Dance Central (video game)
Dance Central is a music rhythm game for the Xbox 360 Kinect that was released on November 2010 in most areas and on June 2011 in Japan.
Gameplay
Dance Central is a rhythm game where players follow characters' movements in various arenas and earn stars while doing so. On the right side of the characters are flashcards for guidance, displaying the current move that is being done. The judgement of each move done is divided into four critiques : X, Almost, Nice and Flawless. If a player earns a consecutive amount of Flawlesses, the arena will turn into a peak mode glowing with lights, and it can be maintained with Flawlesses or Nice critiques. If a player earns a consecutive amount of Xs however, the arena loses vividness and the music gets muffled. This can be changed back to its regular state if a player get a Nice or a Flawless once in its dull state. A total of 5 stars can be earned per routine, but if a player does it very well, they can earn Gold Stars. Earning stars unlocks content for the game.Along with stars, there is a score, which are both displayed by a boombox named Boomy. Boomy also features a little number on it, indicating a score multiplier. Doing moves in succession increases the multiplier, earning more points, but missing a move cause the multiplier to drop from its starting point.
Songs are divided into categories, and each song has three difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, and Hard. Only Easy is unlocked in the beginning, and the player earns the other difficulties as they move on. Only they do well, they can also unlock a "No Flashcards" mode that does not display the flashcards on screen.
Each song features a Freestyle section that allows players to dance however they desire. When so, a camera takes photos as they are freestyling, and distributes them out before the routine revises, however these have to be earned by obtaining camera icons that appear next to some of the moves. Doing those in succession results in a photo opportunity in Freestyle. These photos can be viewed after the song, but they cannot be saved. The option for photo taking can also be disabled.
There are five modes available in Dance Central:
- Perform It!: A standard mode where a player can dance to routines in the game.
- Fitness: A mode that tracks calories burning while playing. It features an indicator for calories and a timer for how long the session has been going when on.
- Dance Battle: A competitive mode where two players goes to head to head for glory. One player goes at a time and the one with the highest score wins.
- Challenge: After getting 4 stars on each song in a category, a challenge is unlocked. The challenge is a mix of all of the songs in that category as one. A Grand Finale Challenge is also available, but the player has to get 4 stars in each challenge in order to unlock that one.
- Break It Down: A training mode where the player can learn the moves or assist in moves they are having difficulties with. The mode cuts the routines into sections and goes through each step individually. When the player passes all the moves in the section, a recap is performed, and the process repeats until the end. There is also an option to slow down the moves, giving more analyzation if need be.
Characters
Dance Central features ten different characters. Eight of them are unlocked from the start while two are unlocked through certain achievements. Each character, with the exception of one, has a main outfit and an alternate outfit, and the alternate outfit can be unlocked by earning 25 stars with that dancer, aside from ELIOT's whose alternate outfit is unlocked by reaching the Living Legend rank.Angel - A Latin lover that grabs the ladies' attention - voiced by choreographer Marcos Aguirre.
"Miss" Aubrey - A very confident and snooty queen bee
Emilia - An athletic girl that works out at the gym constantly
Dare - A British, pink-haired clubber that enjoys partying
MacCoy - A guy with old school flair and technological gear
Mo - A friendly guy that jokes around from time to time
Oblio - A mysterious guy with words of wisdom
Taye - A girl with tons of attitude and sass
ELIOT - A robot that represses his robot roots and swears he is human
Shinju - A silent ninja that wears pink and carries nunchucks
ELIOT can be attained after reaching the "Living Legend" rank or by earning 4 stars on the Grand Finale Challenge on any difficulty. Doing it by the former unlocks him with both outfits available while doing it by the latter only unlocks him with his main outfit available.
Shinju can be attained after entering "Left, Up, X, Up, Right, Y" at the title screen using the Xbox 360 Controller.
