As I recover from my recent knee operation I find myself bored as hell. But what is this I see in the AppStore? Well hell it’s Michael Jackson The Experience for iPad and it’s only £2.99. Well you know me I had to go and grab that.

So how does it work on the iPad? You may know of the games previous incarnations from late 2010, early 2011 on the Wii, PS3 and XBox Kinect which used motion controls to interpret your moves into the game. There was also the Nintendo DS version which I got a few months ago but this demanded that you prod circles with your stylus to the music to achieve points but as we all know the iPad ain’t for plastic pens.

Now I did see some footage of the forthcoming Playstation Vita version which is touchscreen enabled and this seemed to use swipes and gestures and this is exactly the route the iPad version has gone down and to be honest it actually looks to be exactly like the Vita version.

Basically the game obviously comes with an array of MJ hits but not as many as you’d think. The pre-loaded songs are Smooth Criminal, Blood on the Dancefloor, Beat It and Speed Demon. There are other classics in the list such as Billie Jean, Black or White and the recent Hollywood Tonight but if you want to play those you have to pay an extra £1.49 per track. I guess that this is the way that they have managed to make the app so cheap, a little frustrating but it does provide a solid basis to get moonwalking from the off. Also before you get going you can change costumes for an additional layout of 69p.

So once you have chosen your fave track and started the game you’re treated to some pretty good cut scenes even though they do look a little bit like late 90′s CGI and their depictions of MJ leave a little to be desired (see image) but they do add a certain amount of atmosphere to the proceedings.

Does I look like MJ?

As I mentioned before the game play demands to swipe the screen as instructed by the arrows that appear and you have to perform them to the beat so if you’re an avid MJer then you should pick this up pretty quickly. The more moves you get right then more dancers are added to the routine. The more dancers you have the bigger your score multiplier. If you cock a move up then you lose your entourage but they will return if you get your ct back together.

There is also a nice option about halfway through the routine to go freestyle where you can dance your little socks off any way you like. You also get the cut scenes during the game which are a nice touch and they do give you a chance to briefly rest those dancing fingers.

There are 3 difficulty settings and you are also graded on your progress. Like I say the song selection is initially limited but it does promise that more are coming soon.

So all in all for less than 3 quid this is a pretty damn good game and works perfectly on the iPad platform and I would recommend it to all whether you’re an MJ fan or not.