Dance on Broadway for the PS3 is a dance game that uses the PS3 Move motion detectors to watch where your hands move. As the name indicates, it is full of Broadway songs.

I adore dancing games. I have tried probably most dancing games that exist on the Wii, PS3, and XBox 360 systems. So I'm familiar with how dance games tend to work, and the pros and cons of having them on the various systems.

Dance on Broadway certainly is better than many other PS3 dance games because of its dual controller mode. Yes, you can play with just one PS3 move controller, but it works far better if you have two of them. If you want to play two-player games, then you'll therefore want four move controllers - I.e. four of the controllers with the ball tops. That way all of the moves can be properly seen.

The game has each song in its own environment, as if it was being performed on stage. You get a choice of two characters for a given song. The backdrops, supporting characters, and so on all match with the song. So when you're singing "Luck be a Lady" you've got men in suits on a large casino board, while when you're doing "Aquarius" you get hippy people with peace signs. It helps to draw you into each song more than a generic background would.

Where many games are now going towards realistic moves, which I vastly prefer, this one still has the robotic-cartoons which is far less immersive. It's harder to follow along with a robot, and the robot's moves tend to look jerky and unnatural.

Also, where most games give you a wealth of songs and you can choose your favorites to play with, here it's an extremely forced order. You have to play the first four songs whether you like them or not. And then you have to pass a test with the fifth song. That's the only way to progress. I'm not a fan of dance songs that force this type of order on you. Dancing is about fun and exercise, and we players should be able to do whichever ones we want.

But by far the worst part here is the versions of the songs they present. I know and adore many of these songs. But when I hear their version of "Luck be a Lady" or "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" they fall quite flat. It would be like getting a dance game that claimed to have all my favorite rock songs on it, but then they were played by a cover band that lacked the energy.

What they need to do is come out with a new version of this. Incorporate the real-body technology that most of my favorite dance games are using, so the moves feel natural and real. Most of all - get the rights to the best versions of these songs. That will really be the key for me. The dance games I have that I play for hours a day are the ones with the songs I adore. If this one got their hands on those great song versions, I could see enjoying this.

Rating: 3/5

I purchased this game with my own funds in order to write this review.

Buy Dance on Broadway PS3 from Amazon.com