D is for C was too hard

Well, that tanked pretty fast... C was too hard for a NES review (too many good games), on to D. The letter D will be represented by Dance Aerobics, which shares its initial with one of its descendants, Dance Dance Revolution.

Exergaming always seems like such a good idea, burn calories while you have fun playing a game. The problem with most of them is plain and simple: the games suck just as much as real exercise, and you probably burn less calories playing them, too. Sadly, the actual aerobics component of Dance Aerobics falls neatly into that category. After the initial novelty of trying to follow the 8-bit dance instructor and failing miserably wears off, doing aerobics on your Power Pad really isn't any fun. Although the instructor does a nice job of yelling, "1, 2, 3, HAIIIII!", she's no replacement for Richard Simmons. What makes this game great is all the little extras that they threw in with it.

My favourite extra is simply a free play mode where each button on the Power Pad makes a different tone, conveniently starting on C and going up an octave 'n a bit. You can play SO MANY SONGS in the key of C. WITH YOUR FEET. Yeah, I'm a music geek. It isn't possible to play chords with your feet, but it's still fun to get together with your music geek friends and see who can play the most complicated song with their feet. It's kind of like playing the bagpipes, you only get a limited set of notes so you have to throw in a bunch of embellishments to out-play the other guy and make your songs sound harder. This could keep me entertained for hours, but then again, I was the kind of kid that watched Fantasia three times a day and actually enjoyed it every time. I may not be a good indicator of entertainment value.

If you're really confident in your musical ability, there are 5 songs that the game will teach you to play with your feet. Unlike DDR, this game simply shows you the musical notes of what you will be playing, plays the song once for you, and then expects you to be able to play it. Like DDR, if you don't achieve a certain standard, you fail. So sad. Although there are only 5 songs, I'd say it still provides a lot of entertainment, even for people who have played extensive amounts of DDR.

For the lonely geek, this game also includes a solo version of Twister. It will tell you where to put your hands and your feet (although it can't tell if you cheat, ha ha ha), and you have a limited amount of time to move them before you lose points. If you don't get enough points, you have to repeat the round.

This game isn't going to help you lose weight. It isn't going to encourage you to exercise more. Nonetheless, it still provides a lot of entertainment value for DDR fans and music nerds.

I'm a morning zombie

I'm not a morning person, I'm a morning zombie.
This morning I got up for work, went to eat breakfast, and spilled my cereal on my shirt. Still hungry, I went to change shirts and then made myself a piece of toast. Result? Jam on clean shirt. Changed again and went to work. Got scarf stuck in train doors. Tripped up an escalator. Shocked self on workstation. Just about started grunting and hitting things.