Dancing Stage Unleashed - Xbox

For the more rhythmically gifted amongst you, it's fairly safe to say that you're pretty much spoilt for choice these days when it comes to dance-em-ups. Ever since the craze first made its way over from Japan, it seems that everyone is bringing us their own interpretation of the much loved 'do stuff in time to the beat' concept. Well Konami, inarguably the pioneer of the genre, has now brought us another addition to its long running series, in the form of this Xbox release, Dancing Stage Unleashed.

The concept remains pretty much unchanged from previous offerings, with players having to press the control pad's directional buttons (or a dance mat's directional arrows) in time to the corresponding arrows on screen, whilst grooving away to an assortment of funky tunes. Set the dance floor on fire and all will be well, with your dance meter building up, hopefully high enough for you to progress to the next level. However, hopping around as if the dance floor actually is on fire will result in a plunging dance meter and, well, game over.

A whole heap of different modes and features can be found throughout Dancing Stage Unleashed, from the beginner-orientated Training Mode to an all-new Challenge Mode. There's also the inclusion of an Edit Mode that allows you to customise your own dance routines, as well as the rather self explanatory Workout Mode - yes, that's right, it's time to get in shape!

Probably the most notable addition to this Xbox release is its support for Xbox Live. Once you've exhausted the 35 songs of the original game, you can hook up to the net and download new songs and dance steps, meaning that, if support for the service is maintained, then the game has almost infinite replay value. Not only that, but the Xbox Live support enables you to view player rankings and dance-off, head-to-head with other groovers from around the world.
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