The Xbox 360 Kinect already has a somewhat impressive library of motion controlled dance games. The PlayStation Move on the other hand has been late to the party when it comes to this genre. Sure, Sony has inundated wannabe rockstars with SingStar after Singstar games over the years, but when it comes to dance games, Sony has been relatively quiet. That is until now. Just in time for the holiday season, Sony introduces gamers to a motion controlled dance game utilizing the PlayStation Move and Eye called Everybody Dance. So, how does it hold up?
For those of you who have no idea how Everybody Dance works, it is essentially a dance rhythm game that plays out in similar fashion to Harmonix’s Dance Central and Ubisoft’s Just Dance games. The main difference is Everybody Dance requires you to hang onto the PlayStation Move while you shake your booty on the dance floor. Everybody Dance utilizes the PlayStation Eye peripheral to read the Move’s movements as you follow a series of ‘flash cards’ on screen that depict a dance routine. Your goal is to mimic the moves of the dancers. Some of the moves can involve a simple side step or arm wave but others can involve much more complex moves involving upper and lower body motions. Sure you could get away with simply moving your arm and ensuring the Move’s movements accurately mimic those on the screen, but you would be robbing yourself of the entire Everybody Dance experience, which is quite enjoyable.
Once I strapped on and quickly calibrated the Move and selected a song I was ready to dance away. At first, dancing with the Move just felt a bit awkward for me. Having reviewed the Dance Central games for the Xbox 360 Kinect where there is no controller, waiving around the PlayStation Move took some getting used to, but after the first couple of songs you do get used to carrying the peripheral and almost to the point where you forget you are even holding it. In terms of the Move’s responsiveness, I was impressed. The Move is very responsive and it accurately read my movements. Even when the dance routines become a little more complex the game was able to accurately follow the positioning of the Move. Sure, every so often I would feel like I nailed a particular move only for the game to not recognize it but these instances were not all that common and did not take much away from the gameplay experience.
One of the benefits of dancing with the Move compared to dancing in front of the Xbox Kinect is that not only can you dance in smaller places but you also do not get what I call “people interference”. In other words, if others walk in front of you or right behind you during your dance routine, Everybody Dance continues the dance routine uninterrupted. When playing dance games with the Kinect you need to have a clear space around you. So if ‘Frank the Tank’ comes stumbling across your dance floor it can ruin your routine, interrupt the game, and mess with the Kinect’s ability to pick up your motions. With the PS Move none of those issues surface, which is great for those that plan on having some big dance parties where few ‘adult’ beverages or large crowds maybe is involved.
One the downside, Everybody Dance does not feature a single player story progression mode, as this is something music games in the past have gotten fans accustomed to. That being said, I did like the fact that I could play any of the 40 songs right from the get go in Everybody Dance as this title is truly a “pick up and play” game. Nevertheless, a single player story mode, or some sort of other mode, featuring some unlockable content would have given me some good reason to play on my own, try to get better, and dance to ALL 40-songs.
Despite the lack of a single player progression, Everybody Dance still has plenty to offer and it is user friendly in every sense of the word. Being able to pick a song and dance is accomplished with ease. Anyone who is unfamiliar with video games will easily be able to navigate with the Move and select their song of choice. Those of you who have not played a motion controlled dance game before; Everybody Dance allows you to dance to the songs in a beginner mode and following the on screen dancer and cue cards is not too much of a problem. Granted every dance routine, even in beginner mode, will have a few challenging steps; yet none are so overwhelming that you cannot continue.
As with pretty much all dance games, Everybody Dance also features a scoring system. Words like awesome, cool, okay and “X” appear at the top of the screen during the various dance routines. Nail down a particular move and you can watch your score rise. The higher your score the more stars you are awarded. Up to five stars are awarded for each routine. My dance skills are somewhat iffy so I only managed to hit five stars on one occasion.
In addition to simply jumping into a song and dancing, Everybody Dance does feature a few modes and all are very similar to nearly all the other motion controlled dance games on the market. In addition to playing solo, wannabe dancers can dance to a routine with someone in the games co-op dance mode. You can also jump into the Dance Battle mode where two players compete in a head-to head dance routine battle. There is also a Party Mode where up to 20-players where you can compete to see who gets the highest score.
Much like Sony’s SingStar games, Everybody Dance is a good looking game. First off, the games presentation is very clean and sharp looking. The menus are easy to navigate with the Move controller and they do look fantastic. You can immediately tell you are playing a PS3 title when navigating in the menus as they maintain that signature PS3 look. Again, it is very similar to the layout and presentation style of SingStar games. Selecting a song and jumping into a dance routine is accomplished with ease. My 9-year old daughter had no troubles at all with the game’s menus.
The animations are equally as pleasing as the animated dance characters are decent looking and move incredibly life-like with a fluidness and smoothness of how a professional dancer moves. It is incredibly realistic looking and infectious in such a way that you cannot help but try to emulate the dancers moves. Also, as you are dancing along you will notice the artist’s music video playing in the background which is a nice little feature for those sitting back and watching as you perform. The cue cards that scroll along the right side of the screen are perfectly placed and look about as good as they should. Much like other motion controlled dance games, Everybody Dance follows suit with a colourful and vibrant game. There is nothing particularly innovative when it comes to the games visuals; however, Everybody Dance still delivers a visually appealing experience.
From my view, the sound is one of the most important aspects in a dance or music based game. Poor sound can absolutely destroy a game of this nature. For instance, older music games featured cover bands playing recognizable songs. Sure, the music sounded cool at the time but it also made for an experience that felt cheap, and listening to a cover band is not as enjoyable as listening to the real deal. Fortunately, Everybody Dance delivers in the audio department and features only original master tracks that give the game instant credibility and authenticity. The songs themselves all sound terrific in 5.1 surround sound. It was great to listen to some of those tracks I had not heard in years such as Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” and “Kung Fu Fighting”.
For those of you who are curious as to the songs you get out of the box, here is Everybody Dance’s complete set list:
- 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 ft. 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 (Fatboy Slim remix) – I See You Baby
- 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 ft Busta – C’Mon (Catch Them By Surprise)
- Tinie Tempah – Pass Out
- Usher ft. Pitbull – DJ Got Us Falling In Love
- Usher ft. will.i.am – OMG
- Venga Boys – We like to Party
- Willow Smith – Whip My Hair
- Yolanda Be Cool – We No Speak Americano
As you can see, it is a fairly good set list with a good mix of songs for both the young and old. All the songs get you moving and will surely be a hit at any party. 40-songs out of the box is not a bad amount, but it certainly isn’t great either. When games like Guitar Hero and Rockband have gotten music fans used to 70, and sometimes 80, songs out of the box, 40 seems a tad skimpy. That being said, Everybody Dance’s set list is on par with other dance games on the market. Dance Central 2 was recently released and also features approximately 40-songs so Everybody Dance cannot be faulted too much for the amount of songs included. The other in-game sounds such as the background tunes that play when you are in the menus all sound decent. Overall, I have no complaints with the sound aspect of the game as no glaring deficiencies stand out in this area.
Everybody Dance is a surprisingly enjoyable dance game for the PS3. I have to say that the game manages to utilize the PS Move quite well, and everything else included in this package is solid too, from the music and sound quality to the visuals and presentation. I had a blast playing this game with my daughter, and I can foresee this game getting more use then I had initially envisioned. It is good to see other platforms getting some good dance games, and now PS3 owners can feel free to “shake their booty” at any time, something that was long overdue.
