Dance: UK Xbox

The huge success of BigBen's Dance: UK games is easily comparable with the likes of Konami's massive Bemani Dancing Stage series. It's a genre that is finally living up to its potential, and as Dance: UK continues to see strong sales, the British publisher has now brought the game onto Xbox. Dance: UK follows the usual genre formula of pressing the right button - or indeed, stepping on the right part of the mat - in time with hip and funky soundtracks via an onscreen arrow prompt. Released several months after its PlayStation counterparts, Dance: UK on Xbox boasts an updated tracklist that includes further R&B and Pop music from artists such as Mis-Teeq, Liberty X, Sugababes, Daniel Bedingfield, Rachel Stevens and Jamelia. The main section of the game sees players progressing through a series of dance competitions before attempting to win the top prize in a professional dance tournament. The onscreen action and dancing characters are just as sophisticated their PS2 counterparts, if not better, and the Xbox controller doesn't hinder players opting not to use the dance mat. There are now four levels in all, so accessibility doesn't cause any problems to inexperienced 'dancers'. Beginners can learn with slower tracks and use the traditional 4-way dance steps, whereas skilled players can take on some advanced manoeuvres with faster BPM's and 8-way dancing. As you would expect, there's also a head-to-head mode that allows players to compete against one another. This mode features a rather note-worthy handicap system that allows players with two left feet to compete against the more talented dancer and stand at least half a chance of winning. Even more fun is a consecutive multi-player mode, allowing up to eight players to compete in teams of pairs. Throughout the game, the dance routines have been professionally choreographed by graduates from the Royal Academy of Dance and have been designed to exploit Dance: UK's new 8-way system to give a more fluid feel. The result is an absorbing and addictive