Dance Central 2 This Party’s Getting Crowded

Just Dance 1, 2 and 3, Just Dance Summer Party, Just Dance Kids 1 and 2, Country Dance 1 and 2, The Smurfs Dance Party, The Michael Jackson Experience, The Black Eyed Peas Experience, Kidz Bop Dance, Nickelodeon Dance, Everybody Dance, Dance Paradise, Dance Sensation!, Dance Masters, Grease Dance, Dance on Broadway, ABBA: You Can Dance, DanceDanceRevolution (w/Move support), Sing Star + Dance, Dance Sensation, oh and did I mention Dance Central? The dance genre has quietly become the most exploited genre in the industry. All of those games were released in the last 3 years, most of them in the last 12 months.

To be fair, the Just Dance craze started it all, but Dance Central all but perfected it. As a genre, guitar games even in their heyday had nothing on the current market saturation of tween dance games. Most of those games are direct Just Dance rip-offs, or spin-offs, but since the release of Kinect and Dance Central, even the powerhouse Just Dance 3 has moved to a full body motion detecting game. Dance Central not only was THE dance game last year it was also the proof that Kinect works.

Dance Central 2 improves on the formula in several meaningful ways. From co-op to a story mode, Harmonix has been busy fleshing out the previously skeletal experience of Dance Central. If you played the original you know exactly what to expect, dancing. The co-op dancing can get a bit fishy in small rooms and the only real way to get the best results out of 2 players dancing is by renting a gymnasium or playing in an empty garage. Obviously, these are limitations in place by Kinect and the game does its best to overcome them.

With the song import feature and a solid soundtrack the Dance Central library is getting better and, like Rock Band, larger. Also, all DLC from the original is compatible. Dance Central 2 is truly a better experience, which fans of the genre will love. Harmonix continues to be the yardstick to which everything’s quality is measured.

Unfortunately, does that even matter? It kind of feels like Harmonix is bringing a 3 wood to a mini-golf course. The main audience for these titles is teenage girls. Sure there will be your outliers that are serious about dance and will seek out the best possible game, but the mass market strategy is to sell games to non-traditional gamers and children. Typically the level of technical prowess that comes with Dance Central is unnecessary for this group as tweens are easy to please (I sight Twilight as my source).

Last year, Dance Central was the only serious Kinect based dancing game in town. This year they are not, by a long shot. The uninformed consumer will have a choice to make, which dance game to buy. When looking at the Wal-mart shelf, will they buy Just Dance 3, a game they have possibly heard of or will they grab something else out of the pleathora of dance titles out this year?

What makes Dance Central standout in the retail world…unfortunately nothing. Playing to a market that indulges themselves with gimmicks, Dance Central has none. There’s no celebrity endorsement, no movie tie in, no exclusive artists advertised. On the shelf it just looks like another Dance game. The marketing push from Microsoft is nice, but sadly, many players will be dancing to games that suck this holiday and there’s nothing Microsoft and Harmonix can do about it.

Verdict: That was more commentary, than review, but Dance Central 2 is a known quantity, if you like dancing, just buy it. You won’t be disappointed.