Customer Reviews

U-Dance

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This game rocks. It tracks your feet like magic--however you move, that's what you see on the screen. The dancing starts easy, and gets really tough on the hard levels. It really gets you dancing, even someone like me who can't dance at all. We've tried Dance Dance Revolution, but that doesn't feel at ALL like dancing, this one really does feel like dancing. You actually need to sweep your feet, jump, cross...My 7 year old loves it, and it's also really great exercise, it got me sweating. Even my 4 year old can play one of the games that comes with it (the funny lizard one). The song selection is great too--there are new songs I don't know (yes, I'm a Dad), but some great older songs like ABC (Jackson 5). I would never spend the money on a Wii, but this is totally worth it. It takes a little bit to really get used to the menus, but once you do it's totally intuitive. When we hit the rainy season, this is going to be a great way to keep the kids exercising (without them knowing it...)

Ok, you've seen trailer here & it's also on youtube com as well as now 3 videos showing hard level in action & 1 video showing the box, tutorial, easy & medium modes. Search "U-Dance game" on youtube. Also is "Chris Brown on Ellen" from megami284 & the end part is him using it on EASY: youtube com/watch?v=YeQmddHX24Q

Plastic structure: It's basic hard plastic in 3 pieces that you click together. Once put together, it's VERY hard to pull apart w/the plastic tabs (manual says not to), luckily it's very small considering. It take 4 AA batteries & the lid has a small screw, not a tab closure. There is no DC plug out. The included a/v plugs are sealed into the unit w/place for it to wind around for storage. They are composite yellow for video & white for MONO sound which plugs directly to the TV. You cannot use any other cable for better a/v. The unit has a simple on/off slider switch on the back. The sensors are simple, stretchy soft fabric straps even for bare feet w/simple grey colored semi-reflective octagon top. I'm surprised it's that simple & it works great/perfect.
Video/Audio - Very simple graphics, but great choices considering all the memory/programing is somewhere small in the plastic housing. The background dancers on are a loop, but they are good choices & you don't notice while you're concentrating on the feet graphics. Knowing which is your feet & the ones you are suppose to step on is very easy to see. The background colors are bright & positive w/o being so colorful you can't see where you are suppose to go or where you are at the time. The menu is very simple & you step & hold on the "buttons" on screen to make your selection. It can do up to 12 profiles using 3 initials & it has 2 player option (take turns). You can choose which song & easy, medium & hard (locked until do all 12 on med). There doesn't seem to be any score retention that I can see except an ultimate high score when you are actually playing & only a check mark by a song if you cleared it, I'm not sure what score you need to get a check mark. This is one of the only cons. There is an up to 9.9 score right after you do a dance is done like a reality judging show as there are a static drawing of a woman & 2 male "judges" who turn over a circular card. If you do very poorly, which is practically missing EVERY SINGLE step, after a lot of low volume boos, the song ends w/a cheery, "Keep Practicing". The scoring on Easy is VERRRRRYYY generous which is a good touch for kids & not be too negative & keep them motivated. The sound quality considering is good enough to keep you motivated w/o complaint & the cover songs are good as well.
Extra Mini Games: There is "Lounge lizard" with very basic floating semi-static drawn lizards that accumulate & move faster on higher levels that you kick out of the way to keep them out of the center spotlight. I found it too simply done & not enough time/effort on programming & dull. There is also "Workout" which looks like a treadmill & with tiny sneakers being your feet, you step on the diamonds, lightning feet & health circle & avoid gum, invisible feet & the air hockey looking circular controllers since they will literally put bars to keep you from moving fwd & then untimely push you back until you can't move & ends the game. I found this mini game fun & great for foot/eye coordination.
There are 12 songs to choose from: ABC (Jackson 5) Run It! (Chris Brown) Don't Stop the Music (Rihanna) 1, 2 Step (Ciara) Everybody Dance Now (C + C Music Factory) U Cant Touch This (MC Hammer) I Like to Move It (Reel to reel) Cotton Eye (Joe Rednex) Temperature (Sean Paul) Crazy in Love (Beyoncé) Dance, Dance (Fall Out Boy) Get the Party Started (Pink)
Gameplay:
Your "feet" glow, then smolder, then have small flames if do really well. The crowd boos & cheers & you get a metal bell ding or a low buzzer sound depending on how you do as well. You step into the newly displayed feet when the feet turn from dull green/red (green = left, red = right) to bright so you know when to move on beat. This is handy in EASY mode where the movement demand is very slow & you'll move too fast & off tempo sometimes. The feet displayed are numbered as well so you can tell how to do them in order when several are on the screen. As I said, the sensitivity to your movements is precise & impossible to do any better. I was blown away by this. You step where it tells you & even sweep over any arrows between where you are & should be for more points. You don't have to be perfect on the steps, a good 60% is fine, it only comes an issue if when you're a bit off & the a new step shows up is partially on where you are & it will see it as a mistake/too soon. Easy I would say is 1/8 the time of normal dancing. Very slow & easy for anyone with low coordination or low physical endurance. In Medium, the speed was 2/3 the speed of normal dancing, quite a difference, but easy enough to pass even the first time though many mistakes & fun trying to keep up. Still very simple for those who are natural dancers. Great for teenagers or adults to play with for many hours as well as kids. Oh, btw, there is almost no learning curve, you get used to watching what you see & knowing where your left/right feet are within 2-3 song attempts for teenagers or adults. Just like any other video game/controller.
At the end of the song, before you get "judged" there is a bonus 10 seconds where you sweep/move your feet to get rid of all the arrows to add to your score. In some songs, watch out for the white "bumpers", if you hit them, you lose all bonus.
It's a GREAT idea, works well, almost perfect toy & a GREAT gift for anyone who likes to move/dance, who wants to learn to dance, who wants a fun way to exercise, who wants a way to improve coordination, or even a party game w/friends. The only cons/minor inconveniences are the batteries, the a/v plugs, mono sound (though considering doens't sound bad), lack of score retention, more songs & lack of foldability in half to make it really compact for storage.
I have tried a DDR knock-off 2 years ago before I got my wii & I couldn't do it AT ALL after even an hour or so trying. I'm impressed with anyone who can follow little arrows & hit them at the perfect second. I found this style MUCH easier/less learning curve, not as strict on perfect timining on easy or med & as said, more freedom in movement.

