I bought myself a Christmas present this year. It was Xbox Kinect. I honestly don't know how I ever lived without it. 1.) It makes me feel like Tony Stark 2.) Kinect games are the most fun games
on the planet!!!
The first order of business after purchasing my Kinect (which I have since named JARVIS) was to pop in to GameStop for a couple of games. I have always wanted to try a Zumba class, so I picked up a pre-owned copy of the game and a copy of Dance Central.
I got home and popped in Zumba Fitness, thinking I was going to have fun bopping and shimmying my way to an effective cardio workout. Unfortunately, I didn't make it past the tutorials, because I realized the game wasn't reading my body movement at all. The chick in the tutorial kept telling me "Great arms!" and "Great legs!" but in some cases, I was just flailing around trying to keep up with the faster portions. This is a problem for me, because if I am going to dance, I want to be able to perform the steps correctly.
If the tutorial had a way to slow the faster combinations down, it might have helped; however, the steps started out slowly (Great! Perfect!), but when they sped the tempo up, the steps changed completely. I want to know what step I'm going to be doing during the game. Show me that slowly and we're good, but don't add a ball-change and extra steps and call it the same thing.
Another thing I didn't like was the graphics. They're very generic, almost non-descript. When you are trying to copy an instructor's dance moves in a game that scores you on how well you are performing the moves, it helps if you can distinguish body parts!
While writing this entry, I thought that perhaps I was just being hyper critical. I got curious and checked out the review for
Zumba Fitness at
123kinect.com. They had about the same things to say about the tutorial mode that I do. After reading this, I thought perhaps I would give it another try and just jump straight into the Zumba Party portion of the game, and just pick things up as I went. However, the review went on to say, "
Zumba Party is very intimidating because it's a very long session and it quickly jumps from one routine to another with somewhat abrupt transitions. If you don't know the steps, it can quickly become frustrating and makes it feel like you're flailing." This would drive me batty!
If
Zumba Fitness would revamp their shoddy graphics and give their tutorial section a makeover, I would try it again. As it stands, however, I won't be Zumba will not be a part of my cardio routine. You can read the full review for
Zumba Fitness here.
After being so thoroughly disappointed by Zumba Fitness, I looked to Dance Central to fill the blanks on my dance card. I was not disappointed. Everything Zumba lacked, Dance Central had in spades. The tutorials rocked my socks! Not only do they break the steps down, they also have a feature that allows you to slow the movement down until you have mastered it and then you can speed it back up and continue the tutorial.
The graphics for the game are fantastic. I haven't found it difficult to replicate the moves at all.
I like that there is a Fitness section that puts together song based on the type of workout you are looking for. My favorite part of the Fitness section is that is calculates the number of calories you burn while you're dancing. For someone with a nature as competitive as mine, this keeps me going and gives me a sense of accomplishment even when I don't make it to that fifth star--which I am proud to say is not that often!
On the downside of the Fitness portion, it is not continuous play. There is a pause after every song that evaluates your performance. I could do without that bit, but beggars can't be choosers, yeah?
The best part about Dance Central is that I get a dance class in my living room, and I don't have to deal with other people unless I invite them over to play! I can start up the game when I want to and stop when I want to and there was only a one-time cost. Beats the hell out of any recreational dance class I've ever had ;)
