Wii Gamers Major Minor's Majestic March Review
Screenshots
The Good Parts (3 out of 5)
Major Minor’s Majestic March implements a novel game play concept with a unique feel and style that was developed for the younger mind and kids will love it.
This game’s characters, objects, and environments have a charmingly goofy, yet extremely engaging and satisfying artistic style that will put a smile on a kids’ face.
The Bad Parts (3 out of 5)
The Wii control scheme implemented with Major Minor’s Majestic March is very imprecise and inconsistent in its responses to the motions required. You need to keep it simple and not add personal touches to the motions; if you do the motion controls probably won’t recognize your motions.
Major Minor’s Majestic March is a short seven performance affair that lasts about an hour or two at most. It becomes a little dull and repetitive after the first half hour.
You have to pay attention to your motions at all times, they can be very unforgiving for a kids game, if your motions vary the tempo will drop suddenly and the march will begin to lose its energy.
The voice acting of the actress who did the voice of great-great grandma Gladiola sounds poor, like she was totally disinterested in her part. Her voice is dull and bland and takes the energy out of you when you hear it over and over.
The Graphical Story (3 out of 5)
Major Minor’s Majestic March has a cute and charming graphical style that will appeal to kids but it’s too simple to entertain adults for long, if at all. The environments are visually vibrant with bright colors and average composition and provide a graphical presentation that works for entertaining kids. The artistic style of Rodney Greenblat has created a world of unique characters that are his tamest production, so far. A stylish crocodile in a business suit joins the parade, along with dancing Cacti, and cute Teddy Bears that will have the kids laughing. Throw in a band of dogs, marching dolphins and flamingos, and a few flowers and let the fun begin.
The character animations are too weak for more than a kid’s game and the un-skippable cut scenes included look like over-lapping stills arranged to create animations, but they look like a badly scripted kid’s book.
Sound in the Game (3 out of 5)
The 25 tracks included with Major Minor’s Majestic March each sound different depending on your band members, which is a nice element, but they all sound like overly energetic nursery rhymes.
The dialogue included is simple and repetitive, which is good enough for the kids, but don’t expect the characters to keep you entertained with their conversations.
Playability (4 out of 5)
Major Minor’s Majestic March is playable enough if you’re a kid, which was the target market for this game, so I guess from the developer’s point of view they were successful. By moving the Wii remote up and down in a steady tempo, you’ll lead a band of marching characters through a variety of brightly colored environments that will make kids laugh and play. Your motions won’t always be recognized, even if you have a steady and constant motion, so it’s a good thing the game isn’t really very challenging and forgives easily. There’s a small meter on screen that provides you with an indication of your tempo, but it’s poorly designed and hard to read at times.
They did include a co-op mode that allows you and the kids to play at the same time, one player leads the march while the other recruits members and collects items. This mode was more fun for me than the single player mode and also included a unique variation called Contest Mode, which switched up the roles and the beat of the music, instead of keeping them constant.
The Last Word (3 out of 5)
Major Minor’s Majestic March will entertain the kids for an hour or two at most, but don’t expect it to keep you satisfied for long, if at all. Any replay value of this game is destroyed by the poor execution of the Wii motion control scheme, but the groove is easy enough to keep for the first hour. This game is recommended for kids who like a vibrant art style but have trouble keeping a tempo.
