Showing Off Your Moves with Dance Central 3

by Krista Dulaney

Editor’s Note:  Please welcome our new contributing writer, Krista Dulaney.  Krista is a mother of two crazy boys under five. She has been a computer geek since childhood and loves seeing how her children are learning how to navigate the world of technology. Kirsta blogs at PlaydateCrashers.com.

Dance games are all the rage these days, and Dance Central 3 for XBOX Kinect is the latest installment in the #1 selling dance franchise for Kinect (Released October 16, 2012). Included are 40+ dance tracks, ranging from disco to today’s hits. You can play by yourself or with up to 8 people in the new multi-player Party mode. You also have a chance to learn and rehearse your moves before trying them up to tempo in a song and you can compete against other players, which is a good idea if you plan to play/perform in front of friends who may have their camera or phone ready to capture every move. The difficulties range from Beginner to Expert and you have the option from the song list as well as the song selection to choose your difficulty. For instance, you can pick a more difficult song from the track listing and still choose Beginner or Easy when you select that song if you’re not ready to try the harder moves.

There are so many options when you play Dance Central 3. From rehearsing individual moves to playing with a large group, there’s more than enough ways to join the fun. The ways to play are:

• rehearsing individual songs and their moves
• performing solo or against another player
• story mode, crew throwdown mode
• multi-player party mode.

Even for someone who isn’t necessarily a great dancer (who, me??), you can learn the steps and perfect them to earn high points. More advanced players (definitely not me) can skip the rehearsals and perform with more complicated moves.   Story mode gets you more involved in the game as you work to defeat the villainous Dr. Tan, who is attempting to destroy Dance Central in the fictional plot . Crew Throwdown mode lets you and your crew battle it out with another crew of up to 4 members each.

One of my favorite songs on Dance Central 3, and currently the track with my highest score (thank you very much) is “Starships” by Nicki Manaj. It’s so fun to dance to these songs, whether you play in Beginner or a more difficult mode. I’m still playing in Easy, but I’m getting better! There’s a great variety of songs in the game, with more that you can download for an added charge (including Gangnam Style!). I really appreciate that there is a wide variety of genres and hits from multiple decades, which gives it mass appeal. You can boogie down with classics from the 70’s (like the Hustle!), if you wish, or learn the steps to Top 40 chart-toppers.

Here are my Top 10 favorite tracks for shakin’ it and showin’ off those moves on Dance Central 3:

10. Firework by Katy Perry

9. Calabria (2008) by Enur ft. Natasja

8. I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor

7. Disco Inferno by The Trammps

6. You Got It (The Right Stuff) by New Kids On The Block

5. Boom Boom Pow by The Black Eyed Peas

4. Boyfriend by Justin Bieber

3. Turn the Beat Around by Vicki Sue Robinson

2. Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice

1. Starships by Nicki Minaj

Dance Central 3 also has a Fitness Mode, an optional setting where you can track the calories burned while you play. You can also set fitness goals for yourself, choosing how many days a week you hope to play and how many calories you’d like to burn. I can’t think of a more fun way to be active while you’re losing weight! Depending on how much you play and how advanced your dancing may be, you can work up a real sweat and burn some serious calories while dancing!

The game responds very well and is one of the best we’ve played with our XBOX Kinect. I have no trouble having enough room to play in our living room and it captures all of my movements. It lets you know when you need to work on getting the moves right and I feel like it’s really quite accurate in its feedback! The game loads quickly, the graphics are pretty fantastic, and it couldn’t be more fun!

Dance Central 3 sells for $39.99 at Amazon.com, including free Super Saver shipping.

A Mom’s Perspective

You’re sure to be one of the cool moms if you purchase Dance Central 3 for your family. Middle school and high school age kids are loving this series of games and the latest edition has great tunes and added features. Once the kids are in bed (or before, if you prefer to embarrass your darling children), you can dance the night away to classic disco numbers or today’s hits! Whether you want to play to burn calories or just for fun, Dance Central 3 will get you moving!

*  I received this game in exchange for my honest review because of my existing brand relationship with Microsoft. All opinions (and fly dance moves) are my very own.