Created by O2 Games, Baila Latino is like is a Just Dance game for Spanish music fans. Being the person I am, I was the only one on the Pure Nintendo staff with the guts, and the skills, to tackle this review, and I rocked it!
Wait, what’s that Pure Nintendo owner Justin Sharp? Oh, I can’t lie in my review? But!
Well ok, here’s the truth. I accepted this review with no hesitation because I knew I could pawn the hard work, all the dancing, off on my Cuban wife. My Spanish music knowledge, and limited dancing skills, start and end with the Macarena (Yes, the game has it). With my wife’s Spanish dancing skills, and my skill of observation, we have co-authored our very first Pure Nintendo review.
On a technical standpoint, Baila Latino falls short in some areas. I’m not going to even dive into how much the game looks like Just Dance or how that saddens me that no attempt was made to change that. But I will talk about how, like most dance games on the Nintendo system, players use a Wiimote as the input device for dancing. In Baila Latino the same is true but the game, for some weird reason, tries to force feed the use of the GamePad. It is a nice touch to have the words of the songs scroll across the GamePad, but who’s skilled enough to karaoke and dance?
With the GamePad, players select their profile, song, etc., and pick up the Wiimote when the beat drops. This seems like a small complaint, because it really is, but one would think players should be able to navigate the menu with the both the Wiimote and the GamePad. The Wiimote is already in the hand? Why can’t I navigate the menu with it? WHY?!?!
Baila Latino has 12 songs taken from a variety of cultures and regions; Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, and more. The variety of music offers different styles of dancing and sound that keeps the limited tracks fresh and different.
Baile Latino offers up to four player dance parties – but with very little instructions. Once a track is selected, quick instructions flash across the screen telling the player to mirror the moves of the on-screen dancing avatar. Once the music starts, something weird happens. On the bottom right of the screen the game offers a graphical outline of the dance moves needing to be performed. These outlines don’t always match with the on screen avatar. Watching my wife while this “twist” occured, I realized and heard her frustration on how confusing this really can be. “What do I follow?” “Why aren’t they matching?”
Baila Latino was fun for a while but this game falls a little short of being anything great. My wife, while she enjoyed the Spanish dancing and some of the nostalgia the songs provided, would still give this game a 6/10. For what I saw, and secretly played, I would have to agree.