I really hope this kills DDR & opens up more games ideas & play both for dancing & possibly other game ideas & uses. In a lot of ways, this is as good as a Wii title. This really has a potential to be used for other games for great interaction, maybe even for the hands? I hope this game idea is marketed unlike the Playsation 2's Eye Toy camera game line which was also great but wasn't marketed at all.

This was written when I paid 70 & hence cons/quibbles & 4 stars. For anything under 50 this is a GREAT value/STEAL & 5+ stars.

Ok, first off let me say, thanks to Hasbro because I don't have a lot of money to buy a Nintendo Wii! So this is sooo great. I'm a huge fan of Dance Dance Revolution, so this was right up my alley! U Dance is sooo fun and user friendly lol I got it last night at target for 74.99. I mean come on...whats 10cents? Anyhoo, my friends were with me and I hooked up to my TV, we were laughing and making fun of each other, because we looked crazy but it was soooo much fun!!

Also, I saw Chris Brown advertise this on The Ellen Degeneres show and I immediately fell in love because I haven't the money for a Wii yet. So thanks to Chris Brown too! His 'Run It' song is on there as well as Rihanna's 'Please Don't Stop the Music'. Balls of fun people!!

The music is up to date, a bit, but then there's some old school MC Hammer "Can't Touch This' and Jackson 5 'ABC' on there, I'm 21 by the way and I can recall all the music on there. I recommend this, simply because it's fun, my friends and I were hanging out and having fun, plus all 3 of us worked up a sweat!!! lol It was great.

If I'm wrong someone tell me I'm wrong...but I know I'm right...this game rocks my socks!! lol BUY IT!! What's a little splurge in life...lol

Ok, admittedly I haven't played this myself, but there are several aspects that are not mentioned in the article description or other reviews, but on reviews on other sites. I feel this is good information the buyer would want to know:

The Good:
Udance is great for creativity; I love the idea of no dancemat, and the tracking is quite good, since they censors are on your shoes, and you can do more steps (such as sidestep, slide, etc).
There are several original songs, and the celebrity endorsement by Chris Brown can vouch for those original hits and the game's quality.
It's easy to set up.
The sales are doing very well, vouching for this game's success.

The Bad:
While there are some original songs, others are not.
There is a total of twelve songs on this game. (For comparison, DDR has around 60-75 songs a game.)

Good or Bad:
Since this game is it's own system; you will have to have this device taking up lots of space for only one game (as far as we know at the moment), but you also don't need another system to play it.
Three levels of play; no more, no less.

it's funny when you read all the negative reviews, yes you do get what you pay for...., it is kind of cheesy, but you can get it for under $[...], and it's great fun, and a good work out, as an adult I'm now on the hard level it took me a while to get there and it's still challenging and gets my heart rate going, my 6 year old son is on the easy level and passes it now every time. DDR is only a good option if you have the gaming console already, but then youve got to get the mat out, load it all up, with this you plug it in turn it on and put the disks on your feet it takes about 10 seconds, and your ready to go, I htink it's a great deal and great fun!!

My kids all love this fun, fast-paced, challenging game. My oldest son, 11, is really learning to dance by playing U Dance. His 6 y/o sister follows along side of him and is catching on too. It is a great indoor game that gets kids moving. I really love games like this that encourage activity. I highly recommend this toy. It was easy to set up, they did it all themselves!

I bought this product for my 9 year old daugther. We have not been able to get it to work at all. We called the manufacturer and they said that they aren't making it anymore, and that it is not made for flat screen TVs, only the older kind of TV's. I find it hard to believe since the package graphics show a flat screen, and the songs are fairly recent, AND not one other person has mentioned it in their reviews. The package and product description do not mention anything about TV compatibility. To top it off, it's virtually impossible to disassemble the tower, so I have to figure out how to ship it back to Amazon to get a refund. All in all, an incredibly frustrating experience.

This toy is great. I'm a horrible dancer, but I had a blast with it. It's a good workout too. Very enjoyable for the young and old.

I bought this when it was on sale for $19.99 and it was well worth the price. I am so happy that my cerebral newphew who only likes to draw and read loves this game. I won the title of "coolest aunt" for buying this game. We even got his Grandma and Grandpa to play and my friends all come over and want to play. The only problem is that I can't choose the difficult level all that the game allows me to pick is easy and medium....

I was a little skeptical since amazon basically has these on a fire sale right now. I thought that they were just trying to get rid of junk, but the price was so low I thought I would try it. This product is fun. Works very well.

The only limiting factor, the only thing that would not make it worth the retail price is the limited song selection. 12 songs is good to begin with, but there should be some sort of sd port or something to add songs later. I think it will be sad when everyone is tired of the 12 songs and the device will not be played because it cannot do any other songs.

I personally prefer this over ddr by a wide margin. It is a huge improvement over a mat, and it is clearer what exactly the game is trying to tell you to do.