In THQ's Ministry of Sound Dance Nation, you control a sexy, spunky, bare-midriffed, booty-attired, dancing marionette. She's got fly moves, but only if you press the right buttons (2, 4, 6, or 8) at the right time. Perform long strings without missing a beat to get the best score. A slider bar on the left measures your performance. After sweating from your two-minute thumb workout, check the replay to learn a few moves.
Three levels and four songs make this game somewhat more challenging than most mobile titles. The first level, called "Normal," is a breeze because you only press the 4 and 6 buttons to control your little entertainer. Things get progressively harder in "Advanced" and "Star Dancer" levels when the 2 and 8 buttons are added and the beats flow faster.
The music in this game is some of the best I've heard from a mobile game, which is not saying much. Unfortunately, one cannot adjust the volume of this game, so it's either on or off. Unless you have headphones or don't mind annoying people nearby, you'll be playing this game at home. Also, Ministry needs network access in order to run. So, if you're without signal, underground for instance, you'll have to skip your regularly scheduled Dance Nation session.
All in all, Ministry of Sound has brought us a super-ultralight edition of Space Channel 5 or any of the other classics in this genre (PaRappa, DDR, Frequency). If you liked those games and can handle a stripped down version, you'll be happy to download Dance Nation.
