Dance Magic

bemanistyle: 6.5 / 10 by Aaron Auzins

Overall, Dance Magic is a solid title - what it offers is satisfying in bursts of gameplay, but nothing it does excels over similar rhythm game titles. It’s actually fairly involved for a rhythm game at this price point, but, at the end of the day, it is a three-year-old game and its longevity might be questionable for seasoned players of the genre. It can easily scratch the itch of someone looking to sink 3-5 hours into a reasonably-priced music title, but don't expect Dance Magic to shake up the genre.

Worth Playing: 6 / 10 by Brian Dumlao

In the end, Dance Magic lacks the sort of magic that makes rhythm games so mesmerizing. The mechanics for the battle system are fine on paper but boring in execution, as the free nature of attack execution means little variation in how battles play out. The additional Freestyle section is fine if you can get over the counterintuitive changes, and the meager song selection isn't helped by an economic model that encourages too much grinding for little payoff. Considering the lack of rhythm games on the PC, Dance Magic might seem like an appealing purchase, but that's only the case if you're currently ignoring games on other platforms.

Cubed3: 6 / 10 by Brandon Howard

Dance Magic has some really unique and interesting things going for it, and it's easy to come back to the battle system over and over just for how addictive it is to string together musical combos. That being said, the core game does struggle with occasionally imprecise inputs, and the actual tracks don't really feel that great to listen to again and again. While there's a lot to like here, it's definitely a title more geared towards fans of its core rhythm genre; the ones who don't mind delving into a more combative style of dancing.