Others say...

"8 yr old LOVED her present from Santa!"
HSM 2 fans will love this game. The Dance category is hard, since they show the dance clip, and you choose the correct sequence, but the 3 stationary pictures in each sequence choice often look very similar. It IS an improvement over HSM 1's dance category, where all they did was list the next dance move in sequence...I still have no idea what some of those moves are called.
The HSM 1 game had an extra where the 'gang' would teach the dance moves to 2-3 of the songs...that alone was worth getting the game. Unfortunately, this one doesn't. What it DOES have, however, are interviews with the HSM 2 characters talking about their time on the set, recounting little stories. This happens randomly during the game, and is an interesting diversion. I like 'Fulton' as narrator better than the drama teacher from the first movie. The game format is slightly different than HSM 1, but the basics are the same. You do have to work the remote more in this game than HSM 1. Definitely worth it for the HSM 2 tweener in your life.

"Basically, a High School Musical Scene It"
Similar to a Scene It DVD game, this combination board and DVD game is pretty fun for either kids or families, as long as everyone playing is familiar with High School Musical 2. (There's nothing here about the first movie, High School Musical.)

It's not complicated. You answer plot and trivia questions about the show (which are shown as video clips) and move your game piece forward when you answer correctly. When you get to the end, you answer a Final Challenge to win. A three-minute tutorial goes over the rules step by step.

There are four categories of questions. "Actual or SO Not" has you choose which in a series of nearly identical still photos is actually from the film. "Song" plays a snippet of a tune from the film with some of the lyrics missing, then has you select the absent phrase. "Who Said That" has you match quotes to characters. "Dance" plays a brief video clip of one of the movie's dances, then has you choose the correct sequence of moves from some still photos.

In the Final Challenge, you answer a question specifically about your character, and your opponents pick the category.

Here's what's in the box:
* The DVD.
* A small game board (11 x 22 inches).
* Six cardboard game pieces, which are little (2-inch) photographic stand-ups of the movie's six main characters (Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan, Chad and Taylor).
* Six plastic holders for those pieces.
* One dice.

Anyone who likes the Scene It games will enjoy playing this one, too. Its only weakness is that "Dance" category, which insists on prompting everyone to get up and boogie every time it plays one of its clips. That's irritating, as the segments are just a few seconds long!

Obviously, you need the movie to fully enjoy the game. Another good idea: the soundtrack.