Dance Central 2 keeps the beat going with playlists, improves 'Break It Down' mode

Dance Central players are well versed in the rote song selection of the original game, but Dance Central 2 will allow those who can't stop movin' to keep on keepin' on with playlists. Players can now chain multiple songs together to avoid being dumped into the song selection menu after every routine.

"20 is the current cap," Harmonix's John Drake told us at Gamescom. He showed us the menu, which featured six customizable options and several pre-made playlists, like "high tempo" or an "easy start." Another nice detail is that the total time required to complete the set updates itself as you add tracks. The transitions between songs are less than 20 seconds, and specific tracks can be skipped if you aren't in the mood.

We also checked out the game's new voice commands and "Break It Down" training mode. Voice selection is fully compatible in song selection (for both DC1 and DC2 tracks) and main menu. Drake demonstrated this by calling out several of the game's tracks.

"Break It Down," the mode that teaches the routines, has experienced a significant upgrade. Players can now select specific portions of a song to practice, skip certain sections they know better, slow down to learn specific moves and then speed it up again when they think they've got it. And for those who feel they are definitely hitting a move right, despite what the game says, the Kinect can now record and play back a section to show exactly what's going wrong.

Update: 20 is the playlist cap, removed ambiguity.
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