Dance Central 2 - Preview and Review

Like many of you out there, I was thrilled to find out a new version was coming out. I downloaded the demo as soon as they made it available and was one my way to learn some new dance moves. When I finally got the full version I ran out of breath in my attempt to try out song after song.

For those of you that haven't tried Dance Central, it's time you find out what the big hype is all about. This set of games uses the most authentic choreography mimicking platform out there. If you don't know any moves, don't sweat it! That's what this game is for.

The 'Break it Down' mode allows you to learn the moves one at a time, and you can see in real time what parts of you body are following the pattern and which ones are not. You can repeat the move as many times as you like until you feel comfortable to move on.

Once you think you are ready to perform, you can show off your skills in the 'Perform It' mode. For those of you that are familiar with rhythmic games such as Guitar Hero, or Rock Band, a continuous sequence of correct moves will get you a multiplier. You can battle your friends and see who gets the higher score.

Additionally, as you increase your performance, the game tells you when you are ready to move on to the next difficulty level, but you can go about it whichever way you want.

Once you've got at least 4 stars on a group of songs you can perform in the challenge mode -which basically lets you perform all of them in a row. Now that's a workout! Aaand...I love it!

You have dozens of songs to practice with, so don't fret! There's something for everybody. What I love the most is that they have 'oldies but goldies' dance classics.

One of the first things you'll notice is that you have an extra helping hand during 'break it down' mode. The character on the screen also goes over the transition necessary for a sequence of moves so that you're not caught unprepared when having to perform one move after another. That used to be my weakest point before.

The other thing I absolutely LOVE in 'Break It Down' mode is that once you've practiced all the moves a couple of times but you're still not sure about one (or a few) of them, you can choose to practice it separately without having to go through the whole list. Very neat!

I also noticed the dancing moves are slightly more comprehensible than in the previous release. I really have no complaints and the song selection is great. No downloadable content available yet though. Perhaps they're waiting on us to complete every challenge and bombard Harmonix with requests.

The menu changed a little, for the better, but perhaps some people would argue otherwise. I was very comfortable with the old one so it took me a while to adjust. It has a few extra features, but the one that I think is worth mentioning is that now you can use voice commands within the game.

However, the song list in this one is, I think, even better than in the first one. I attached the list below.

Finally, one of the biggest improvements is that now you can actually have TWO players dancing in the same time. Kinect seems to do a pretty good job of keeping track of two people at once, wouldn't have guessed so before. The challenges between two players are in a completely new dimension now, since you have battle areas where you're racing the opponent to get a series of moves done in whichever order you prefer. Not having to run back and forth during a challenge is definitely a plus.

Sandstorm by Darude
Mai Ai Hee (Dragostea Din Tea) by O-Zone
Reach by Atlantic Connection And Armanni Reign
Real Love by Mary J. Blige
Venus by Bananarama
Bulletproof by La Roux
Turn Me On by Kevin Lyttle
Last Night by P. Diddy feat. Keyshia Cole
The Humpty Dance by Digital Underground
Impacto (Remix) by Daddy Yankee feat. Fergie
This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan
The Breaks by Kurtis Blow
Hot Stuff by Donna Summer
Body to Body by Electric Valentine
Fire Burning by Sean Kingston
You're A Jerk by New Boyz
Oops (Oh My) by Tweet feat. Missy Elliot
Right Thurr by Chingy
Rude Boy by Rihanna
Nothin' On You by B.O.B feat. Bruno Mars
Club Can't Handle Me by Flo Rida feat. David Guetta
I Like It by Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull
Massive Attack by Nikki Minaj feat. Sean Garrett
My Prerogative by Bobby Brown
Grenade by Bruno Mars
I Wish For You by Exile
Meddle by Little Boots
Goodies by Ciara
Born This Way by Lady Gaga
Whip My Hair by Willow Smith
Conceited (There's Something About Remy) by Remy Ma
What Is Love? by Haddaway
Like A G6 by Far East Movement
Yeah! by Usher feat. Lil' Jon & Ludacris
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love by Usher feat. Pitbull
Run (Natural Disaster) by Gnarls Barkley
Baby Got Back (Mix Mix) by Sir Mix-A-Lot
Technologic by Daft Punk
Somebody To Love by Justin Bieber
Satellite by Lena
Get Ur Freak On by Missy Elliot
Toxic by As made famous by Britney Spears
Sexy Chick by David Guetta feat. Akon

Everybody I know loves it! This is the one thing that can always make me get off the couch. The game doesn't require you to do any breakdancing and it's the best social activity known to man.

With Holidays around the corner consider getting this for those you love!
If you don't have an X-Box, the time to get it on discount is now. The holiday bundle has everything you need to get started and lots of other Kinect activities you'll love.

With the 44 new songs and challenge modes, Dance Central 2 should keep you in shape for another year.
Oh, did I mention you can import your old Dance Central songs onto this platform? Go ahead and challenge your friends!
If you never played the original Dance Central you don't need to, but it just means you've been missing out! Get on the bandwagon!