The top-selling franchise for Xbox Kinect, Dance Central, has sashayed onto the stage for an encore performance, as Dance Central 2 is now available at retail. Dance Central 2 expands on the original with more full-body dance routines, the new ability to issue voice commands and new multiplayer gameplay.
Yet as with any music- and dance-based game, Dance Central 2 will live and die by its soundtrack. This year’s outing has more than 40 new songs from artists such as Usher, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, Daft Punk and Montell Jordan. And let’s not forget the Humpty Dance by Digital Underground, either. Our editor’s particularly excited about that one.
Owners of the original Dance Central can import their songs into Dance Central 2 and still take advantage of the new Dance Central 2 features such as simultaneous multiplayer and Dance Battle. With 44 new on-disc songs, track importing and the current Dance Central content available on Xbox Live, players will have access to more than 100 songs in Dance Central 2. More content will come via DLC each month.
Harmonix, the studio that created the original Dance Central as well as the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises, has updated Dance Central 2 so friends can team-up or go head-to-head in the Dance Battle multiplayer mode. They’ve also added voice controls, so getting into the action is as simple as saying “Xbox, Dance” and selecting a song, mode and difficulty level. A completely redesigned Break It Down mode adds more voice commands and customizable practice session to focus on select moves. Players can even record video of their moves for comparison to the onscreen dancer to see what exactly needs tweaking.
DailyGame will have a full review in the week ahead.