Dance Central (2010 video game)

Dance Central is a rhythm game where players follow characters' movements in various arenas and earn stars while doing so. On the right side of the characters are Flashcards for guidance, displaying the current move that is being done. The judgement of each move done is divided into four ratings: X, Almost, Nice and Flawless. If a player earns a consecutive amount of Flawless ratings, the arena will turn into a peak mode glowing with lights, and it can be maintained with Flawless or Nice moves. If a player earns a consecutive amount of X ratings however, the arena loses vividness and the music becomes muffled. This can be changed back to its regular state if a player get a Nice or a Flawless rating. A total of 5 stars can be earned per routine, but if a player does it very well, they can earn Gold Stars. Earning stars unlocks content for the game.

Along with stars, there is a score, which are both displayed by a boombox named Boomy. Boomy also displays a score multiplier above the stars and score. Passing moves in succession increases the multiplier, earning more points, but missing a move cause the multiplier to drop from its starting point.

Songs are divided into categories, and each song has three difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, and Hard. Only Easy is unlocked in the beginning, and the player earns the other difficulties as they move on. Once the player earns 5 Gold Stars, they can also unlock a "No Flashcards" mode that does not display the Flashcards on screen for that specific song and difficulty level.

Each song features a Freestyle section that allows players to dance however they desire. During this section, a camera takes photos of them as they are dancing and shows them to the player before the routine revises. However, these have to be earned by obtaining camera icons that appear next to some of the moves. Doing those moves in succession results in a photo opportunity in Freestyle. The photos can be viewed after the song, but they cannot be saved. The option for photo taking can also be disabled.

There are five modes available in Dance Central:

• Perform It!: A standard mode where a player can dance to routines in the game.
• Fitness: A mode that tracks calories burning while playing. It features an indicator for calories and a timer for how long the session has been going when on.
• Dance Battle: A competitive mode where two players go head-to-head for glory. One player goes at a time and the one with the highest score wins.
• Challenge: After getting 4 stars on each song in a category, a challenge is unlocked. The challenge is a mix of all of the songs in that category as one. A Grand Finale Challenge is also available, but the player has to get 4 stars in each challenge in order to unlock that one.
• Break It Down: A training mode where the player can learn the moves or assist in moves they are having difficulties with. The mode cuts the routines into sections and goes through each step individually. When the player passes all the moves in the section, a recap is performed, and the process repeats until the end. There is also an option to slow down the moves, giving more time to analyze them if need be.

There is also a place where players can look at statistics. They range from the amount of time spent of the game to number of calories burned, and each statistic features a title that changes depending on the amount spent on the statistic, although they are there just for show. An Options section is also present, allowing the player to adjust settings if need be.[1]

Dance Central features ten different characters. Eight of them are unlocked from the start while two are unlocked through certain achievements. Each character, with the exception of Shinju, has a main outfit and an alternate outfit, and the alternate outfit can be unlocked by earning 25 stars with that dancer (or, for ELIOT, reaching the "Living Legend" rank).

• Angel: A Latin lover that grabs the ladies' attention. He is voiced by choreographer Marcos Aguirre. (Main Outfit : Chill) (Alternate Outfit : Show-Off)
• Miss Aubrey: A very confident and snooty queen bee. She is voiced by Marieve Herington. (Main Outfit : School Daze) (Alternate Outfit : Princess)
• Emilia: An athletic girl who works out at the gym constantly. She is voiced by Stephanie Sheh. (Main Outfit : Sweatin') (Alternate Outfit : Knockout)
• Dare: A British, pink-haired clubber who enjoys partying. She is voiced by Nikita Ramsey. (Main Outfit : Neon Dreams) (Alternate Outfit : DIY Couture)
• MacCoy: A guy with old school flair and technological gear. He is voiced by Adam Friedman. (Main Outfit : Sunday Best) (Alternate Outfit : Stylehead)
• Mo: A friendly guy who jokes around from time to time. He is voiced by Cisco Reyes. (Main Outfit : B-Boy) (Alternate Outfit : Flash)
• Oblio: A mysterious guy with words of wisdom. He is voiced by Christopher Stapleton. (Main Outfit : Dystopia) (Alternate Outfit : Gearhead)
• Taye: A girl with tons of attitude and sass. She is voiced by choreographer Chanel Thompson. (Main Outfit : Street Chic) (Alternate Outfit : Summertime)
• ELIOT: A robot who represses his robot roots and swears he is human. (Main Outfit : 2.0) (Alternate Outfit : Dressy)
• Shinju: A silent ninja who wears pink and carries nunchucks. He is known in this game as Ttiw Tolrep.

