Dance: UK is an interesting one, it's tried a new slant on the traditional dance game control/timing method with mixed results - let me explain: Rather than use the 'press pad at the same time as the arrow passes over the cursor' type, the arrows appear from the centre of the screen and you must time your steps as they pass over the cursor on the outside of the display - the mat mirrors the on-screen layout.
My initial reaction to Dance: UK is that the extra touch pads have made it too complex and fussy. You also have to be quite precise about your foot placement on the pad sensors. However, with practice the control layout grows on you (and you can use the mat for other dance games). I also found that I could only achieve higher scores on the "Easy" difficulty setting. One could say this is because I'm in the slightly older gamer age bracket, but as several younger gamers also found the harder levels difficult (or impossible) to follow, it would seem that the Game is too hard to be fun - a big mistake in any genre.
Your first few goes will no doubt be greeted by a disappointed groan from the invisible audience and sulky looking on screen dancer. If you do do well, you'll get joyful dancer with lots of flashing lights and glitter. Praise for correct moves is merely written on screen and not vocalised - It's much more encouraging to hear someone say you're ace rather than just read it on screen, which is impossible to do when you're concentrating on the dance steps anyway. Some songs are treated better than others, but sometimes it really doesn't feel like the on-screen steps bear any relation to the musical tempo or beat. Some sequences get thrown at you so quickly that the precision they require seems impossible - impossible with only the two legs anyway. The numbered 'hold' steps are a cool idea though.
The Aerobic mode is a good feature (don't know how accurate the "calories burned" guide is though), and the multiplayer head-to head games are fun and entertaining but we couldn't try the Karaoke feature due to the lack of a microphone headset (sounds like a terrible, family/neighbour annoying idea anyway).
One of the best aspects of the game is its great selection of music, as it covers a wide range of musical tastes and eras. Artists such as Kidz UK, TJ Tubby Johnson, Junior Senior, Misteeq, DJ Sammi + Yanou, Liberty X are joined by disco/dance classics like The Trammps, The Sugar Hill Gang, Run DMC and Chic.
As I said though, the initial reaction to the game is not favourable as it seems too difficult to achieve high enough scores to progress in the main Dance UK mode. The game seems to be aimed at experienced dance-mat gamers (who might not like the new interface either). The inability to pause the game (or even quit a spoiled song) shows a lack of understanding by the developers - the phone rings or the doorbell goes sometimes you know! JC
