2010 · Fitness · Rhythm

Dance Evolution

Xbox exclusive

2010 video game

Released: 4 November 2010
Platforms: Xbox 360
Genres: Fitness Rhythm
Developers: —
Publishers: Konami
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Country: Japan

About

Dance Masters (stylized as DanceMasters and titled Dance Evolution outside of North America) is a Japanese dancing video game developed by Bemani. The game was unveiled at Konami's E3 2010 press conference, for Xbox 360 Kinect. The game was released in November 2010. It includes 30 tracks, including 28 Konami original songs and two licensed Eurobeat songs. The spin-off Rhythm Party, titled Boom Boom Dance in Japan, was released on the Xbox 360 for the Xbox Live Marketplace on February 1, 2012.

Dance Evolution Arcade was released on March 27, 2012 in Japan as an arcade video game port. Although the gameplay remains the same, and all 28 Konami original songs from the Xbox 360 version return, it has several features that differentiate it with the original version. It uses Windows 7 and the original Kinect for Windows, and it offered e-Amusement functionality. On August 9, 2016, an offline kit for Dance Evolution Arcade was released. This kit allowed the game to run offline, although optional online support remains available indefinitely.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

Dance Masters and Dance Evolution for the Xbox 360 had mixed reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. IGN was disappointed in their review of the game saying, "DanceMasters is fun enough, especially if you enjoy Dance Dance Revolution and you want a similar Japanese take on the dance genre...but the niche soundtrack and the lack of a proper practice mode make this game difficult to get into...it's also a shame that the move recognition seems unusually lenient at times, but unnecessarily fickle at others...I would recommend Dance Central over DanceMasters any day of the week.

GameSpot said in their review, "though the novel camera feature fuels some goofy fun, DanceMasters only holds lasting appeal for dedicated dance fiends...you'll probably tire of the game shortly after the novelty of the live action camera wears off...though there are better video game dance opportunities available, heading out onto the floor with DanceMasters is still good for a few kicks.