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Review: DanceStar Party

Full disclosure: I went into DanceStar Party having never played a dance game before. I don’t have the motor skills for it. Anything that involves me moving my hands and feet with any semblance of coordination usually ends in disaster (and minor injuries for those around me). PlayStation Move has, at least to me, been a relative disappointment since it debuted in 2010, but I figured, if anybody’s going to justify the existence of the waggle peripheral, it’s SingStar hit makers, London Studios. They know how to take a cumbersome peripheral and shape a perfectly addictive party game around it. And for the most part, with DanceStar Party, they succeed.

It’s basically SingStar, where instead of tone-deaf singing, you’re un-co dancing.

Fans of SingStar are met with an incredibly similar menu system that is a breeze to navigate, and a series of gameplay options that cater to all your dancing needs. ‘Dance Now’ allows players to, you guessed it, dance now. You pick a song, difficulty, and song duration (each of the game’s 40 tracks appears in truncated and full form). You play for points and a star rating out of five.

‘Party Mode’ allows two players to compete, or cooperate, to achieve a high score. While the game does only support two dancers, another 18 players can join in as singers (so even your most dance-shy friends can get in on the action).

For more serious dancers, the ‘Dance Class’ mode helps you perfect the game’s routine, while ‘Dance Creator’ lets you make your own. The jewel in this game’s unnecessary mode crown, however, is ‘Dance Workout’… the strangest, most addictive video game mode I’ve ever encountered. If Wii Fit challenged you physically, you have no idea what world of waggle-related calorie-burn awaits… You pick a playlist, and then, you waggle and shake. You more you waggle and shake, the more calories you exert. As tempting as it is to jump straight in, be sure to stretch beforehand, unless you want to wake up the next morning with the mother of all shoulder pains…

As with their SingStar titles, London Studios have done a great job of creating a playlist with wide appeal. It’s a delicate balance of annoying songs you can’t help but love (courtesy of Willow Smith, LMFAO and the like), pop (Nicole Scherzinger, Rihanna), dance (Basement Jaxx, Chemical Brothers) and songs for mums who walk in on your party and insist on having a go because it looks so fun and they want to embarrass the living daylights out of you (the Macarena, Elton John, Diana Ross). And there’s even some Lady Gaga acting all holier-than-thou over an instrumental she stole from Madonna (which no party would ever be without). And if 40 songs aren’t enough, you can download more tracks from the PlayStation Store.

On the whole, DanceStar Party is incredibly accessible. Relying mostly on the Move controller for feedback means that even if, from the waist down, your dance moves are atrocious, you’re not getting completely destroyed in the scoring. This is a dance game that even the most uncoordinated (raises hand) can have a great time with.

But just as a friendly warning, the game loves to take photos and videos of you, so don’t make the mistakethis reviewer did and play it wearing only a pair of novelty boxer shorts, because, if you rapidly press X after your dance is over, the odds are, you’ll upload a clip of yourself and accompanying photos to the Internet.

Tracklist

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 You Move
Carl Douglas – Kung Fu Fighting
CeCe Peniston – Finally
Chemical Bros – Hey Boy Hey Girl
Chromeo – Night By Night
Deadmau5 feat. Rob Swire – Ghosts ‘N’ Stuff
Diana Ross – Upside Down
Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand
Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed
Elton John – I’m Still Standing
Example – Kickstarts
Groove Armada – I See You Baby (Fatboy Slim Remix)
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 & 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’ve Got 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
Tiesto vs Diplo feat. Busta Rhymes- C’Mon (Catch Them By Surprise)
Tinie Tempah – Pass Out
Usher feat. Pitbull – DJ Got Us Falling In Love
Usher feat. will.i.am – OMG
Venga Boys – We Like To Party
Willow Smith – Whip My Hair
Yolanda Be Cool – We No Speak Americano


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About the author

Will Kostakis

Will Kostakis is a Nintendo tragic. Don’t ask about the hours he’s sunk into Hyrule Warriors or the status of his ShinyDex, unless you want to seriously worry about his priorities. He’s an award-winning author for young adults, best known for The First Third, The Sidekicks and the Zelda-inspired Monuments duology.