Hey, don’t laugh. If you have a Wii or DS, and also a little girl who has always wanted to be a ballerina or enjoys taking ballet lessons, then Let’s Play Ballerina is the perfect game for them.

In the Wii version, play as a young girl who aspires to be a ballerina someday. She’ll have to work hard, practice lessons, study for exams, and perform ballet shows in order to realize her dream. The meat of the gameplay is like a music and rhythm game, very similar to Elite Beat Agents. Notes will appear on screen, and when circles around those notes shrink and reach the outside of the note, point the remote at the note and press the A button in time with the music. Sometimes you may need to trace note paths with the remote, too.

You must also help your dancer stay balanced during dances and lessons, too. At certain points of the song, you must tilt the remote and keep it steady for a certain amount of time to succeed. If you like, you can also use the Wii Balance Board and shift your weight to keep your dancer balanced on her toes.

As you play, you’ll earn “Talent Abilities” that you activate like power-ups during a lesson or performance. These give you more chances to hit notes or extended time so you can earn better scores. But be careful, as Talent Abilities have limited usage. As you complete lessons, your Talent Abilities will improve and grow.

When you’re not dancing, you must take exams in the form of mini-games. These include matching real-life ballet poses, or picture puzzles of real life ballets or dancers. You can even practice these games before the actual exams in Study Mode, and doing so earns you more time during the exams.

By earning points in the lessons and performances, you’ll be able to buy outfits in the ballet store. Let’s Play Ballerina uses the official Repetto license so you know it’s the real deal. Repetto makes ballet clothes, apparently. See, I learned something while playing this game. And speaking of learning, in your dancer’s bedroom you can also read up on famous dancers and ballets, so the game can be considered educational as well.

The DS version of Let’s Play Ballerina is very similar to the Wii version, except substituting touch screen tapping instead of motion controls. The dance lessons and performances have the same circle tapping gameplay, except it’s not as forgiving as the Wii version and they don’t ease you into the moves as well. So the DS game is a little more difficult because of it. The DS version has a different Story Mode than the Wii one, although it uses all the same character graphics. While the DS game uses actual ballet names, the music is more generic sounding than the Wii game. You can still buy Repetto clothes, and the DS version even has an exclusive make-up applying mini-game before performances.

Kid Factor:

The Wii version of Let’s Play Ballerina is the superior game of the two, but I imagine little girls who love ballet will enjoy either copy. Reading skill is a must as everything is text-based. Let’s Play Ballerina is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews