Review: Dance Central 2

I am sure there are many of you who remember playing the latest Dance Dance Revolution game in arcades or in the privacy of your homes. Back in the day, hitting buttons on the floor with your feet was one of the more primitive ways we used to play dance games. After dancing through the popular DDR song “Sandstorm” in Dance Central 2 however, I came to a startling realization–what kind of dancing were we doing back then?

Adding new moves, additional game modes, and a true multiplayer mode, Dance Central 2 teaches us that dance games don’t have to be just about banging our feet to hit buttons. If you haven’t played Dance Central before, the game’s simple premise is about following on-screen moves and replicating them with your body. The game captures your moves via the Kinect sensor and scores you on how successful you were matching each dance move. I noticed that the game is very forgiving when it comes to matching moves. Even if your legs are off a little, the game will still give you a flawless score. Gameplay is simple, but mastering the game’s moves and getting five gold stars on each song may not be.

My first time playing Dance Central 2, I went right ahead and started a song in Perform It mode without knowing anything about how to play the game. Each of the over 40 tracks has three difficulty modes, and the game’s easy mode does a great job of teaching you the same move by making you repeat it several times in tune with the music. While the game’s easy mode may ease you into the game’s choreography, hard mode scrolls through a variety of moves in a row and strings them together in a way that not only makes sense, but makes the song a blast to dance to. Many moves feel natural, and you will notice how the smooth choreography won’t make you look dumb if you pull off the same moves in real life.

Dance Central 2 lets you pick up the game and start dancing right away. You can also turn on its Fitness mode to track your time and calories burned during each play session regardless of what mode you play. All the songs are available right from the start in Perform It mode, but you also have the option to play through Crew Battle mode and unlock some extra dancers and outfits. In this mode, you will be dancing for a few different crews and earning rep to face off against the best in the world. While the story is weak and somewhat silly to say the least, this mode introduces you to the game’s dancers and gives you the simple, but tough, goal of mastering every song in the game.

The track selection in the game ranges from techno to R&B, and each song gives you a new set of moves to master. There are plenty of notable songs on the list, and some even have unique move names that match their lyrics. While I did say the choreography is in tune to real life standards, some moves might make you blush if your friends saw you performing them at a club. Tweet’s “Oops (Oh My)” and Bananarama’s “Venus” are two examples. Of course, you should leave your shame at the door and just have fun with it. The game has plenty of songs that will take some time to master, but if you want more, you can easily transfer all your downloadable and in-game songs from the original Dance Central.

Like in the real world, your dancing skills in the game will improve the more you practice. Luckily, the game’s newly improved Break it Down mode gives you the tools to become the lord of the dance. I was particularly impressed by how much you can customize this mode to suit your needs. Need to practice just one move from a difficult song? Or what about practicing part of a song where the game throws three different moves at you in a row? You can even record yourself and see where you made a mistake or slow things down for some analysis. Whatever your needs, Break it Down mode wants you to succeed.

While the original Dance Central let two players take turns dancing through one song, it did not offer a genuine, simultaneous two-player mode. Dance Central 2 makes it easy for two players to dance through a song anytime they want. If you are playing a song and someone wants to join in, that person simply has to raise his hands. The game will quickly add him to the game regardless of how far you are into the song. Kinect accurately recognizes two people’s moves and this never becomes an issue while you are dancing. The only issue, of course, is the amount of room you will need to bust out your moves.

Taking it one step further, you can also challenge your friends in Dance Battle mode. While every other mode simply adds both players’ scores together, Dance Battle is all about one person coming out on top. This mode includes instances when your character will be in the spotlight, letting only one player score points while the other waits and jeers. There is also a minigame-type section called Free-4-All that has each player performing on-screen moves as fast as possible to score extra points. This mode just adds to the fun and lets you turn Dance Central 2 into the perfect party game if you treat it as such.

Harmonix is widely known for its successful rhythm games, and each new game it produces shows that it understands what makes them so good. Each new Rock Band title, for example, introduces a new instrument to the game. While Dance Central may have effectively utilized the Kinect sensor and given us a fun dance game we had not yet seen, Dance Central 2 is its smarter successor. Play it and experience the incredibly fun evolution of the dance game.

Score given: 4.5/5

Published October 2011 | RobotGeek.co.uk

Category : Xbox 360 Reviews
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