ELIOT can be unlocked by reaching the "Living Legend" rank or by earning at least 4 Stars on the Grand Finale Challenge on any difficulty. Doing so using the former method unlocks him with both outfits available, while doing so using the latter method unlocks him with only his main outfit available.

Shinju can be unlocked by entering ←↑X↑→Y (spelling "luxury") at the title screen using the Xbox 360 Controller.

The game features six venues for the player to dance in. Two are available from the start while the rest have to be unlocked in order to play in them. Venues can be changed before the player starts a routine, aside from the Grand Finale Challenge where it is initially defaulted with Dr. Tan's Estate, but can eventually be changed once the player passes the challenge.

• 5th Period: A school cafeteria. Available from the start.
• The Planks: A pier. Available from the start.
• The Roost: A rooftop. Unlocked by earning 25 Stars total.
• Gridlock: A bridge. Unlocked by earning 50 Stars total.
• City Limits: A power plant. Unlocked by earning 100 Stars total.
• Dr. Tan's Estate: A club owned by Dr. Tan. Unlocked by earning at least 4 Stars in the Grand Finale Challenge on any difficulty.

The game features a ranking system that gives the player a title. They are merely there just for display, but the player's rank starts from the bottom and goes up as they earn Stars in Perform It!. There are 20 ranks in the game.

While there is no story mode in the game, there are two cutscenes in the game that imply a story.

A club is being promoted by Mo, spreading all over the area and getting multiple characters' attention. As such, they attend to go to the club to party. When done promoting, Mo goes to a phone booth, picks up the phone, and hears a representation for the club on the other line. After putting it back, the platform underneath him lowers down, taking him to the club. The club ends up being revealed as Dr. Tan's Estate, and while most of the characters who attended are having fun, Oblio is sitting against a wall in dismay. He eventually leaves the club and rides away on his motorcycle, but as he is doing so, the player sees the scene being rewound. It then shows the scene on one of many screens that are being monitored by Dr. Tan. Intrigued by what he is seeing, he closes the rest of the screens, smirks, and laughs hysterically.

The game features 32 songs for the player to dance to. Each song is ranked under a certain category: Warm Up, Simple, Moderate, Tough, Legit, Hardcore, and Off The Hook. Each song also has a default dancer associated with it, although they can be changed beforehand. There are three difficulties available for each song: Easy, Medium, and Hard. Easy is available from the start, Medium is unlocked once the player either earns at least 3 Stars on Easy or passes 50% of the routine in Break It Down on Medium or Hard, and Hard is unlocked once the player either earns at least 3 Stars on Medium or passes 50% of the routine in Break It Down on Hard.

Each song has a No Flashcards mode available in which the flashcards do not pop up on the screen, but it has to be unlocked in order to enable it. The mode is unlocked in separate stages for each song, specifically when the player earns at least 5 stars under each difficulty (i.e. earning at least 5 stars on Easy in a song will unlock the Medium difficulty for that song).

Songs from Dance Central can be imported into Dance Central 2 and Dance Central 3. If the default dancer of the song is not in Dance Central 2, they are replaced by a different character. Additionally, in Dance Central 3, each song is given a default venue.

Challenges are a combination of songs mashed together as one. They are unlocked once the player earns at least 4 stars on each song used in the challenge (excluding the Grand Finale Challenge, which has the same premise, but with other challenges). The player can bypass unlocking the difficulties one by one for the Challenges by earning the minimum amount of stars needed for each song at the same difficulty rather than earning at least 3 stars on the previous difficulty once the challenge is available.

The first seven challenges contain each song from the difficulty, while the Grand Finale Challenge contains one song from each difficulty. The Grand Finale Challenge initially does not allow the player to change the default dancer, and it is done with ELIOT the first time through, but once they clear it, they can change it. Additionally, ELIOT, Dr. Tan's Estate, and a gold version of Boomy are unlocked through the Grand Finale Challenge once cleared.

No Flashcards mode is also available as an unlockable, and the same rules apply when unlocking them. Unlike the songs, there is no Break It Down mode available for the Challenges.

In the Arcade from the Asian Attractions in the Expo 2011, the Dance Central arcade is named "Dance Hero".[2]

The game sold 2.5 million copies.[15]