Very difficult dance game to master but if you can pick up the steps, you'll learn some pretty legit dance routines.
Also I'm going to be starting a slightly new format in how I review my games by adding in "Highlights" and "Negatives" at the end of every category for all you TL:DR peoples :3
Surprised I didn't review this game earlier since I got it when the Kinect first came out but anyways, DanceMasters right now is the only Kinect dance entry from Konami and is pretty much the evolution of Dance Dance Revolution. While it's no where near as accessible or recognized as Dance Central, for all you aspiring dancers (or dancers period), this game provides a great challenge coupled with some pretty awesome routines that cover multiple genres (especially the JPop genre).
Visuals: 8/10
Dance Masters is a very nice looking game and the main female dancing is pretty. It has a most realistic look to it compared to Dance Central. The game obviously has a lot of Japanese influence in terms of style with a lot of flash and bright colors to it. The backdrops vary but are inconsistent. Some look great and add to the excitement of the dance while others are a bit drab. The visuals effects that go along with hitting each move is rather satisfying and add flare to the gameplay, although it can get in the way sometimes. The game, by default, will you show dancing along with the main dancer but due to the hardware limitations of the Kinect, the footage of you is blurry, usually cropped and delayed so while it's good for a few laughs, I would recommend turning it off as soon as the humor of it wears off.
Highlights:
+ Nice looking character models
+ Lots of flare and great visual effects
+ Interesting looking backdrops for the most part
Negatives:
- A few drab backdrops
- Visual effects can get in the way of the choreography
- Kinect implementation of you is done poorly
Sound: 9/10
Now this will indeed vary depending on who you are and your interests and/or cultural background (I'm Asian and very much into Asian culture). Whereas Dance Central has a wide selection of mostly popular American music spanning the past 4 decades, DanceMasters has some very obscure music that for the most part, you've probably never heard of, but that's not necessarily a bad thing as most of the music is very catchy and fun to listen to. There are some tracks from Dance Dance Revolution on there as well as some popular JPop songs but again, most people would not recognize majority of the tracklist. All I can really say is that if you enjoyed the music from Dance Dance Revolution, you'll definitely love the music of DanceMasters as well as some new tracks that either have a hiphop vibe or retro vibe to it. All the songs are in English.
Highlights:
+ Catchy and varied soundtrack
+ New songs for you to experience
+ Very Asian
Negatives:
- A couple of duds (about 2 songs that are just boring)
- Largely unknown soundtrack which limits appeal
- Very Asian (lol)
Gameplay: 7.5/10
Similar to how Dance Dance Revolution got you dancing by stepping on arrows when indicated, DanceMasters has the main dancer performing the choreography and markers will appear that you have to hit. These range from green poses you have to strike, blue ripple markers you have to hit, orange lines you trace with your hands (sometimes feet), and red arrows that you need to sway your body to (the rarest ones you'll encounter). On the easier difficulties, you'll mainly be presented with the green poses. The choreography does not get any easier, it's just the amount of it you actually have to do is reduced. As you increase the difficulty, more markers are present, up to the point where if you choose the hardest difficulty, "Stealth" there are no markers and you have to do everything the main dancer is doing. There is a Master mode that you can download off of XBL and I do recommend it since it's more satisfying to beat than Stealth (for me at least).
As great as many of the dance routines are, ranging from hip hop, to locking, disco, ParaPara (Japanese dance style), and some others that I'm not entirely sure how to describe (but fun nonetheless), it's a shame that the game does not have a tutorial mode of any kind, leaving it completely up to your ability as a dancer to learn the routines during gameplay. As an experienced dancer, there were about 2 routines that I couldn't master because the steps were just too fast and this is a shame because it will turn off people who are just looking for a good time and will force them to just resort to hitting poses rather than actually trying to do the whole dance.
During each routine, you'll see a circular meter on the bottom right hand corner, when it's nearly filled, you can activate a sort of "Euphoria" mode which gives you more points as well as accessing hidden "Ripples" (if you hit these ripples, you'll hear a quick high pitch noise). The problem with this is how it's implemented. In Guitar Hero or Rockband, to enter Star mode you have to either hit the select button on the guitar or swing the guitar upwards while playing which if you're used to, doesn't really interfere with the gameplay, with DanceMasters, you have to hold out your right hand to the side for about 3 seconds to activate it and I, for the life me, cannot figure out how people do this without missing a move because once you miss a move, your meter goes down. This "hidden ripples" are mainly for achievements so I wouldn't worry about them if you don't care for achievements.
The game does feature multiplayer and even online multiplayer but due to the general unpopularity of the game, you'd be lucky to find someone online. This was clearly the advantage DanceMasters had over the original Dance Central and works perfectly. Although for some reason my sister who can't dance as well as I can always seemed to beat me, maybe it doesn't work that well >.<
Finally, the interface is a bit annoying to do, mainly selecting a song because while you have the standard "Hold your hand up over an arrow to choose a song" to select you need to raise your hand, but what happens is that the game will move to the next song choice before you raise your hand, making selecting a song rather frustrating. Hopefully if they ever release a new DanceMasters, they fix the interface.
Highlights:
+ Great dance routines, spanning multiple genres
+ Markers are rather fun to hit and add a gameplay element to dancing
+ Challenging routines for seasoned dancers (more so than Dance Central)
+ Multiplayer, pitting you head to head with someone else (online multiplayer is negligible due to unpopularity).
Negatives:
- No tutorial mode, making the game far less accessible
- Markers in the easier difficulties don't encourage dancing for the entire routine
- Poor implementation of Euphoria mode
- Frustrating interface
Value: 8/10
DanceMasters features up to 30 songs although you are only given 20 in the beginning and must unlock the other 10 by playing through the Playlists the game presents to you. This encourages you to play through every single song and find out which ones are your favorites. Take note that you do have to score an A rank in order to unlock the other songs but I do highly recommend it as the unlockable songs were some of my favorites, "Secret Rendezvous" is a pretty kickass routine. Replayability does rely on how determined you are to master these dances as well as your general love for dancing.
Highlights:
+ Unlockables and the method allows you to experience every song
+ Lots to learn and master for those willing
Negatives:
- Only 30 tracks with no DLC
- Since unlocking new songs makes you play through every song, you'll have to experience the duds also
Overall: 8/10
DanceMasters is very much a great dancing game and one that I feel didn't get the attention it deserved. Sure Dance Central is more accessible and has a far more recognizable soundtrack but DanceMasters is superior (to me) in its dance routines and how much fun they are to perform. I also personally love hearing a completely new list of songs I've never heard of (for the most part) as it gives me new songs to listen to. While there are some odd choices in the interface and the way things are implemented, as well as a complete absence of a tutorial mode for learning the routines, if you give DanceMasters the effort, you'll come away knowing some pretty awesome dance routines.