We check out a spiritual successor to PS1 classic Bust a Groove to see if the music still lives on 18 years later.
Released on last gen consoles over 3 years ago Dance Magic finally arrives on PC and having received fairly negative reviews at the time I am looking at the game with an open mind.
First thing to mention is the rhythm action game most closely resembles the rather brilliant PS1 classic Bust a Groove but sadly the spirit of that game only part lives on with Dance Magic.
There are 2 main but very different parts to the game. The battle sections see you input commands in time with the beat of whatever song you are dancing against. Different combo commands not radically dissimilar to Mortal Kombat perform different functions such as create and break shields, attack you opponent and perform a variety of special moves that attack and give buffs.
As the game progresses health bars wear down much like a fighting game with one character eventually either falling or the time running out and it going to whomever had more life.
The other game type is freestyle which plays exactly like a normal rhythm action game but with a moving line (like Parappa) rather than moving icons. The main issue with this is that is very jarring to flick to a new set of icons and a style more akin to DDR would have played better. Also annoyingly there is a lot going on in the background and often following the blue line is more difficult than it really should be.
Both modes are enjoyable in their own way but equally both become quite samey relatively quickly with most of the special moves not really appearing (at least on the face of it) to affect the fight in any meaningful way. I did however definitely prefer the battle mode to freestyle as at higher levels it definitely had a sense of urgency but sometimes looking at the icons, keeping track of the beat and following the combos in the bottom left got a little overwhelming.
You can use a controller, keyboard or hell prob a dance mat if you can get one working. I used a controller and found it reasonably responsive but it was definitely easier to use the action buttons rather than the d-pad or analogue stick.
Obviously the music is a big part of a game like this and while there were a few good tunes the game lacked any stand out songs that stuck in my head. Almost 18 years after playing Bust a Groove I can still remember the individual tracks. I think the decision to pick general songs rather than link songs to characters was perhaps not the best move. You can however use your own music tracks and this works reasonably well and if an excellent feature that definitely gives the game more appeal to music game fans.
Visually the game is nice to look. Nothing incredible but equally pleasing to the eye. As you play the game you unlock money to buy customisations to your characters. This happens fairly quickly and a single play through of the single player mode is all that is needed to unlock a set you like the look of for each character. It actually took me a little while to work out how to unlock new songs and characters in the store but maybe that’s just me. I definitely felt however more costumes to unlock would have been good and I personally think unlocking songs should be different. Possibly unlock them by playing each one in single player mode.
Finally the multiplayer mode… or should I say lack of. I was unable to play a single random on-line game always being met by no servers if I searched or simply sitting waiting for someone to join for 30 mins if I created my own. Now obviously this is most likely because people are simply not playing the game but it does make this a hard sell if multiplayer and leader boards are your thing. I did however eventually get a game going playing with friend of the site Joe and found the multiplayer experience to be largely identical to the single player experience in both modes.
Overall I had some fun with Dance Magic and for a relatively cheap price of £6.99 or your regional equivalent you might find some enjoyment here. Time will tell if any real multiplayer community develops but for now I would buy this on the basis of the single player. A fun little snippet of rhythm action that isn't going to set the world on fire and to be honest unless you are a massive fan of the genre it may not hold you attention for long.
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