good enough they can give you some extra points and make you look cool in the process. You can look at them as a test of skill or a way to stop overconfidence.

I've got two gripes with the new gameplay engine, there is no audio or visual feedback to let you know your timing was right. It would've been nice to hear a sound as you press each individual button, or maybe have them disappear as you press them. This way you know you pressed it on time. Granted, the visual clue wouldn't work well with team play, but it still would've been nice to have a clue that you were doing it right. Though, I'd be lying if I said there were no visual clues. At the bottom of the screen are the portraits of each character, as you press the button the portrait will pulse or fuzz depending on your timing. This is nice, but it's rather hard to look down at the portrait while you are concentrating on the button sequence. To tell you the truth, I can't really think of a way to work it out. I suppose it's not that big of a deal, they did the best they could.

My other gripe is with the lack of control over your dancer. Since the button sequences are the same for all four players, you can't really choose what move you want to do next. Your only chance to have any input on what your dancer does is the free command. Your dancer will do something different depending on what button you choose and who chooses it with you. One of the things I really liked about the first game was the ability to choose moves on the fly with different button presses. It actually felt like you were making your character dance, rather than watching a show. Dance Summit isn't horrible in this respect, I was just disappointed after having so much control in the first game.

That's about all there is to the gameplay. There are eight total teams that each feature their own original music and dance style. Each team has four members to choose from giving you a total of 32 playable characters. You cannot mix and match teams, so when playing multiplayer you must all pick from the same team. When you first begin the game, you will only have half of the available teams at your disposal. As you complete the team mode, you will unlock the others. Each of the teams has it's own distinct look and style. For example, one team is made up of Disco dancers that feature a look straight out of the 70's with music to match. My favorite team is a group of Mexican Lucha Wrestlers that dance Capoeira style. Their stage is none other than a wrestling arena filled with spectators. When one of your dancers go into fever on that stage, they dance atop one of the corner posts. I'm also fond of the team that dances in an arcade. Part of their stage actually takes place in a classic arcade game. The character designs are reminiscent of the past games, though they are all new with no returning characters. I would've liked to have seen Strike or Shorty in here.

There are eight total songs in the game. All of the songs are full length and last around three to four minutes each. Each song is representative of the respective team. Like past games, there is a nice variety, though it doesn't stray far from J-pop. Everything from techno to disco is present. Though not as good as Bust a Move, the soundtrack is still quite entertaining. However, the number of songs present is rather disappointing. Thankfully, you can unlock remix versions of each of the eight songs. While not completely new, they are better than nothing. So, I guess you could say there are sixteen total songs (eight original and eight remixes). I've heard there are also a couple more remixes, but I've not unlocked them yet so I can't confirm it.

Dance Summit 2001 feels more like a side story than a true sequel so those expecting more of the same will be disappointed. In fact, you are better off forgetting Dance Summit 2001 has anything to do with the previous Bust a Move games. Don't buy this game looking for Bust a Move 3, buy it because a team dancing game sounds like something you'd enjoy. While the song selection is rather small, the game is given some artificial life in the way you have to unlock new songs. This seems like a cheesy way to extend the game's length but it works. While I remember hearing about a possible Us release a while ago, I highly doubt that will ever happen. All of the menus are in English, so if you want the game, there is no reason to wait on a Us release, if one ever happens. Dance Summit 2001 is fun to listen to, fun to play and the multiplayer possibilities are certainly there. If you can get over the relatively small amount of songs, it might not be a bad purchase. I'd recommend this game to fans of Parrapa style rhythm games with one caveat. Don't expect a ton of songs and don't expect it to play like previous games in the series. OK, so that was two. Sue me.

©2002 Ed Finnegan

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