Dance Central
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A lot or a little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this is a dancing game, not unlike the Dance Dance Revolution titles, which teaches players contemporary dance moves. Some of the music featured has suggestive lyrics and a few have other potentially offensive lines such as "The interior, like suicide wrist red," from Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot." Overall, however, this game is fairly tame as "Teen"-rated titles go.
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User Reviews
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Best dance game!
I do not have an Xbox, but if I did, I would buy this (I play it at my friend's house).
Provides a fun way to get active
What's it about?
Designed to work with Kinect for Xbox 360, a peripheral with multiple cameras and sensors that turns you into the controller, MTV Games' DANCE CENTRAL is a new dancing game that monitors your movements in real-time, and in a 3-D space in front of the television. Created by the talented developers at Harmonix, of Guitar Hero and Rock Band fame, Dance Central is like Dance Dance Revolution but instead of stepping on various arrows in time with the beat, your entire body is scanned and analyzed during dance routines. More than 650 authentic dance moves can be learned (totaling nearly 100 routines), plus there are many multiplayer modes to challenge friends
Is it any good?
Dance Central is indeed great fun! This challenging but gratifying dancing game has you mimic the onscreen dancers, and if you move your body in rhythm, you'll rack up points and unlock new songs, dancers, and venues. It's fun to learn the moves by yourself but the game really shines when playing with or aganist friends. There are dozens of dance songs included on the disc, be it oldies, such as Kool & The Gang's "Jungle Boogie," or newer hits, such as Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." While the selection is decent, it would've been great if this title had more songs to choose from (such as the 80+ songs included in Rock Band 3 or DJ Hero 2). Shortcoming aside, Dance Central is one of the better Kinect for Xbox 360 launch titles.
Online interaction: There is no online multiplayer gaming here but players can download new songs from the Internet over time.
Talk to your kids about ...
Families can talk about whether Kinect for Xbox 360 makes rhythm games like this more entertaining because no one has to hold anything in their hands. Does Kinect bring it to the next level? Or is it deja vu?!
Not only does Dance Central make it fun to learn and compete in new dance moves but there's also a calorie counter mode, if you want to get fit and lose weight -- much like the Dance Dance Central games that came before it. Do you play a game like this for fitness?
Game details
- Platforms: Xbox 360
- Price: $49.99
- Available online? Available online
- Developer: MTV Games
- Release date: November 4, 2010
- Genre: Music & Dance
- ESRB rating: T for Lyrics
- Last updated: November 11, 2020
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.