DanceStar Party - Move Required (PS3)

Picked this up not really knowing what to expect. I own Singstar Dance and frankly along with the Guitar aspect of Singstar it fealt tacked on and unsupported DLC wise in comparison to the titles which focus either solely on dancing or band play.

Dancestar though is a completely different proposition, they seem to have toned down the scoring system and made the moves more fun, the tracklist for this type of game is ideal in that it blends some classic tracks and modern tracks with the type of silly stuff which a title like this needs.

Community as was always the case with Singstar is a blast, some very funny and very talented people putting videos up for this.

My only concern is DLC and the pricing structure of future DLC. Will they support this title or will it turn out to be another Singstar Dance and the current pricing and structure for buying tracks on PSN isn't the best. Prior to release 2 tracks packs went up on the store each costing around £5.50 and each so diverse that only a handful of people would want all 4 of the tracks in each pack. None of the tracks in the track packs seem to be available at present individually and on top of that im wondering how much there going to charge per track given that track packs are generally cheaper. Are they going to release DLC weekly etc given that tracks have a dancers choreography recorded onto them/a music video and singing scoring.

Other than that a great way to spend £15. Haven't played Just Dance 3 yet but this wipes the floor with MJ Experience, Dance on Broadway and Singstar Dance.

Dancestar Party makes pretty good use of the capability of the Move controller and camera as this dance game sees you able to watch the original music video or flip to a video of yourself (using triangle) on screen. The manufacturer hasn't included the track listing here, so I've included it below, it's a pretty varied mix from the right up to date to classic tracks. For each track you see a discrete grayscale dancer on the screen next to a block which shows the original video - or in the case of the Barry White song pictures of him (presumably the song was released before videos).

You need to mirror dance following the dancer, we've mainly played at beginner level so far and it's pretty intuitive and fun from the start. The game has a guideline of 12 on it, presumably as some of the lyrics are not appropriate, but I've found an 8 and 5 year old fully able to play - we just chose the songs. You can play at various difficulty levels and also with two or more players - unfortunately we only have one controller so can't do this at present - but we plan to buy another controller to make use of this, though not to tweet/facebook the videos of ourselves as let's face it no one really looks their best waving a ball on a stick around! You can use a microphone or activate the one on the camera if you wish in order to increase your score further and you unlock varies trophies along the way as you play, though all the songs are available right from the start.

This game is pretty well done in my opinion, they've made the dance moves just the right level of difficulty and tried to make the dancers blend into the original look of the artist, the graphics manage to avoid being naff - just and it's a good point that the music is actually the original rather than an imitation, though the promised "more tracks to buy" just don't exist in the playstation store at present, I hope more may be released over time.

The game itself is great fun to play once you get past feeling slightly silly - there are "energy level" guides to each song which don't necessarily equate to difficulty, for that it's trial and error you will need to play to find out, we've found "kung fu fighting" sees us easily getting 5 stars and being encouraged with lots of "flawless!" and "awesome!" on screen, where other songs are more challenging and take a while to pick up. They certainly get the players moving, and it's good that you can choose a long or shorter version of each song as you play. There are enough tracks and variety to ensure the game doesn't get repetitive too quickly. Though you don't have the level of tracking that I assume you would have if playing on the kinnect platform, the move does work pretty well here in my opinion and this is an enjoyable family game.

Track listing as not included in the product description:

1. Amerie - 1 Thing 2. Barry White - You're The First, The Last, My Everything 3. Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At? 4. Billy Idol With Generation X - Dancing with Myself 5. Bodyrockers - I Like The Way You Move 6. Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting 7. CeCe Peniston - Finally 8. Chemical Bros - Hey Boy Hey Girl 9. Chromeo - Night By Night 10. Deadmau5 ft. Rob Swire - Ghosts `N' Stuff 11. Diana Ross - Upside Down 12. Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand
13. Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed 14. Elton John - I'm Still Standing 15. Example - Kickstarts 16. Groove Armada (Fatboy Slim remix) - I See You Baby 17. Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grand - Let Me Think About It 18. Iggy Pop - Lust For Life 19. Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne - Down 20. Jessie J - Do It Like A Dude 21. Kool & the Gang - Get Down On It 22. Lady Gaga - Born This Way 23. LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem 24. Los Del Rio - Macarena 25. Miami Sound Machine - Dr Beat 26. New Kids On The Block - You've Got The Right Stuff 27. Nicole Scherzinger - Don't Hold Your Breath 28. Ok Go - Here It Goes Again 29. Outkast - The Way You Move 30. Republica - Ready To Go 31. Rihanna - Rude Boy 32. Snap! - The Power 33. Tavares - Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel 34. Tiesto vs Diplo ft Busta - C'Mon (Catch Them By Surprise) 35. Tinie Tempah - Pass Out 36. Usher ft. Pitbull - DJ Got Us Falling In Love 37. Usher ft. will.i.am - OMG 38. Venga Boys - We like to Party 39. Willow Smith - Whip My Hair 40. Yolanda Be Cool - We No Speak Americano

ETA additional songs are now available (rick astley anyone?) but are £5.49 for 4 songs on the playstation store.... 2 mixes available - this strikes me as expensive

Excellent game for when you have friends around or even trying to lose weight (which I am). It's not like the wii game just dance 3 where you just swing your wrist around with the controller. You cannot cheat as it is watching you like big brother! The only fault I have with this game is for my downstairs neighbour god help him listening to jumping around like a fool!!!