Dance Central vs. Dance Evolution

Almost a year and a half after its announcement during E3 2009, Kinect was finally launched on 10th November 2010 (4th November 2010 in the US)
There was certainly much to look forward to, and I can only say that I was so glad to pick it up. It is what it is, and what it does it does bloody well.

I picked up my Kinect along with copies of Kinect Adventures (bundled), Kinect Sports, Dance Central and Dance Evolution.
Main focus of my write up today is to pit Dance title vs Dance title. Which one comes out on top, you shall have to read to find out.

So, firstly, what are Dance Central and Dance Evolution. (The US version of Dance Evolution goes by the title Dance Masters)
Both are launch day titles, and both contain the word "Dance" in them. But what do they actually do? and why are there two Dance titles even?

Well they are in effect Dance simulation games. However in a different category to the known dance simulation titles today such as DDR and Pump It Up etc. which usually require floor panels for players to dance/ move on.

With the technology of Kinect, these two titles do away with any such peripherals and are the first controller-free, body tracking dance titles.

The two come from very well known music game creators that have rich backgrounds in their fields. Dance Central comes from Harmonix, the creators of the successful Rock Band series and Dance Evolution comes from the master of music games Konami, the creators who brought you DDR, Beatmania, IIDX, Para para, Guitar Freaks, Drummania, KeyboardMania etc. etc.

The instant clear difference playing the two are the musical tastes. Dance Central are able to pull on their spending power to bring you top of the chart titles such as Lady GaGas Poker Face, Cascadas Evacuate the Dance Floor and many many more. I believe the game contains 30+ titles and given the library of Rock Band songs, I'm sure that this will continue to grow via DLC.

Dance Evolution draws from its own library (which is in its thousands) from Japanese artists such as Naoki's Brilliant 2U, Reveng's Exotic Ethnic and Niko's Night of Fire and many many more (many of which have featured in other of its titles). Again the game consists of 30 songs, but whether or not this will be supported by DLC content is yet to be seen.

The second difference is in their game play. They are both very unique and the experiences are so very different.
Dance Central use "flash cards" which come in an order to guide you as to what dance move needs to be performed next.
The easy difficulties have you doing very basic moves which include side stepping, hand clapping and fist pumping (for an example of some moves) As you progress through difficulties, moves begin to get more complex and combined. For example you'd have a flash card with the move "side step and hand clap"
The hard difficulty has you doing many more moves than in lower difficulties and is certainly a challenge. However once you become somewhat accustomed to the different flash cards (I remember reading the game having 94 or something different ones) its just a case of getting timing and stringing the moves together for some high scores.

The game is very very enjoyable, but it can be somewhat hard to get used to at first as the game doesn't provide any timing assists as to how long flash cards last, you almost have to just go with the music and you soon realise when changes occur as it is often with musical phrase changes.

Dance Evolution is a whole different ball game, and I can certainly understand why some reviewers are happy to write it off as a bad effort by Konami.
I on the other hand are of a different opinion. I think that what Konami has done with Dance Evolution is genius in its own right.
There are no flash cards to be seen, nor instructions as to know what to do next. This in turn does make the game very hard to get used to, but once you know how to play it properly, the reward is just as rewarding if not more rewarding as in Dance Central.
When I say dance, this isn't the same sort of dance as in Dance Central. The style of the dance is so very different too. This is far more contemporary and each dance is taylor made to its particular song. The J-Pop style dance routines are very evident in the game. This certainly does take away from some repetition that Dance Central had with repeating of the same moves over and over.
The aim of Dance Evolution is to mimic the on screen character and you are required to match poses and specially choreographed moves which include ripples (an area on the screen you are required to pose towards with a body part, usually a hand or foot) step ripples (stepping in a particular direction at a particular moment in time) streams (a glowing arrow that your hand is to follow) and many many others.

Given that I am from a DDR background myself, the appeal to Dance Evolution was always going to be there, and certainly the reason why I've got a lot of support for it.

The reviews I have read online already certainly have Dance Central as the forerunner of these dance titles, but I've yet to see a formal vs. between the two. I'm not surprised to be honest, but then again Japan's leading dance title is likely to be Dance Evolution. But I certainly wouldn't say write off Dance Evolution, its got a lot to give and has a different appeal to Dance Central.

Both are great fun, so let us know your thoughts. I'd certainly say a 7/10 for each game isn't stretching things. They have their pro's and con's and there are things that could be better fine tuned, but I'm sure we'll see those in later version. Harmonix are already said to have Dance Central 2 in the works!

Oh and by the way I'll challenge anyone on Dance Evolution online to Night of Fire Extreme!