Plot Summary

One to four players are able to select a song through a predetermined menu. Once the song is selected, dance moves are presented on the screen in real time and the players are given a score based on how well they executed the dance move. The player with the highest score at the end of the song wins the round. Players dance moves are tracked using the Wii remote, which has a sensor able to detect movement when held in a person's hand. The is no ultimate winner, with the goal of the game to win individual rounds and correctly perform dance move.

Critical Evaluation

Just Dance provides players the opportunity to have fun and engage in physical activity to the tune of music with their peers, making it a party or gathering must-have. Unlike other video games, there are no characters the player plays as; instead there are nameless, faceless dance guides. The graphics that appear during the song's gameplay that guides the players through the movements are cartoon-like and sometimes features dancers who appear to not be humans. None of the dancers have faces; instead they are colored-in silhouettes. Not showing the dancer's faces and exact movements allows for a margin of error, and can alleviate any feelings of inadequacy when matched against a professional dancer. Because the game tracks the player's movement through one remote held in their hands, the accuracy of grading a player's dance moves are not accurate seeing as it only tracks one hand's movements and not the whole body. This can prove frustrating when a player feels they emulated the dance moves correctly, and demonstrates a design challenge unmet by creators. Music tracks are limited and the movements do not change, leaving room for the game to become stagnant and not challenging after multiple gameplays. This issue is somewhat elevated due to the fact that each new iteration of the game contains new songs, and that players have the option of downloading new songs if they have online subscriptions for their consoles.

This game is fun and encourages players to become active participants rather than sitting still with a controller. Players are able to interact with others in friendly competition that has low stakes for a fun experience.

Reader’s Annotation

You can compete against your friends or just dance to today's hottest music hits by following the dance moves on the screen!

About the Author

N/A

Genre(s)

Video game, rhythm, dancing

Curriculum Ties

N/A

Booktalking Ideas

Show the trailer for the game

Reading Level/Interest Age

Rated Everyone 10+ per ESRB

Other Books (Games) in the Series

Just Dance 2

Just Dance 3

Just Dance 4

Just Dance 2014

Just Dance 2015

Just Dance 2016

Just Dance 2017

Just Dance 2018

Just Dance 2019

Just Dance 2020

Challenge Issues

Mild lyrics, suggestive themes

Defense Preparation

• Have the library's collection policy memorized and a copy available for distribution to the patron in order to strengthen your position (LVCCLD, 2002).
• Explain that the library district does not restrict access to items within the collection (Heezen, n.d.) in compliance with the Library Bill of Rights (American Library Association, 1996).
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of why this item is available for circulation within the library including who the target demographic is for this title and it's contributions to the literary world.
• Refer to any awards the book and/or author might have in order to show the title's literary merit. Providing the fact that the title is well-known and accepted by the literary community can help strengthen your defense.
• Provide a few reviews, both positive and negative, from respected sources such as Kirkus or Publisher's Weekly to demonstrate your knowledge of the material and reflect professional opinions.
• Familiarize yourself with the material in order to understand explain the context in which the challenged issues interact with one another.
• Provide titles that can serve as an alternative if the patron maintains the title is inappropriate.
• Remain calm and collected, utilizing active listening skills in order to ensure that the complaint is viewed without judgement. The concerns of the patron are valid even though you may disagree with them, and they deserve an engaged conversation regarding the issue.
• Offer a Request for Reconsideration form as a last resort, explaining the reconsideration process to the patron (LVCCLD, 2002).

Why is it Included?

This game is a fun and interactive game great for get-togethers and parties. It can be used as an ice-breaker or main focus, encouraging physical activity and playful interactions between teens. With it's many iterations throughout the years, it provides a number of songs that will be sure to catch the attention of teenagers.