Venues
The game features six venues for the player to dance in. Two are available from the start while the rest have to be unlocked in order to play in them. Venues can be changed before the player starts a routine, aside from the Grand Finale Challenge where it is initially defaulted with Dr. Tan's Estate, but can eventually be changed once the player passes the challenge.5th Period - A school cafeteria
The Planks - A pier
The Roost - A rooftop
Gridlock - A bridge
City Limits - A power plant
Dr. Tan's Estate - A club owned by Dr. Tan
Ranks
The game features a ranking system that gives the player a title. They are merely there just for display, but they do start from the bottom and go up as the player earns stars. There are 20 ranks in the game.Story
While there is no Story mode in the game, there are two cutscenes that exist within the game implying a story.A club is being promoted by Mo, spreading all over the area and getting multiple characters' attention. As such, they attend to go to the club to party. When done promoting, Mo goes to a phone booth, picks up the phone, and hears a representation for the club on the other line. After putting it back, the platform underneath him lowers down, taking him to the club. The club ends up being revealed as Dr. Tan's Estate, and while most of the characters who attended are having fun, Oblio is sitting against a wall in dismay. He eventually leaves the club and rides away on his motorcycle, but as he is doing so, the player sees the scene being rewound. It then shows the scene on one of many screens that are being monitored by Dr. Tan. Intrigued by what he is seeing, he closes the rest of the screens, smirks, and laughs hysterically.
Songs
The game features 32 songs for the player to dance to. Each song is ranked under a certain category: Warm Up, Simple, Moderate, Tough, Legit, Hardcore, and Off The Hook. Each song also has a default dancer associated with it, although they can be changed beforehand. There are three difficulties available for each song: Easy, Medium, and Hard, but only Easy is available from the beginning. Medium is unlocked once the player either earns at least 3 stars on Easy or passes 50% of the routine in Break It Down on Medium or Hard, and Hard is unlocked once the player either earns at least 3 stars on Medium or passes 50% of the routine in Break It Down on Hard.Each song has a No Flashcards mode available in which the flashcards do not pop up on the screen, but it has to be unlocked in order to enable it. The mode is unlocked in separate stages for each song, specifically when the player earns at least 5 stars under each difficulty.
| Song title | Artist | Year | Choreographer | Rating | Difficulty | DC or DC3 Character | DC2 Character | DC3 Venue |
| "Body Movin' " | Beastie Boys | 1998 | Marcos Aguirre | Off The Hook | 7 | Oblio | Bodie | Toprock Avenue |
| "Brick House" | Commodores | 1977 | Ricardo Foster | Off The Hook | 7 | Maccoy | Glitch | Free Skate |
| "Bust a Move" | Young MC | 1989 | Devin Woolridge | Hardcore | 6 | Mo | Mo | Toprock Avenue |
| "C'mon N' Ride It " | Quad City DJ's | 1996 | Chanel Thompson | Simple | 2 | Dare | Lil' T | Invite Only |
| "Can't Get You Out of My Head" | Kylie Minogue | 2001 | Frenchy Hernandez | Simple | 2 | Miss Aubrey | Miss Aubrey | Studio 675 |
| "Crank That " | Soulja Boy Tell 'Em | 2007 | Devin Woolridge | Moderate | 3 | Mo | Mo | Toprock Avenue |
| "Days Go By" | Dirty Vegas | 2001 | Ricardo Foster | Hardcore | 6 | Maccoy | Glitch | Studio 675 |
| "Dip It Low" | Christina Milian | 2004 | Frenchy Hernandez | Tough | 4 | Taye | Taye | Studio 675 |
| "Don't Sweat the Technique" | Eric B. & Rakim | 1992 | Devin Woolridge | Off The Hook | 7 | Maccoy | Glitch | Studio 675 |
| "Down" | Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne | 2009 | Marcos Aguirre | Moderate | 3 | Angel | Angel | Studio 675 |
