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Dance Central (2010 video game)

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Dance Central
Box art
Developer(s)Harmonix
Publisher(s)MTV Games
Director(s)Kasson Crooker
Producer(s)Naoko Takamoto
Designer(s)Dean Tate
Programmer(s)Marc Flury
Artist(s)Dare Matheson
Writer(s)Helen McWilliams
SeriesDance Central
Platform(s)Xbox 360
Release
  • NA: November 4, 2010
  • EU: November 10, 2010
  • AU: November 18, 2010
  • JPN: June 2, 2011
Genre(s)Rhythm
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Dance Central is a 2010 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by MTV Games for the Xbox 360 Kinect. It is the first installment in the Dance Central series. It was released on November 4, 2010, in most areas and on June 2, 2011, in Japan.

A sequel to the game, titled Dance Central 2, was released for the Xbox 360 Kinect in October 2011.

Gameplay

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Dance Central features an on-screen character who players are meant to mirror. In addition to ratings, the game also provides feedback by outlining the character's limbs in red to show what part of their body the player is not moving correctly.

Dance Central is a motion-based dance video game in which players mirror a dance performed by an on-screen character. On the right side of the screen are flashcards of the previous two moves, the move currently being performed, and the next two moves in the routine. Players can earn one of four ratings depending on their accuracy: "X", "Almost", "Nice", and "Flawless". The ratings a player earns can influence the venue in which the character is dancing; earning a consecutive amount of "Nice" or "Flawless" ratings darkens most background elements and adds neon lights, while earning a consecutive amount of "Almost" or "X" ratings results in the venue becoming dull and the music becoming muffled. The moves in each routine are influenced by the difficulty rating they are listed under and the skill level the player chooses. Initially, only the Easy difficulty is available, but Medium and Hard can be unlocked by earning at least 4 Stars in the previous skill level. Each song features a freestyle section in which players have the chance to be photographed by the Kinect's camera as they dance however they desire. Each rating provides a point value that can be increased with a score multiplier, which is raised by earning consecutive high ratings and lowered by earning low ratings. Stars are earned at specific point thresholds that vary depending on the skill level a player selects, and up to 5 Stars can be earned, with the maximum rating being 5 Gold Stars. Earning Stars unlocks content for the game such as new venues, new characters, and new outfits for characters who are already available. In addition to Perform It!, the main mode of the game, there is a Break It Down mode in which a player can practice a routine's moves and a Dance Battle mode in which two players dance one at a time in competition for the highest score.

Characters

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Dance Central features ten different characters. Eight of them are available from the start while two are unlockables. Each character, with the exception of Ttiw Tolrep, has a main outfit and an alternate outfit, which can be unlocked by earning 25 Stars with them (or, for ELIOT, reaching the "Living Legend" rank).

  • Angel: A Latin lover who seeks romantic attention from women.
  • Miss Aubrey: A very confident and snooty queen bee.
  • Emilia: An athletic woman who frequently works out at the gym.
  • Dare: A British, pink-haired clubber who enjoys partying.
  • MacCoy: A man with an interest in old school hip-hop and technology.
  • Mo: A friendly man who occasionally enjoys joking around.
  • Oblio: A mysterious, poetic man.
  • Taye: A self-assured, outspoken woman.
  • ELIOT: A robot who represses his robot roots and swears he is human. He can be unlocked by earning at least 4 Stars and over in the Grand Finale challenge or reaching the Living Legend rank.
  • Ttiw Tolrep: (later known as Shinju in the sequel) A silent ninja who wears pink and carries nunchuks. He cannot be selected in the character roster and is unlocked by entering XY (spelling "luxury") at the title screen using the Xbox 360 Controller.

Story

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While there is no story mode in the game, there are two cutscenes in the game that suggest a story.

In the opening cutscene, Mo is promoting a club in various different areas of a city. This catches the attention of multiple characters, who decide to attend the club. In the closing cutscene, Mo stops at a phone booth, picks up the phone, and talks to someone on behalf of the club. After hanging up the phone, the platform underneath him takes him to the club, which is revealed to be Dr. Tan's Estate. While most of the characters in attendance are partying, Oblio is sitting against a wall with a disgruntled expression. He eventually leaves the club and rides away on his motorcycle. The scene is rewound and replayed repeatedly before it is revealed that Dr. Tan has him under surveillance alongside various areas of the city. Intrigued by what he is seeing, he turns off the rest of the screens, smirks, and laughs hysterically.

