Dance Central 2 (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Mark Salmela on 11.16.2011
It’s time to move it, move it.
Title: Dance Central 2
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Harmonix
Genre: Dance
Players: 1 - 2
Rated: T for Teen
Dance Central was easily the best reason to pick up a Kinect last year at launch, and quite frankly it’s still my favorite Kinect game, until now. Dance Central 2 takes the solid gameplay mechanics of the original and expands upon them. There’s new songs, new moves, new modes of play, and most importantly, simultaneous multiplayer dancing. This is a sequel worth your time.
Dance Central 2 is all about choreographed dancing. Dance Central 2 includes 44 new songs, the ability to import all of your Dance Central 1 songs into the game for a price, and a bunch of new DLC songs. There’s a solid mix of old school and new school songs, and unless you absolutely hate dance music there’s something here for everyone. As I’ll touch on later the track list and dance moves heavily favor the female audience, but don’t let that stop you boys. This game is way too much fun with friends to worry about embarrassing yourselves.
Just as in Dance Central 1, you follow the moves of an on-screen dancer and mimic their moves in-tune with the beat. Cue cards scroll up the side of the screen telling you what move is coming next, and eventually you’ll recognize what move you have to do next simply by seeing the scrolling cue cards. The dance moves themselves are often very feminine, requiring hip shaking and putting your arms in bi-curious positions. If you can get past the embarrassment level the moves are a lot of fun to perform, especially with other people. Besides, these are the types of moves you should expect to perform while dancing to Lady Gaga, regardless of gender.
You’ll get a real workout from Dance Central. This is easily the best implementation of Kinect, and unlike other dance games there’s no tricking the system here. The Kinect sensor is very good at recognizing your moves. It’s not always 100% perfect, but it’s close. If you want to succeed at Dance Central you’re going to have to actually perform the moves, or at least attempt to. Kinect will detect your slouching and give you words of encouragement if you start to slack off. Each song has 3 difficulty levels. The harder the difficulty level, the more moves you’ll have to master and perform in the song. The harder the difficulty, the more points you’ll get for performing the moves successfully.
The biggest improvement in Dance Central 2 is the support of simultaneous dancing. 2 players can dance to any song either co-operatively or competitively. This is the next step in making Dance Central 2 a true party game, and it’s a lot of fun. While dancing with a second player you’ll take turns performing solos and free 4 alls in addition to the simultaneous dancing. Solos give the opposing player a chance to rest and watch while the other dancer does their own thing for a minute, and free 4 alls put a bunch of moves up on the screen at once, and the first person to perform each move successfully gets a bonus.
The other big improvement for Dance Central 2 is a revamped break it down mode. Break it down is the mode where you can go into each song and practice the routine, which is highly recommended before tackling the actual dance routine. Dance Central 2 now recognizes voice commands, and you can now jump to specific parts of the routine to practice, rather than going through the entire choreography. This is a big improvement for Dance Central 2 and fixes one of the biggest problems with the original game.
With all this said Dance Central 2 isn’t perfect. For example Dance Central 2 allows you to create custom playlists, which is fantastic, but there’s no way to shuffle that playlist. Navigating the menu isn’t as easy as it should be either, and voice commands with Kinect have never been 100% accurate. My biggest gripe with Dance Central 2 though is the lack of online multiplayer. I understand the concern of showing live video feeds of other players, but that’s a risk players assume when going online. I want to compete with my friends online in dance battles, and for the second game in the series it’s a feature that’s still absent.
Pros
- Solid track list, with lots of DLC songs and the ability to import Dance Central 1 songs.
- The revamped break it down mode is far superior to the original.
- The dance routines are fun to perform.
- You’ll get a real workout.
- Simultaneous multiplayer dancing is a blast.
- One of the best party games available.
- Voice command support.
Cons
- Dance routines are still very feminine, and will turn off a lot of guys.
- No way to shuffle custom playlists.
- Navigating the menu can still be a chore.
- It’s very seldom, but Kinect will occasionally stutter and not recognize your moves.
- Voice commands aren’t always accurate.
- No online multiplayer.
The 411
Ya’ll better recognize.
Dance Central 2 is the best reason to own a Kinect. Dance Central 2 makes substantial improvements over the original, and if you don’t mind the feminine dance routines the game is a lot of fun to play. Dance Central 2 is the most fun while playing multiplayer, so be sure to find some friends willing to bust a groove with you while you play. You won’t regret it. Dance Central 2 is by no means perfect, but it’s easily the best dance game on the market.
Graphics
8.5
The graphical style is largely the same from the first game. The locations are fun to dance in, and the graphical effects while dancing help set the mood.
Gameplay
8.5
All of the dance moves are fun to perform. Masculine males may find themselves getting embarrassed by some of the more feminine routines, however.
Sound
9.0
A fantastic track list. There are still a lot of songs I’d like to see added, but there’s something here for almost anyone.
Lasting Appeal
7.5
This is a great party game. 44 songs isn’t a ton, but it’s enough. The improved multiplayer mode is fantastic, but the lack of online multiplayer is disappointing.
Fun Factor
9.0
If you don’t mind being embarrassed in front of people this is easily the best Kinect game on the market. You’ll get a great workout and have a lot of fun doing it.
