B-Boy

Overview

B-Boy lets players experience one of the four pillars of hip-hop: breakdancing. By focusing on the competitive nature of b-boy battles, players are encouraged to use style and rhythm to succeed. The game features more than 800 motion-captured moves taken from professional b-boys, actual tournament venues, with a licensed soundtrack heavy on 70s funk and soul. It was developed by UK-based FreeStyleGames (DJ Hero) with help from legendary b-boy Crazy Legs and DJ Hooch to keep it real. B-Boy was originally exclusive to Europe and Australia in 2006 before finally arriving in North America two years later.

Livin' Da Life (Career Mode)

You start out with nothing but the hunger to be the best b-boy or b-girl on the planet. Well, that and a huge 2,000 sq. ft. loft which you've earned from all that hustlin. Your loft, aka "The Lab", is the hub from which you can practice and organize your moves, accept challenges, enter tournaments, and get dressed up in phat gear. The Lab includes the following essentials to help you on your quest to world b-boy domination:

• Laptop - This is your interface to the outside world. From here you will receive messages from b-boys and b-girls who want to challenge you, peep your calendar for upcoming tournaments, and see your current ranking on the "Wall Of Fame" (*cough* graffiti *cough*).
• Jukebox - MP3s are for wack-ass biters! This is where you store your classic 45s that you jam to. You start off with only a few records, but as you make progress you'll collect more tunes. Each song has a different rhythm to break to.
• Movebook - The secrets of your b-boying skillz are documented in this graph paper notebook...cuz you a scientist! Here you can view your entire move list (including how well you can perform each move), disses, taunts, and special entry/finishing moves that you'll use to blow-up the crowd.
• Wardrobe - A good b-boy or b-girl needs to look da bizness. Customize your clothes, hair, and footwear in your walk-in closet. More gear is available as you gain sponsorships from companies such as Adidas™, Tribal™, Armory™, and Dope Ammo™. It's not selling out...it's product placement.

Your character, named "Custom", starts off in the Street scene with only the base moves: Toprock, Six Step, Windmill, and Baby Freeze. As your skills improve, a homie will join your cipher to help out in crew battles at the Club scene. When you have a full arsenal of advanced moves at your disposal, you will eventually make it to the elite Pro scene. Becoming the top b-boy or b-girl in the world will grant you a showdown with Crazy Legs himself. However, skills aren't enough to beat the best -- you gotta have heart.

Moves

The foundations of b-boying contain these four move groups (initiated with the face buttons):

• Toprock - footwork performed in the standing position (triangle button)
• Footwork - footwork performed with your hands & feet on the floor (x button)
• Freeze - freezing your body's movement in an awkward position to show your mastery of balance (square button, then balance by tapping L1 & R1)
• Power - physically intensive moves that require power & momentum (circle button)

Your moves can be modified when combined with the D-Pad:

• Base moves - face button
• Move variations - D-Pad 1x, 2x, or 3x (not all moves have variations)
• Easy moves - D-Pad 1x then face button
• Medium moves - D-Pad 2x then face button
• Hard moves - D-Pad 3x then face button

Once a move is initiated (aside from base moves), a move initiation gauge will quickly fill up to determine how well you start that move. Press a face button when the gauge is as close to optimal power as possible to activate the move. If you do not activate the move in time, the move will fail and your combo will end. Your move initiations are graded based on your timing (in descending order):

• Sick! - perfectly executed move
• Dope! - very good
• Fresh! - not bad
• Wack! - poorly executed move

As you progress you will learn more moves and transitions between moves to create sick routines. Each move levels up the more you use them (up to 5 levels), which increases your control of the move and the amount of transitions you can use to and from the move. Winning 1-on-1 challenges will unlock dozens of new moves, but you're limited to a set of 24 unlocked moves in battle (customizable in the Movebook).

Battle Basics

"When engaged in battle it's either serve or get served." -- Sun Tzu

Each battle consists of one or more 45 second rounds, aka "throwdowns", for each contestant. A throwdown is your chance to burn up the floor and impress the judges with your moves. Five judges will asses your performance and each specializes on one of the following criteria:

• Rhythm - Hit as many beats as possible to show you've got rhythm (tap L1 or R1 in time with the indicated beats)
• Flow - Chain as many moves as possible to show you've got flow.
• Foundation - Perform as many of the base, easy, and medium difficulty moves to show you've mastered the foundations of b-boying.
• Creativity - Keep your moves & transitions fresh and avoid repeating moves to show you've got creativity.
• Blow Up - Show off your most spectacular moves to blow-up the crowd. Special entries, hard difficulty moves, and finishing moves will get the crowd blowed da fuck up!

Hype Bar (Dissing your opponent)

The Hype Bar measures your adrenaline and confidence during a throwdown. Dissing your opponent (tap the left analog stick) when they perform wack moves (shown in red) will build up your Hype Bar. When your Hype Bar is more than 50% full, you will be able to peform special entries to start your throwdown. When your Hype Bar is 100% full, you will be able to perform a finishing move to end your throwdown. Hype is also gained, albeit slightly, when performing toprock moves with the D-Pad during your opponent's throwdown. Hype can be lost if you're dissed by an opponent after performing a wack move, or if you wrongfully diss your opponent.

B-boys whose moves are featured in the game

Crazy Legs, Kazuhiro, Hong-10, Physicx, Darkness, Ruen, Lilou, Sonic, Benny, Crumbs, Ivan, K-Mel, Mouse, Freeze, ATA, Chico, Michi, Reveal, Flex, Frankie Flav, Rodolphe, The Flipping Monk

Pro Tournaments featured in the game

Freestyle Sessions, Battle Of The Year, Red Bull: King Of The Ring, IBE, Urban Games, UK B-Boy Championships

B-Boy Soundtrack Credits

1. "Champ" - Breakestra
2. "Brother Green (The Disco King)" - Roy Ayers Ubiquity
3. "The Mexican" - Babe Ruth
4. "Holy Ghost" - The Bar-Kays
5. "Watch Out Now" - The Beatnuts
6. "Love The Life You Live" - Black Heat
7. "Express" - B.T. Express
8. "Energy Level" - B.T. Express
9. "Brothers On The Slide" - Cymande
10. "The Phuncky Feel One" - Cypress Hill
11. "Organ Donor" - DJ Shadow
12. "Don't Sweat The Technique" - Eric B And Rakim
13. "Juice (Know The Ledge)" - Eric B And Rakim
14. "Way Cool" - Freestyle Fellowship
15. "The Life Of A Party" - Jackson 5
16. "I Believe In Miracles" - Jackson Sisters
17. "Rated X" - Kool And The Gang
18. "Open Sesame" - Kool And The Gang
19. "Love To The World" - LTD featuring Jeffrey Osbourne
20. "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter" - Nina Simone
21. "Soul Clap" - Show Biz And AG
22. "Make Room" - The Alkaholiks
23. "Rock Creek Park" - The Blackbyrds
24. "Apache" - Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band
25. "Same Old Thing" - The Meters
26. "Yellow Sunshine" - Yellow Sunshine
27. "Bringing It Back" - The Black Eyed Peas
28. "Cold Sweat" - James Brown
29. "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (Remix)" - James Brown
30. "Get On The Good Foot" - James Brown
31. "Say It Loud I'm Black And I'm Proud" - James Brown
32. "Call Me Super Bad" - James Brown
33. "Hot Pants (I'm Coming)" - Bobby Byrd
34. "Think (About It)" - Lyn Collins
35. "Something For The Radio" - Biz Markie
36. "Blow Your Head" - Fred Wesley And The JBs