Songs

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Dance Central features a soundtrack consisting of 32 songs. Each song has a default dancer associated with it that can be changed before starting the song.

Song Artist Year Default Dancer
"Body Movin' (Fatboy Slim Remix)" Beastie Boys 1998 Oblio
"Brick House" Commodores 1977 MacCoy
"Bust a Move" Young MC 1989 Mo
"C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)" Quad City DJ's 1996 Dare
"Can't Get You Out of My Head" Kylie Minogue 2001 Miss Aubrey
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" Soulja Boy Tell 'Em 2007 Mo
"Days Go By" Dirty Vegas 2001 MacCoy
"Dip It Low" Christina Milian 2004 Taye
"Don't Sweat the Technique" Eric B. & Rakim 1992 MacCoy
"Down" Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne 2009 Angel
"Drop It Like It's Hot" Snoop Dogg 2004 Taye
"Evacuate the Dancefloor" Cascada 2009 Emilia
"Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)" Craig Mack 1994 Taye
"Funkytown" Lipps Inc 1980 Miss Aubrey
"Galang '05" M.I.A. 2005 Dare
"Hella Good" No Doubt 2002 Oblio
"Hey Mami" FannyPack 2003 Miss Aubrey
"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" Pitbull 2009 Angel
"Jungle Boogie" Kool & the Gang 1973 MacCoy
"Just Dance" Lady Gaga 2008 Dare
"King of the Dancehall" Beenie Man 2004 Angel
"Maneater" Nelly Furtado 2006 Emilia
"Move Ya Body" Nina Sky 2004 Emilia
"Poison" Bell Biv DeVoe 1990 Angel
"Poker Face" Lady Gaga 2008 Mo
"Pon de Replay" Rihanna 2005 Emilia
"Pump Up the Jam" Technotronic 1989 Dare
"Push It" Salt-n-Pepa 1987 Taye
"Rendez-Vu" Basement Jaxx 1999 Miss Aubrey
"Rump Shaker" Wreckx-n-Effect 1992 Oblio
"Satisfaction" Benny Benassi Presents The Biz 2002 Oblio
"Teach Me How To Jerk" Audio Push 2009 Mo

Challenges

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Challenges are a combination of songs mixed together as one. They are typically unlocked once the player earns at least 4 Stars on each song in a certain difficulty category. The skill levels for challenges can be unlocked in the same way as regular songs, but can also be unlocked by earning the minimum amount of Stars needed for each song on higher skill levels. Unlike regular songs, Break It Down is not available for challenges. There are eight challenges, seven of which focus on songs categorized under a certain difficulty and one of which contains songs from every difficulty category. The last challenge, the Grand Finale Challenge, is unlocked by earning at least 4 Stars on every other Challenge. Completing it unlocks Eliot (if players have not done so already) and Dr. Tan's Estate.

Downloadable content

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Players can purchase additional songs as downloadable content (DLC).

