Everybody Dance.
Everybody Dance – tested on PlayStation 3 with PlayStation Move controller. $40.
Everybody Dance wins the award for best interface. When selecting a song, the player chooses from a long list of album art, which is visually pleasing and the character model that players mimic is a desaturated video of an actual person holding a Move controller. We liked this choice over the silhouette of dancers found in some other dance games.
We also liked the songs in Everybody Dance a little more than the other titles, but that’s likely personal choice more than anything else. Another feature we appreciated was the choice of a long or short version when selecting a song. When you’re old and slow, sometimes an entire song feels like a lifetime. The short version is an excellent option.
In actual gameplay, there were a couple of negatives to consider. Everybody Dance only supports one to two players onscreen at one time, unlike the Wii and Xbox games, which support a more party-friendly maximum of four.
Additionally, like the Wii, the Move only reads the movement of the hand holding the controller. In theory, this means you only have to move one arm to play the game while the rest of your body can remain as motionless as Venus de Milo. But, in practice, it’s actually a little difficult to dance while only moving one arm. Still, dancing with a controller wasn’t nearly the same sensation as the freedom of dancing with the Kinect.
What’s more, the stick-figure previews of the dance moves were so nebulous that we had trouble interpreting them into actual movement when it was time to bust a move. However, this isn’t a huge complaint — learning and practice are a big component of improving in rhythm games. We both giggled and were horrified at the snapshots that the PlayStation Eye camera would periodically take of us when we were in the most unflattering of poses. Still, it was great fun.
The game does boast some fun extra modes. The “dance creator” mode that allows you to record a dance via the camera and save it to challenge friends later. You can also create a workout for a fitness program, play in a party mode that can track up to 20 profiles to track scores and practice shaking your groove thing in Dance Class, which allows you to slow down and break out tough sections. Though we didn’t test it, Everybody Dance is compatible with SingStar microphones, allowing you to turn singing into a virtual karaoke minigame.
Up next: Just Dance Kids 2, and our conclusions.
