Return To Home Page		December 8, 2010

DanceStar Party is a PS3 exclusive.

By sending me DanceStar Party Dave (Futuregamez’s head honcho and supreme overlord) accomplished something a lifetime of girlfriends have managed just a handful of times between them – he got me onto the dance floor. It’s safe to say that I am not DanceStar Party’s target market but nevertheless I had some fun with the game. If you want the opinion of a bloke with two left feet and as much rhythm as a dial-tone read on... (then consult a qualified psychiatrist)

The only two music games I’ve ever played are Beatmania (a quirky Japanese game similar to Guitar Hero) and Guitar Hero. I’ve never played Singstar, Dance Dance Revolution, Rock Band or any other singing and dancing games. Which is to say that I approached DanceStar Party with a relatively open mind; no expectations and nothing to compare it with.

There are three main ways to play DanceStar Party – solo, with or against friends, and Dance Studio where you can practice your moves, create your own routines and do a dance workout. There are forty songs on the disc covering a wide range of artists, from Diana Ross to Rhianna, Iggy Pop to Usher, Elton John to Groove Armada and plenty of others. It’s a list that will have at least a couple of songs that appeal to almost everyone, though not many people will love all of the songs. The idea is clearly to get as many people as possible to have a go and that’s definitely when DanceStar Party is at its best.

Nice, umm, lyrics we guess...

If you opt to play solo you can dance along with any of the forty songs in their standard or shortened form. There are multiple difficulty levels to choose from but if you’re anything like me you’ll definitely select the Beginner setting. Once the song starts your objective is to match the movements of the on-screen dancer, and while the moves didn’t come naturally to me at first, they’re quite easy to pick up after a couple of attempts. Also onscreen is the original music video of each song, some of which are pretty funny. There is also a little stick figure showing the next move any time the dance is about to change. It can be tricky to check out it out on the fly initially, but once you’re more familiar with each dance you’ll get the hang of it.

You earn points for accurately matching the on-screen dancer’s moves, on a scale from ‘X’ (which earns you zero points) to ‘Flawless’. You earn bonuses for stringing multiple moves together and the obvious aim is to get the highest score possible. The Move controller feels accurate in this regard, and you’ll often know when you nail a particular move even before your rating is displayed.

Your overall score is rated on a five-star scale which updates as your dance progresses. Every time your score takes you past another star threshold it comes up on-screen, allowing you to easily follow your progress. Many of the moves repeat during each song, particularly on easier difficulty settings, and they help boost your score to something respectable even if you’re as rhythm-challenged as me.

Your body needs to go to the right!.

As you dance the Playstation Eye takes snapshots of you in action and films your entire routine. Both of these can be saved for future laughs, or uploaded into cyberspace. Uploaded clips can be rated by others and there’s Facebook integration there too if you’re into that kind of thing. While you’re there you can check out other people’s clips, including the most popular for the week and overall. There are plenty of clips of kids busting moves better than I ever will, as well as a few where Granny gets in on the action. It’s simple and straightforward and a bit of a laugh.

Dance Studio is the other single-player area to check out. Here you can practice songs, selecting any verse of any song and dancing along until you’ve mastered it. The other two modes – dance workout and dance creator are interesting. In dance workout you select a three or five-song routine to dance to while the game keeps track of how many calories you burn through. Each routine has an energy rating of one, two or three, so you know what you’re getting into before you start. The songs are played one after another so there is a short gap between them for you to catch your breath.

Before we go any further here's DanceStar's track listing which may alter your enjoyment levels.

