Common Sense Media Review
By Erin Bell
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Dance-based game -- social network shows promise.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
What's It About?
Dancing is a social activity, so a game like DANCE! ONLINE makes perfect sense. It takes the dancing game mechanics of Dance Dance Revolution and transplants it into an online social network where players can challenge friends or strangers in dance battles to see who can achieve the highest score. Players start by choosing a male or female avatar and then join a dance room based on their level of expertise, where they will meet other players to dance with. As a song plays, four different directional arrows scroll up the screen, and the goal is to hit the corresponding keyboard key in the correct rhythm to \"dance.\" After each dance, players are awarded a letter grade, and will gain experience points. Leveling up unlocks new outfits and other bonuses. If players have a PC-compatible dance mat (from a third-party manufacturer like Red Octane), they can use it instead of a keyboard.
Is It Any Good?
In addition to being able to compete with 1 to 5 other players and dance to 75 hip-hop, dance, and pop tracks (including numbers by En Vogue, Chromeo, Sean Paul, and Ashley Tisdale), players can enjoy social networking features like the ability to chat with other players in the lounge, send messages to people on their buddylist, buy clothing and other items to outfit their Avatar, and buy items to give to other players or to decorate a private room, which also contains a television for watching recorded dances.
Dance! Online is off to a good start, but some of its features could use refinement. Confusing menus and a lack of adequate help files make it hard to explore the game's more advanced features. While dancing, the difficulty is uneven, with "superstar mode" basically consisting of tracks that have been sped up to insane levels as opposed to taking the time to create more intricate dance patterns. Let's hope that as the online experience continues to evolve, some of these features will be smoothed out to make Dance! Online an even richer experience than it already is.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether they prefer to use the keyboard or a dance mat. Which is easier? Does playing a dancing game make them want to learn some dance moves in real life? Do they think that this game has improved their rhythm or dancing skills?
Game Details
- Platform : Windows
- Pricing structure : Free
- Available online? : Available online
- Publisher : Acclaim
- Release date : March 17, 2008
- Genre : Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG)
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : August 25, 2016
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