| "Drop It Like It's Hot" | Snoop Dogg | 2004 | Frenchy Hernandez | Off The Hook | 7 | Taye | Taye | Studio 675 |
| "Evacuate the Dancefloor" | Cascada | 2009 | Marcos Aguirre | Warmup | 1 | Emilia | Emilia | Studio 675 |
| "Flava In Ya Ear " | Craig Mack | 1994 | Frenchy Hernandez | Legit | 5 | Taye | Taye | Invite Only |
| "Funkytown" | Lipps Inc | 1980 | Marcos Aguirre | Simple | 2 | Miss Aubrey | Miss Aubrey | Free Skate |
| "Galang '05" | M.I.A. | 2005 | Frenchy Hernandez | Simple | 2 | Dare | Lil' T | Studio 675 |
| "Hella Good" | No Doubt | 2002 | Marcos Aguirre | Tough | 4 | Oblio | Bodie | Studio 675 |
| "Hey Mami" | FannyPack | 2003 | Marcos Aguirre | Warmup | 1 | Miss Aubrey | Miss Aubrey | Toprock Avenue |
| "I Know You Want Me " | Pitbull | 2009 | Marcos Aguirre | Warmup | 1 | Angel | Angel | DCI HQ |
| "Jungle Boogie" | Kool & the Gang | 1973 | Ricardo Foster | Moderate | 3 | Maccoy | Glitch | Free Skate |
| "Just Dance" | Lady Gaga | 2008 | Marcos Aguirre | Off The Hook | 7 | Dare | Lil' T | Crow's Nest |
| "King of the Dancehall" | Beenie Man | 2004 | Marcos Aguirre | Tough | 4 | Angel | Angel | Crow's Nest |
| "Maneater" | Nelly Furtado | 2006 | Frenchy Hernandez | Legit | 5 | Emilia | Emilia | Studio 675 |
| "Move Ya Body" | Nina Sky | 2004 | Frenchy Hernandez | Tough | 4 | Emilia | Emilia | Studio 675 |
| "Poison" | Bell Biv DeVoe | 1990 | Devin Woolridge | Legit | 5 | Angel | Angel | Invite Only |
| "Poker Face" | Lady Gaga | 2008 | Marcos Aguirre | Warmup | 1 | Mo | Mo | Studio 675 |
| "Pon de Replay" | Rihanna | 2005 | Frenchy Hernandez | Moderate | 3 | Emilia | Emilia | Studio 675 |
| "Pump Up the Jam" | Technotronic | 1989 | Marcos Aguirre | Hardcore | 6 | Dare | Lil' T | Toprock Avenue |
| "Push It" | Salt-n-Pepa | 1987 | Frenchy Hernandez | Legit | 5 | Taye | Taye | Toprock Avenue |
| "Rendez-Vu" | Basement Jaxx | 1999 | Frenchy Hernandez | Tough | 4 | Miss Aubrey | Miss Aubrey | Invite Only |
| "Rump Shaker" | Wreckx-n-Effect | 1992 | Marcos Aguirre | Moderate | 3 | Oblio | Bodie | Invite Only |
| "Satisfaction" | Benny Benassi Presents The Biz | 2002 | Marcos Aguirre | Hardcore | 6 | Oblio | Bodie | Studio 675 |
| "Teach Me How To Jerk" | Audio Push | 2009 | Devin Woolridge | Legit | 5 | Mo | Mo | Studio 675 |
Challenges
Challenges are a combination of songs mashed together as one. They are unlocked once the player earns at least 4 stars on each song used in the challenge, aside from the Grand Finale Challenge where it is the same premise, but with challenges. The player can bypass unlocking the difficulties one by one for the Challenges by earning the minimum amount of stars needed for each song at the same difficulty rather than earning at least 3 stars on the previous difficulty once the challenge is available.The first seven challenges contain each song from the difficulty, while the Grand Finale Challenge contains one song from each difficulty. The Grand Finale Challenge initially does not allow the player to change the default dancer, and it is done with ELIOT the first time through, but once they clear it, they can change it. Additionally, ELIOT, Dr. Tan's Estate, and a gold version of Boomy are unlocked through the Grand Finale Challenge once cleared.
No Flashcards mode is also available as an unlockable, and the same rules apply when unlocking them. Unlike the songs, there is no Break It Down mode available from the Challenges.
Downloadable content
Dance Central has additional content they can purchase for the game. Like the on-disc songs, they follow the same format in playing them.| Song Title | Artist | Year | Choreographer | Rating | Difficulty | Release Date | Character | Dance Pack | Marathon Pack | DC3 Venue |
| "Because of You" | Ne-Yo | 2007 | Marcos Aguirre | Hardcore | 6 | Mo | 3 | 1 | Invite Only | |
| "I Got You Dancing" | Lady Sovereign | 2009 | Marcos Aguirre | Off The Hook | 7 | Dare | 1 | 1 | Crow's Nest | |
