Dance Central 2 Review

**Start a Riot** · October 21st, 2011

I think it’s important to explain right at the beginning that I’m a huge fan of Kinect and an even bigger fan of the first Dance Central game. When they announced a sequel to one of my favorite games back in June at E3, I don’t think I could even begin to explain how excited I was. The newest music video game released by Harmonix, entitled Dance Central 2, proves to be another great hit that can keep people dancing all night long.

Dance Central 2 brings in quite a few new elements and does a great job at expanding upon the other solid aspects that made Dance Central so famous. One of the biggest things is the introduction of multiplayer co-op, which lets you dance with a friend and have a few laughs trying to master some fun moves. With multiplayer you can choose to do competitive or cooperative modes where you can drop in and out as you please and can decide whether you want to dance simultaneously or go against each other in a dance battle. The addition of multiplayer makes this a great game to play with friends and to have on at parties as well.

In the sequel, there are four different game modes that you can pick from. There is “Perform It” mode, where you can choose to play any song, all of which have various levels of difficulty. You can also go into the new and improved “Break It Down” mode to help you master one, a few, or all of the moves before giving the song of your choice a try. This mode is a major improvement from the first game and can really help with some of the more difficult moves, because let me tell you, there are definitely some dance moves in the harder songs that require a little more attention than others. “Dance Battle” lets you have head-to-head competition with the new multiplayer integration that was previously mentioned. Last, is the introduction of the “Crew Challenge” mode. This happens to be more of a campaign mode that is driven by story. You work your way through the ranks trying to impress each crew by earning enough stars to rep each crew. Through this you can unlock different dancers, crews, and outfits.

In addition to these different game modes, we also see the return of the Fitness section. But, there is a drastic and amazing improvement. Not only can you have fitness mode on so you can see how many calories you’re burning while playing any of the other game modes, but they have several premade playlists you can choose to take on, depending on the kind of workout you want to get in . They also have a great new tracker with this mode that can help you keep track of the calories you’ve burned. With this, you even have the option to create your own custom playlist. All of this is a major upgrade that I really enjoy.

Another great new feature is the addition of voice command throughout the game. You can use your voice to choose what song, mode, and even difficulty that you want. There are a ton of other voice commands that make gameplay even more flawless. With this game we see the return of five previous characters and the introduction of five new ones. In response to the new "Crew Challenge" mode, there is also the creation of five different dance crews called Lu$h, Riptide, Hi-Def, Flash4wrd, and Glitterati, each of which have two dancers that sport a specific theme to represent their crew. As you play through songs you can pick which one of the six venues you want to perform in. You can be anywhere from a miniature golf course to the top of a cruise ship. The background is visually appealing and just plain fun to look at.

The game also comes stacked with over 40 different songs that can range anywhere from “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan to “Rude Boy” by Rihanna or even “Technologic” by Daft Punk. With songs from the 1970’s all the way to present day, there’s sure to be something that gets you hyped up and wanting to turn the tunes up on your TV. With all these new songs, they bring in a multitude of new moves that get you in the groove and your heart pumping. In true Harmonix fashion, you can also import all of the songs off of the original game. To do this, you will need to have 400 MSP and the code printed on the manual for Dance Central. If you still want more variety, there are plenty of downloadable songs for you to choose from.

While there are a number of additions that make this game great, there is one thing I would have liked to see in Dance Central 2. Online multiplayer would have been a great bonus to this game so you could battle it out with friends via Live. I know it’s fun and competitive to compare scores on the leaderboard, but it would be even more interesting to duke it out at the same time. With that being said, it’s not a drawback to the game in the slightest because there are so many other great aspects.

Overall, Dance Central 2 is a fun, energetic, and completely enjoyable game that has high playability that will keep you coming back for more, time and time again. If you have Kinect and like to have a good time, I can guarantee that this game is for you!

Overall Rating:
9.5/10

**Smore ninja** · October 21st, 2011

Awesome review Riot!
While I'm not personally the biggest dancer I know, I will need to toss your high praise to someone I know would enjoy this type of game.