In the sea of motion-controlled dance games, titles on Wii or PS3 haven’t floated my boat. Compared to the camera of Kinect, the idea of waggling around a Move or Wii controller just seems ridiculous; sure, you can get big points by sitting on your couch and matching your single arm movements to what’s on-screen, but you’re really missing the point of the whole genre, right?
Thankfully, Sony’s realised this, and with DanceStar Party Hits have launched a proper dance game that’s more than sea-faring (I’ll stop with the sailing analogy now). DanceStar Party Hits uses a Move controller and PlayStation Eye camera to properly track your movements — maybe even better than Kinect can because of the additional handheld component.
Like Just Dance or Dance Central on Kinect, DanceStar Party Hits has everything you’d expect from a game of this genre — multiple difficulty settings, a solo dance mode, competitive and co-operative multiplayer modes, a workout mode and even a SingStar-esque (which makes sense, since developer Sony London also handles that singing franchise) singalong mode. DanceStar Party Hits also boasts a twenty person dance mode, but that really amounts to eighteen friends watching on as two people have a go before swapping out for another pair.
Something that’s a bit unique to this game is also one of my favourite (yet, most hated) features. Called “Dance Creator” mode, it lets you create your own routines and produce a music video that features them. Be warned: what you think you’ll look like as you’re dancing will always be a lot less cool than what comes out of the creator. It’s your fault, not its.
Song-wise, the title is solid. From Run DMC to One Direction (yep, had to mention them; you know me!) DanceStar Party Hits has forty included songs that will cater to everyone. That’s the point, really; from its name alone — plus the claim of twenty dancers at a time — this game is clearly meant for groups of people to enjoy.
As long as you’re in the same place.
For some odd reason, DanceStar Party Hits does not have online multiplayer. The problem here is that I’ve enough room for two people to dance in my house… but not for eighteen extra people to spectate. The decision to force you to play locally is mind-boggling in the current gaming climate.
The game is budget-priced — which is great — but its downloadable songs certainly aren’t. Apart from some shoddy integration into the PlayStation Store (be prepared to be patient), you also have to buy songs in packs. Looking at the bundles, I wasn’t ready to splash out cash on them, as the packs usually had only one song that I was actually interested in.
In short, if you’re a fan of SingStar-styled mechanics and — more importantly — you’re looking to keep your dancing strictly on PlayStation 3 with people in your home, DanceStar Party Hits is a great purchase. If you’re a huge fan of the genre, a competitive gamer or someone that doesn’t get to game with big groups of local players, you might want to look into a Kinect title for a similar, more robust experience.
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