| "Temperature" | Sean Paul | 2006 | Marcos Aguirre | Moderate | 3 | Angel | 3 | Studio 675 | ||
| "Whoomp! " | Tag Team | 1993 | Chanel Thompson | Legit | 5 | Dare | 3 | 1 | Invite Only | |
| "I Gotta Feeling" | The Black Eyed Peas | 2009 | Devin Woolridge | Moderate | 3 | Emilia | 1 | Studio 675 | ||
| "Word Up" | Cameo | 1986 | Ricardo Foster | Tough | 4 | Maccoy | 3 | 1 | DCI HQ | |
| "Control" | Janet Jackson | 1986 | Chanel Thompson | Hardcore | 6 | Taye | 2 | 1 | Toprock Avenue | |
| "Girls and Boys" | Blur | 1994 | Marcos Aguirre | Warmup | 1 | Oblio | 4 | 1 | Crow's Nest | |
| "Disturbia" | Rihanna | 2008 | Frenchy Hernandez | Simple | 2 | Miss Aubrey | 2 | 1 | Studio 675 | |
| "We Run This" | Missy Elliott | 2006 | Marcos Aguirre | Hardcore | 6 | Taye | 1 | Studio 675 | ||
| "Le Freak" | Chic | 1978 | Chanel Thompson | Simple | 2 | Dare | 4 | Free Skate | ||
| "Super Freak" | Rick James | 1981 | Frenchy Hernandez | Simple | 2 | Miss Aubrey | 4 | 1 | Free Skate | |
| "Heard 'Em All" | Amerie | 2009 | Marcos Aguirre | Legit | 5 | Taye | 1 | 1 | Studio 675 | |
| "Weapon of Choice" | Fatboy Slim | 2001 | Marcos Aguirre | Warmup | 1 | Oblio | 4 | 1 | Studio 675 | |
| "Hollaback Girl" | Gwen Stefani | 2005 | Chanel Thompson | Hardcore | 6 | Taye | 2 | 1 | Toprock Avenue | |
| "Straight Up" | Paula Abdul | 1988 | Marcos Aguirre | Legit | 5 | Miss Aubrey | 2 | 1 | Toprock Avenue | |
| "Turnin Me On" | Keri Hilson | 2008 | Frenchy Hernandez | Off The Hook | 7 | Emilia | 1 | 1 | Studio 675 | |
| "Wild Thing" | Tone Loc | 2005 | Marcos Acguire | Moderate | 3 | Taye | 5 | 2 | Studio 675 | |
| "Lean wit It, Rock wit It" | Dem Franchize Boyz ft. Peanut & Charlay | 2006 | Frenchy Hernandez | Simple | 2 | Emilia | 5 | 2 | DCI HQ | |
| "D.A.N.C.E." | Justice | 2007 | Chanel Thompson | Moderate | 3 | Maccoy | 7 | 2 | DCI HQ | |
| "Fergalicious" | Fergie ft. will.i.am | 2006 | Chanel Thompson | Hardcore | 6 | Emilia | 6 | 2 | Studio 675 | |
| "Informer" | Snow | 1993 | Ricardo Foster | Simple | 2 | Maccoy | 7 | 2 | Invite Only | |
| "Lapdance" | N.E.R.D. ft. Lee Harvey & Vita | 2001 | Devin Woolridge | Tough | 4 | Oblio | 5 | 2 | DCI HQ | |
| "Say Aah" | Trey Songz ft. Fabolous | 2010 | Ricardo Foster | Simple | 2 | Oblio | 7 | 2 | Studio 675 | |
| "Break Your Heart" | Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris | 2010 | Chanel Thompson | Moderate | 3 | Dare | 6 | 2 | Studio 675 | |
| "Planet Rock " | Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force | 1982 | Devin Woolridge | Hardcore | 6 | Mo | 7 | Toprock Avenue | ||
| "Get Up, Sex Machine Pt. 1" | James Brown | 1970 | Ricardo Foster | Moderate | 3 | Maccoy | 6 | 2 | Free Skate | |
| "Get Busy" | Sean Paul | 2003 | Frenchy Hernandez | Tough | 4 | Taye | 7 | 2 | Toprock Avenue | |
| "Get It Shawty" | Lloyd | 2007 | Marcos Aguirre | Moderate | 3 | Angel | 6 | 2 | Toprock Avenue | |
| "Don't Cha" | Busta Rhymes | 2005 | Frenchy Hernandez | Simple | 2 | Miss Aubrey | 6 | 2 | Studio 675 | |
| "Tempted to Touch" | Rupee | 2004 | Devin Woolridge | Simple | 2 | Angel | 7 | 2 | Studio 675 | |
| "The Way I Are" | Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson | 2007 | Nick DeMoura | Off The Hook | 7 | Mo | 6 | 2 | DCI HQ |
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Reception
Critical reception
Dance Central received positive reviews from critics. It received a score of 83.22% on GameRankings and 82/100 on Metacritic. It received a rating of 8/10 from IGN and a rating of 8.5/10 from GameSpot. Video game talk show gave the game an 8 out of 10 calling it the best launch game for the Kinect and a step forward for dance games. They said workout mode was a nice addition which will definitely give you a workout and the Dance Battles would be a big hit at parties.Nintendo of America's President, in an interview, said that "Dance Central is, by far, the best Kinect game".