Amerie - 1 Thing Barry White - You’re The First, The Last, My Everything Basement Jaxx - Where’s Your Head At Billy Idol with Generation X - Dancing with Myself Bodyrockers - I Like The Way Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting CeCe Peniston - Finally Chromeo - Night By Night Deadmau5 - Ghosts ‘N’ Stuff (feat. Rob Swire) Diana Ross - Upside Down Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed Elton John - I’m Still Standing Example - Kickstarts Groove Armada feat. Gram’ma Funk - I See You Baby (Fatboy Slim mix) Ida Corr Vs Fedde Le Grand - Let Me Think About It Iggy Pop - Lust For Life Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne - Down Jessie J - Do It Like A Dude Kool And The Gang - Get Down On It

Lady Gaga - Born This Way LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem Los Del Rio - Macarena Miami Sound Machine - Dr Beat New Kids On The Block - You Got It (The Right Stuff) Nicole Scherzinger - Don’t Hold Your Breath Ok Go - Here It Goes Again OutKast - The Way You Move Republica - Ready To Go Rihanna - Rude Boy SNAP! - The Power Tavares - Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel The Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl Tiesto v Diplo feat Busta Rhymes - C’mon (Catch ‘Em By Surprise) Tinie Tempah - Pass Out Usher featuring Pitbull - DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love Usher featuring will.i.am - OMG Vengaboys - We Like To Party Willow - Whip My Hair Yolanda Be Cool vs D Cup - We No Speak Americano

The dance creator does what its name suggests, allowing you to create your own dance to the song of your choice. The Playstation Eye records all of your moves and this recording replaces the on-screen dancer when you replay it. It can be tough to match your own moves, particularly when they make no sense and there’s no stick-figure man to tell you when the moves are going to change, but overall it’s a bit of fun. Better dancers out there are going to get much more out of this than average Joe’s though.

Usher featuring will.i.am with OMG in DanceStar Party.

DanceStar Party features a three main multiplayer modes to sink your teeth into. You can go head-to-head against a friend in Battle mode, or play co-operatively in Dance Partners. Scoring more points than your rival in Battle mode will earn you bragging rights, while the key to Dance Partners is to perform you moves in synch and maximize your score. There is also a Dance Party mode which allows up to twenty people to play, with pairs taking it in turns to out-dance each other.

As far as issues go, I found it disappointing that there’s no way to have single-player battles. Pairs can do it in multiplayer so it’s obviously possible. It would add a lot to the game if you could create single-player dance-off competitions because it’s not easy or fun to manually keep track of everyone’s score. It’s also a bit strange that while there is an option to turn singing on you don’t score any extra points for singing along while you dance. A new multiplayer game where one person sings while the other one dances could have been good fun, so that’s an opportunity missed right there. My final gripe is that the calorie counter within Dance Workout is just a bit of fluff. There’s no way for the Playstation Move to track your entire body’s movements, so the counter can’t be accurate.

2-player DanceStar Party.

Graphically it’s all pretty solid. The music videos are entertaining, the dancer is easy to see and follow, while the score displays are straightforward and unobtrusive. All of this takes place on colourful backdrops that similarly don’t interfere with the action. There are no awesome effects on display, but nor should there be as they’d just distract you.

So far as sound goes your enjoyment will be based entirely on the playlist on offer. There are forty songs from a wide variety of artists and time periods. I’m not the biggest fan of modern music, and none of the older songs on here would be my first choice to dance to either, but I still enjoyed plenty of the songs and I reckon if I can, anyone can. Lady Gaga, The Chemical Brothers, Kool and the Gang, Nicole Sherzinger, SNAP! and New Kids on the Block join a bunch of others in providing decent variety.

DanceStar Party doesn’t push any boundaries but what it does is provide a solid and entertaining rhythm-based dance game for the PS3. If you have a couple of Move controllers and some friends who like to dance you’re sure to have a good time with DanceStar Party. Your enjoyment will be short-lived if you plan to play solo, but as a party game DanceStar Party is worth a look.

Review By: Mike Allison

GRAPHICS	Each song has its music video and there’s a real-life dancer to emulate, all on a pretty background.	65%
SOUND	It lives and dies by the soundtrack, which is varied enough to appeal (at least a little bit) to everyone.	80%
GAMEPLAY	It’s simple stuff – copy the on-screen dancer and rack up the points. It’s also good fun in short bursts.	70%
VALUE	This isn’t a game many people will play alone for long, but in a party setting it thrives if your friends are into it.	65%
OVERALL	DanceStar Party is a solid game that doesn’t attempt to break new ground. If you and your friends have a couple of Move controllers and like to dance, this is one to check out.	70%