Song Artist Year Release Date Default Dancer
"Because of You" Ne-Yo 2007 November 4, 2010 Mo
"I Got You Dancing"b Lady Sovereign 2009 November 4, 2010 Dare
"Temperature" Sean Paul 2006 November 4, 2010 Angel
"Whoomp! (There It Is)" Tag Team 1993 November 23, 2010 Dare
"I Gotta Feeling" The Black Eyed Peas 2009 November 23, 2010 Emilia
"Word Up" Cameo 1986 November 23, 2010 MacCoy
"Control"a Janet Jackson 1986 December 21, 2010 Taye
"Girls and Boys"b Blur 1994 December 21, 2010 Oblio
"Disturbia" Rihanna 2008 December 21, 2010 Miss Aubrey
"We Run This" Missy Elliott 2006 February 15, 2011 Emilia
"Le Freak" Chic 1978 February 15, 2011 Dare
"Super Freak" Rick James 1981 February 15, 2011 Miss Aubrey
"Heard 'Em All" Amerie 2009 February 15, 2011 Taye
"Weapon of Choice" Fatboy Slim 2001 March 15, 2011 Oblio
"Hollaback Girl" Gwen Stefani 2005 March 15, 2011 Taye
"Straight Up" Paula Abdul 1988 March 15, 2011 Miss Aubrey
"Turnin Me On" Keri Hilson 2008 March 15, 2011 Emilia
"Wild Thing" Tone-Loc 1988 April 18, 2011 Taye
"Lean wit It, Rock wit It" Dem Franchize Boyz ft. Peanut & Charlay 2006 April 19, 2011 Emilia
"D.A.N.C.E." Justice 2007 April 19, 2011 MacCoy
"Fergalicious" Fergie ft. will.i.am 2006 May 17, 2011 Emilia
"Informer" Snow 1993 May 17, 2011 MacCoy
"Lapdance" N.E.R.D. ft. Lee Harvey & Vita 2001 May 17, 2011 Oblio
"Say Aah" Trey Songz ft. Fabolous 2010 July 19, 2011 Oblio
"Break Your Heart" Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris 2010 July 19, 2011 Dare
"Planet Rock (Original 12" Version)"b Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force 1982 July 19, 2011 Mo
"Get Up (I Feel Like Being a), Sex Machine Pt. 1" James Brown 1970 August 16, 2011 Maccoy
"Get Busy" Sean Paul 2003 August 16, 2011 Taye
"Get It Shawty" Lloyd 2007 August 16, 2011 Angel
"Don't Cha" The Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes 2005 September 20, 2011 Miss Aubrey
"Tempted to Touch" Rupee 2004 September 20, 2011 Angel
"The Way I Are" Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson 2007 September 20, 2011 Mo

^a Free with Best Buy code.

^b No longer available for purchase.

Legacy

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In the Arcade from the Asian Attractions in the Expo 2011, the Dance Central arcade was named "Dance Hero".[1]

Reception

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Critical reception

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Dance Central received positive reviews from critics. It received a score of 83.22% on GameRankings[2] and 82/100 on Metacritic.[3] It received a rating of 8/10 from IGN and a rating of 8.5/10 from GameSpot.[7][11] Video game talk show Good Game: Spawn Point gave the game an 8 out of 10 calling it the best launch game for the Kinect and a step forward for dance games. They said workout mode was a nice addition which will definitely give you a workout and the Dance Battles would be a big hit at parties.[12] Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé was impressed, and said in an interview that "Dance Central is, by far, the best Kinect game".[13] During the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Dance Central with "Family Game of the Year"; it also received nominations for "Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering", "Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack", and "Outstanding Innovation in Gaming".[14][15]

Sales

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Dance Central sold 2.5 million copies.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Arcades from Asian Attractions at Expo 2011". 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  2. ^ a b "Dance Central for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
  3. ^ a b "Dance Central for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2012-12-27. Retrieved 2010-11-18.
  4. ^ Troup, Christina. "Dance Central Review for 360". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  5. ^ Gibson, Ellie (2010-11-04). "Dance Central Xbox 360 Review". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  6. ^ "Dance Central review". 2010-11-09. Archived from the original on November 9, 2010. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  7. ^ a b Watters, Chris (2010-11-04). "Dance Central Review for Xbox 360". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2010-11-15. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  8. ^ "Dance Central Review". GamesRadar. 2010-11-05. Archived from the original on 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  9. ^ "Dance Central Video Game Review". GameTrailers. 2010-11-04. Archived from the original on 2011-06-24. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
  10. ^ starts in (2010-11-10). "Dance Central Review". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on 2012-08-28. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  11. ^ a b Clements, Ryan (2010-11-03). "Dance Central Kinect Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2010-12-03. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
  12. ^ Bendixsen 8/10, O'Donnell 8/10 (29 November 2010). "Kinect Round Up Review". music rhythm game. Season 5. Episode 42. ABC Television. Archived from the original on 11 December 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  13. ^ "Nintendo President Talks Kinect, PlayStation Move - Gearlog". Archived from the original on 2011-01-08. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  14. ^ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Dance Central". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  15. ^ "2011 Awards Category Details Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  16. ^ John M. Guilfoil (June 8, 2011). "Game expo has high stakes in Mass. firms". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.