Plot Summary

Street Fighter II is a fighting game that allows players to select a character to engage in a one-on-one close quarters fight with other players or the gaming console in a series of best two-out-of-three matches. A player selects from eight different characters, each one having their own unique fighting style, abilities, and personalities. Characters include:

• Ryu, a Japanese man who is skilled in karate. At the start of the game, Ryu has won the previous off-screen tournament and believes he is the greatest fighter in the world.
• Ken, a man from the United States who is Ryu's former training partner turned rival. He has been blackmailed out of retirement to return to fighting in order to protect his girlfriend, who has been kidnapped.
• E. Honda, a Japanese sumo wrestler who strives to strengthen sumo wrestler's reputation as legitimate athletes.
• Chun-Li, an Interpol officer and martial artist from China who wishes to avenge his father.
• Blanka, a Brazilian monster from the jungle
• Zangief, a sambo fighter from the Soviet Union who strives to defeat American opponents without weapons to demonstrate his country's superiority.
• Dhalsim, an Indian yoga-master who breaths fire and donates his fight winnings those in poverty

Once a character is selected, the player then begins the fight with either a second player or a character randomly selected by the console. The object of the game is to deplete the opponent's life bar by the end of the round, winning two out of three rounds to be named the champion. Players are able to punch, jump, kick, deplete their weapon, and crouch.

Critical Evaluation

Although this game has been around for more almost thirty years, it is considered a classic and is still appealing to younger generations because of its combined simplicity and entertainment value. The characters available for selection have well-detailed backstories that will allow many different players the opportunity to find a connection with. Character motivations and portrayals, however, could be handled with more care to ensure that stereotypes of different cultures is not misconstrued. Newer iterations of the game have improved upon its former static, side-to-side movement capabilities the original game provided, making the game more well-rounded and dynamic to watch. The fighting scenes can prove to be graphic, which may be disturbing to some players, and many of the female's costumes are revealing. The reasoning behind this is not clear, but the implication is to view the women as sexually attractive and the men powerful. To combat this implication, the creators could change the women's costumes to something that highlights their strength without overly-sexualizing them. Doing this would also invite more players who are uncomfortable with nudity to engage in gameplay, opening up to a bigger audience. The animation style was originally advanced for its time, providing more detail on the character's body language, outfits, and features than other games at the time. In its current iterations it utilizes photo-realistic animation that can be disturbing when a character is injured or dies. While the storyline is minimal, this game does what it is intended to, which is allow the player to disconnect for a short period of time and let out some aggression in a safe and fun way.

Reader’s Annotation

Play the classic arcade game that started the "fighting game" craze, as you pick your character and battle to see who the winner is.

About the Author

N/A

Genre(s)

Video game, Fighting

Curriculum Ties

N/A

Booktalking Ideas

Show the trailer for the game

Reading Level/Interest Age

Rated T for Teen per ESRB

Other Books (Games) in the Series

Street Fighter Alpha

Street Fighter EX

Street Fighter III

Street Fighter IV

Street Fighter V

Challenge Issues

Violence, weapons, gore, language, subjective nudity, revealing costumes, suggestive themes

Defense Preparation

• Have the library's collection policy memorized and a copy available for distribution to the patron in order to strengthen your position (LVCCLD, 2002).
• Explain that the library district does not restrict access to items within the collection (Heezen, n.d.) in compliance with the Library Bill of Rights (American Library Association, 1996).
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of why this item is available for circulation within the library including who the target demographic is for this title and it's contributions to the literary world.
• Refer to any awards the book and/or author might have in order to show the title's literary merit. Providing the fact that the title is well-known and accepted by the literary community can help strengthen your defense.
• Provide a few reviews, both positive and negative, from respected sources such as Kirkus or Publisher's Weekly to demonstrate your knowledge of the material and reflect professional opinions.
• Familiarize yourself with the material in order to understand explain the context in which the challenged issues interact with one another.
• Provide titles that can serve as an alternative if the patron maintains the title is inappropriate.
• Remain calm and collected, utilizing active listening skills in order to ensure that the complaint is viewed without judgement. The concerns of the patron are valid even though you may disagree with them, and they deserve an engaged conversation regarding the issue.
• Offer a Request for Reconsideration form as a last resort, explaining the reconsideration process to the patron (LVCCLD, 2002).

Why is it Included?

Street Fighter II is the first iteration of the popular Street Fighter arcade game, and is one of the highest-grossing video games of all time. It is a classic that revolutionized video games by integrating the realistic fighting style.

