Dance Central

Dance Central is a unique title for reasons more than one. First up, it’s the only title at launch in India that doesn’t sport the word “Kinect” before it making it immediately stand out. Nomenclature aside, it’s made by the developers, Harmonix responsible for everyone’s favorite music series, Rock Band. And much like their erstwhile rhythm games, Dance Central too sports a very slick interface that would put every other first-gen Kinect title to shame. It looks extremely good and it’s usable to boot.

Once you’ve rid yourself of the fear of making a complete and utter fool of yourself there’s a lot to enjoy here. Harmonix’s flair is evident in spectacular character design, animations and environments that are bubbling with life. Eye-candy aside, it goes a long way in helping you master some extremely complicated moves along with animated flash cards that explain what to do and how; it’s all very lucidly done and rightly so. Much like Rock Band, this game too depends a lot on rhythm which you either have or you don’t. You might not be able to accomplish the more difficult moves but the time spent completely justifies the price.

Dismally though, the multiplayer mode is a turn by turn affair rather than a straight head to head dance off like arcade favorite, Dance Dance Revolution.  However it makes for a fine purchase for the dance maniacs with decent controls and a track list covering everything from Lady Gaga’s ”˜Poker Face’ to Dirty Vegas’ ”˜Days Go By’. All in all, a solid attempt for a rhythm-based dance game; it’s a pity that the fear of embarrassment would relegate this to an afterthought rather than an actual purchase.