Kinect Games: Dance Central

The Kinect game Dance Central is a great game for showing off what the Xbox Kinect motion controller can do.

For a long time, video games pretty much required you to sit on your sofa, your entire body bent over and rigid except for your eyeballs and your hands. Plenty of awesome games have taken advantage of this style of play, but they had to leave some things out. What about the people who wanted to play games with their whole bodies, and not just their fingers?

That's where Kinect and Dance Central come in. Dance Central isn't the first dancing simuation game to hit the market: first there was Dance, Dance Revolution, and later dancing games for the PlayStation and the Wii. But Dance Central is one of the first game to make use of the Kinect's full-body mapping techniques to engage your whole body in the dance routine.

What is the game play like? Some people worry that, because the Kinect uses such revolutionary new technology, there will be a lot of bugs. Thankfully, that isn't the case, especially with Dance Central. As long as you have an appropriately sized play area, you shouldn't have any problems with move recognition. Of course, some of the moves are still difficult to get exactly right!

What is it like to play with multiple players? At the moment, Dance Central only allows one person at a time to play. Which is probably a good thing - you'd most likely end up smacking someone in the face if you danced at the same time! However, it's super easy to switch players in and out, and there's also a mode that puts you in competition with other players. As long as you can stop playing for long enough to take turns, you can have a great multiple player experience.

What is the song list like? The makers of Dance Central have done a great job in putting together a set list of songs that people will want to listen and dance to. Titles include Evacuate the Dance Floor by Cascada, Satisfaction by Benny Benassi, and Poker Face by Lady Gaga.

What are the graphics like? For the time being, Kinect games aren't likely to score major points for graphics. The nature of the play means that the graphics are somewhat basic and can get a bit repetitive - the same is true for other motion controlled games like Rock Band and most Wii titles. However, the movements of the characters in Dance Central are realistic enough to not distract you while you're playing the game.

How does it compare to other Kinect dancing games? Dance Central has by far the best game play and song list of any Kinect dancing game currently on the market. How can you tell? Well, check out the reviews on Amazon for one; alternately, you can see collected votes on the Best Kinect Dance Games site.

All in all, Dance Central is a great game that takes advantage of the new styles of game play made possible by the Xbox Kinect.

Still wondering if it's worth getting the Kinect to go along with your standard Xbox controllers? Check out Should I Get a Kinect? for the answer to that question. And here's a list of some of the best Kinect games, so you have an idea of what the Kinect has to offer.

For a funny take on Dance Central, check out Dance Central for the Kinect: Learning Tool or Humiliation Device?