With the original Dance Central being something of a runaway success for Kinect, and the reason why many Just Dance fanatics gave the motion sensing controller a try, it wouldn't have taken a genius to guess that Microsoft may have a sequel in the works for their popular dancing game. Step forward, Dance Central 2, which Microsoft lifted the lid on at their recent conference at the mega games trade show, E3.
You'll need plenty of room to do this.
Demoed at the show, Dance Central 2 plays catch up in many ways, with the sequel adding the ability to dance with a friend simultaneously - which you've been able to do in Just Dance for years. Following the same cues as its predecessor, Dance Central 2 sees you trying to match the moves of an on screen character, as you follow a range of prompts with your arms, legs, head, and body, as they appear at the side of the screen. If what was shown at E3 was anything to go by, it looks as though the game's going to keep Dance Central's notorious difficulty level, as the first game was tricky to say the least (as we found out in our Dance Central review), and it doesn't look like that's going to be changing any time soon. At least we'll still be able to play through on easy.
Along with the aforementioned simultaneous multiplayer mode, a host of new features were announced for the sequel, including gold prompt squares, which, if you hit them, increase your multiplier, an interesting sounding new single player mode, that sees you joining a dance posse, and the ability to import your songs from the previous Dance Central game (although presumably at cost to you), giving Dance Central 2 a potential library of over 100 songs. And while we're still some way from knowing a full setlist for the game, an initial selection of songs have been announced for the game, although it's mostly dance stuff, made for the kiddies:
- Venus - Bananarama
- Nuthin on You - BOB featuring Bruno Mars
- Like a G6 - Far East Movement
- Bulletproof - La Roux
- This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan
- Massive Attack - Nikki Minaj
- Rude Boy - Rihanna
- DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love - Usher
Of course, Dance Central 2's going to have its work cut out for it this year, with the announcement that Ubisoft's rolling the Just Dance tank over to Kinect in the form of Just Dance 3. Which game will win remains to be seen, but if you're a fan of dancing games on Kinect, it looks like you're in for a very special Christmas indeed.
