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If you have kids, you’ve probably heard of the show Victorious on Nickelodeon. The nearest I can figure it’s a show about a bunch of teens that go to a performing arts school and have to get through the day to day problems of friendship, high school, along with some comedy antics. Imagine Fame with more comedy and less drama. It features a lot of dancing, singing and acting on the show by the cast, especially the lead Victoria Justice. The program is really popular among the young set, especially my niece, and is said to be one of the most watched shows on TV. That’s probably because kids like my niece watch it over and over even when it’s in repeats, unlike a lot of older folks who don’t watch the same episodes of House 50 times.
And so with all the dance type games out there, the conversion of this seemed like a natural for the Kinect and a video game. And thus Victorious: A Time to Shine was born. The title is pretty much a cross between Hole in the Wall, Dance Central and Karaoke, taking elements from each to allow the player to create their own show as they progress through the school year.
Your avatar in the game is not the standard Xbox avatar, but a customized character that can be changed to be the same as the player or something completely different. There are settings for things like hair color, various clothes to keep your icon styling, and other personalized options. Once you get your character ready to go, you are set to take on the challenge.
The game has four modes which are dancing, playing music, acting and singing. The dancing is pretty much what you’d expect from Dance Central only a bit more simplified. The moves are placed on the screen as icons and the player’s job is to mimic them the best they can. If they do well, they get rewarded with a rating of Victorious. If not, then they get the usual red to kind of say they need more practice. There are also cool visual effects to dazzle up the show and two players can play at the same time. The other modes use the same system, although with playing music, the player rocks an air guitar, while acting is like mime. The game tells you what position you should be in (like a lion with is paws up or trying to get out of a box) and then you are judged on how well you did it. The singing is karaoke in nature with the words printed on the screen like the old bouncing ball thing.
On hand are all the show’s cast with their voices including Victoria Justice (Tory), Ariane Grande (Cat), Elizabeth Gillies (Jade), Matt Bennett (Robbie), Danielle Monet (Trina), Leon Thomas III (Andre), and Avan Jogia (Beck) to cheer you on. Their avatars are featured in the audience as you perform on stage and throughout the game.
Victorious: A Time to Shine will no doubt be a lot of fun for kids that are fans of the show. The game will be released on November 15, 2011 in time for the holiday season and is sure to be a good stocking stuffer.
