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Our story starts with a normal, albeit somewhat overly bubbly high school girl (whose default name is Sabrina) lamenting about how there are just no princes around to sweep her off her feet.  Sabrina’s best friend then has a long discussion with her about how there are plenty of princes around, and points out the different princely personalities of the boys in their neighbourhood (giving the player a brief rundown of each male personality they will be encountering in the game).
   
With all that being said, Sabrina makes her way home only to have a girl – who looks exactly like her, and even has the same name – come out of her wardrobe and proclaim that she is a princess in another world.  Princess Sabrina explains that there is a big royal dance coming up, and that she dislikes dancing and wants to trade places with our Sabrina.  Sabrina accepts, and jumps through the portal in her wardrobe to take on this dancing challenge.

 Gameplay revolves around encounters with the various males in the world, as saying and doing the right things will raise their affection towards you.  Your goal is the royal ball that you only have 30 days to prepare for; within those 30 days you must master your dancing skills and woo one of the fair princes to be your dancing partner. Controls in Princess Debut are strictly touch screen based.  One could use the D-pad and buttons if they wanted for the talking portions of the game, but it only makes things go slower.  The actual music and dancing portion of the game has to be touch-screen controlled as you follow the musical-note-ball along its path to gain points and make your characters dance.  For those that need an example, it can sort of be likened to Elite Beat Agents when you have to have your stylus on the ball and follow it.  The better you perform on the dance floor, the more in love with Sabrina your chosen prince will fall.

Music in the game is quite well done. For each area you can look around in (where you have your various interactions with the princes) there is a different catchy little tune.  As for the actual dancing music, there are (eventually) several to choose from.  Only one song is available at the beginning of the game, but as you progress and gain levels, stamina, and get better at dancing, more songs are unlocked.  There are your more slower, casual waltzes, and more fast paced rumbas.  All of the songs are based on some form of classical music: for example, "When the Saints Come Marching In" or "Minuet."

This game is not difficult -- perhaps people who find music games hard will find this somewhat difficult, but the learning curve is a gentle slope, and new obstacles to the player are introduced slow enough for gaming-newbies to be challenged and for old gaming vets to not get bored.

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Final Verdict - 7/10
Princess Debut is a breed of game that has never really come to the North American market, at least the dating-game aspect of it. Frankly, I would like to see more of these types of games appear on our shores.  This game was fun, and I felt myself genuinely feeling bad when I had to reject some of the boys, and frustrated when the one boy I wanted decided he had to move back home.  The game has a lot of replay value in the form of trying to woo a different boy each time -- that, and collecting all of the magical accessories that grant Sabrina different stylish dresses to wear while dancing.  This game is definitely targeting a female audience, but I think a male with a sense of gaming-adventure could have some fun with it as well; especially if you enjoy music and rhythm games.

 
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