To say that Disney Studios has sunk to a new low would be giving the company entirely too much credit. With an understanding that the Disney Corporation is dedicated to educating and warping the minds of today's children, their newest game "High School Musical: Makin' the Cut" is the biggest piece of shit launched under the guise of a game since the heyday of the 3DO. The DS is lacking in decent rhythm games, and despite "High School Musical's" half-assed attempts, the little hand-held that could remains in a world without them.
This pathetic little "game" starts you off in a high school. With little to no warning, you are launched into a cheesy plot line where six kids from the High School Drama Club are fighting it out to the death for a chance at the National Championship for a high school musical Group. You get six still pictures of your typical high school figures, a lot of horribly cheesy text, and even worse music to dance along to. From dance steps to playing music, it is all unimaginative, uninventive, and downright boring. The game is also a real let down in terms of content as it will take only a few hours to beat all four of the difficulty levels provided by this mediocre piece of crap.
Once you fight your way through the mindless text and cheesy pictures exposing the thinly veiled premise of the game, you are whisked to the main menu where you’re forced to play the game through each of the difficulty levels, ranging from local to nationals, you HAVE to work your way up the ladder. For those who aren’t too keen on math, this means playing through the game a total of four times. The plot varies from difficulty level to difficulty level, but that still doesn’t seem to add any real texture or flavor to the game. From dancing games to playing instruments, nothing really changes the gameplay seemingly no matter which difficulty you’re playing on. Each of the games is laced with an additional, for lack of a better word, mini-game where you throw a basketball in a hoop or write a letter in a notebook. I ask you, seriously, WHAT IN THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH A RHYTHM GAME?!
All of the visual elements seem to have been loaded into a randomized generator. Each song has the same dance moves put together in various ways that do not even remotely fit the song the kids are supposed to be dancing too. Additionally, there is a microphone stand that plays absolutely no part in the interaction of the characters.
Putting all of the woes of the visual elements and unimaginative game play aside, the audio and music elements are horrible. The game might have been mildly entertaining had they used previous Disney music from their movies, however they decided to use an original sound track with over-motivational, upbeat, horribly cheery music that does not change from difficulty level to difficulty level, and would put even the most sane person in the insane asylum after four times through.
The replay value of the game is zero to none. If you aren't ready to chuck the game in the trash by the time you are done with it, there is something seriously wrong with you. Playing through it once is sheer misery, but playing it again and again? Go pick up Guitar Hero, or even Guitar Jams and do something worth your while.
All in all, this game is one of the worst things to hit the DS since Horsez. From bad scripts, to bad music, bad dance steps and unimaginative game play, Disney has struck again. Do yourself a favor and don't fork out the five bucks to rent this game. It is a waste of time, money, and space and materials that could have gone to a much better game.
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To say that Disney Studios has sunk to a new low would be giving the company entirely too much credit. With an understanding that the Disney Corporation is dedicated to educating and warping the minds of today's children, their newest game "High School Musical: Makin' the Cut" is the biggest piece of shit launched under the guise of a game since the heyday of the 3DO. The DS is lacking in decent rhythm games, and despite "High School Musical's" half-assed attempts, the little hand-held that could remains in a world without them.
