DANCE CENTRAL

PLATFORMS: XBOX 360 KINECT ONLY

GENRE: MUSIC

It takes a special kind of bravery to get up in front of a group of friends and dance around like a crazy person. In Dance Central, the first Kinect-friendly party game from the talented folks at Harmonix, players will need a fair helping of that bravery. This is the first "real" dance gamethat demands actual full-body dancing from the player (and not just the fancy footwork required in the DDR franchise). This means you need a gung-ho attitude to play, but it also means that you have one fantastic party game for people that love to dance. Although Dance Central isn't a perfect experience, the good times that come with it are well worth the investment. 

Dance Central uses the Kinect technology to read the player's body as he or she follows a series of on-screen prompts that depict a dance routine. These "flash cards" each represent one move, and that move can range from a simple shuffle step to an advanced series of upper body motions. There are more than 30 songs in the game (ranging from new hits like "Evacuate the Dance Floor" by Cascada to classics like "Jungle Boogie" by Kool and the Gang) and each track has three different difficulties to play on, which must be unlocked in order.

     

   There are a few helpful modes in Dance Central for new dancers (those that lack "the funk"). Break It Down is the only way to learn some of these routines, as it cycles through each move one at a time and gives players the option to slow down the move until the player is comfortable with the steps. This mode is complemented by a helpful announcer that actually shouts out the dance queues during the move, like "right, step, back, step" in time with the beat. 

   Overall, Dance Central is lots of fun, especially with a big group of people that are willing to get a little goofy and give it their all. It's also a fantastic workout if you put effort into your moves, but the experience is far from perfect. Menu navigation, which is handled by waving your hands, takes some getting used to, and I noticed that there were some technical bugs with the lip-synching of the on-screen characters.