Plot Summary

This classic Nintendo game allows players to select their favorite Nintendo characters for a unique fighting game whose goal is to knock the other players off of the stage rather than deplete their health bar. The player enters the game and browses the menu, selecting a character from Nintendo's impressive collection of characters, each with their own special skills and personalities. The original twelve characters included on the game were Mario, Bowser, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Captain Falcon, Fox, Ness, Ice Climbers, Kirby, Samus, Zelda, Link, Pikachu, and Jigglypuff (Characters, 2018). In current iterations, the game has an option of over 80 different characters available for gameplay ("Characters in the Super Smash Bros. Series," n.d.). Either with multiple players or one player against computer generated opponents, the player battles other characters by kicking, jumping, and using their character's special powers in order to knock the others off the stage before time runs out. With each hit, the character's damage percentage rises and the character is moved closer to the edge. A character can avoid falling off the stage by jumping back on it before they reach the bottom. Players move across the stage on a two-dimensional plane, and the winner is declared once time runs out or all players but one have lost their lives. There is no central storyline within the game.

Critical Evaluation

Super Smash Bros. is a highly entertaining game that combines many enjoyable aspects of fighting games with the mischievous nature of Nintendo characters, without resorting to blood and gore in a fighting situation, making it a game that many different personalities will be attracted to. The sheer variety of characters in newer iterations of the game is both a positive and a negative: there are characters for all different personalities, yet there are so many to choose from it can be overwhelming to make a selection. This game does not have a central storyline, which could leave fans of these characters disappointed. Eliminating the storyline does, however, allow the game to focus on the gameplay aspect and provides for an experience that is different every time as opposed to games with a detailed plot. Gameplay is fairly simple, with very few options for attack, making it easy for those who are new to this game or video games in general to engage without becoming frustrated. Due to the nature of fighting games, arguments can occur when people lose or others use special attacks on them.

The animation is dynamic and eye-catching, with many bright colors and a cartoon-quality artwork style. Integrating characters from different games could be a challenge because some characters are more photo-realistic than others, but Super Smash Bros. seamlessly blends the different character designs to fit within it's own unique style. Fans of other Nintendo games will be drawn to play with their favorite characters in a new way. The music is cheerful and energetic, utilizing the "8-bit" quality many other Nintendo games have. When the game's time is nearing the end, the music will be more frantic, meeting the tone of the various moves and making for an exciting gameplay.

Reader’s Annotation

Play as your favorite Nintendo character as you battle your friends to see who is the ultimate brawler!

About the Author

N/A

Genre(s)

Video game, fighting

Curriculum Ties

N/A

Booktalking Ideas

Show the trailer for the game

Reading Level/Interest Age

Rated Everyone 10+ per ESRB

Other Books (Games) in the Series

Super Smash Bros. (1999)

Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)

Challenge Issues

Mild violence, suggestive themes

Defense Preparation

• Have the library's collection policy memorized and a copy available for distribution to the patron in order to strengthen your position (LVCCLD, 2002).
• Explain that the library district does not restrict access to items within the collection (Heezen, n.d.) in compliance with the Library Bill of Rights (American Library Association, 1996).
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of why this item is available for circulation within the library including who the target demographic is for this title and it's contributions to the literary world.
• Refer to any awards the book and/or author might have in order to show the title's literary merit. Providing the fact that the title is well-known and accepted by the literary community can help strengthen your defense.
• Provide a few reviews, both positive and negative, from respected sources such as Kirkus or Publisher's Weekly to demonstrate your knowledge of the material and reflect professional opinions.
• Familiarize yourself with the material in order to understand explain the context in which the challenged issues interact with one another.
• Provide titles that can serve as an alternative if the patron maintains the title is inappropriate.
• Remain calm and collected, utilizing active listening skills in order to ensure that the complaint is viewed without judgement. The concerns of the patron are valid even though you may disagree with them, and they deserve an engaged conversation regarding the issue.
• Offer a Request for Reconsideration form as a last resort, explaining the reconsideration process to the patron (LVCCLD, 2002).

Why is it Included?

This game includes a multitude of classic Nintendo characters, allowing teens to select their favorite for a fun-filled battle against their friends. It is immensely popular and has numerous successful spinoffs. Teens often have Super Smash Bros. tournaments due to the interactive nature of the game.