Christmas is a time for blockbuster releases - games we've spent twelve months waiting for, games that challenge and inspire us, demanding utmost dedication and, generally, isolation from other human beings.
But it's also a time for party games - Kinect games "for all the family" or whoever you've dragged back from the pub, games that involve waving your arms around as though you're combating imaginary wasps, and singing like you're descending ever so slowly onto a barbed metal prong.
In the first of our Christmas round-ups, we take a look at the very best music games Xbox 360 has to offer this year. When Christmas Eve rolls round and the presence of relatives necessitates the curtailment of your Skyrim playthrough, consider firing up one of the below. Read our original Best Kinect Games feature for more.
1. Michael Jackson: The Experience
Much as we'd like to imagine we're capable of the same moves and vocals as the now sadly departed King of Pop, in reality we're about as handy on the dancefloor as a tranquillised elephant, and our singing sounds more like strangled bagpipes.
Fortunately for our high scores, the detection in Michael Jackson: The Experience is forgiving like a patient parent, giving you a pat on the back even when you put in a distinctly un-Jacko performance. The priority here is presentation rather than precision.
Each song has its own arena, decorated in a style appropriate to the tune and rammed with screaming fans. You're then projected onto the stage and asked to keep up with a squad of backing dancers. The meat of the game is the dancing, and you can simply stick to that if you wish, but choose Performance mode and there'll be singing interludes. At a very basic level both are fun simply because you're there, on stage, playing through such famous songs. You can't help but grin as you rise from a trapdoor in the stage in the Beat It environment to a baying crowd.
Similarly, if you are trying to perfect the choreography, the practice area pales in comparison to Dance Central's. The implication is this stuff is easy. It isn't, otherwise we'd all be living in giant theme parks outside Santa Barbara. So this isn't Dance Central and it certainly isn't Lips, but if you're firing it up for a party, Michael Jackson: The Experience is definitely enough to keep a gang of mates entertained - even if it is propped up by the stellar music and iconic dance routines.
2. Dance Central 2
The original Dance Central attracted warm praise in spite of some technical niggles. It had style, it had a substantial soundtrack, and it had glorious full-body detection. But it lacked a proper two player mode, and when you're on the hunt for a party game, that's no inconsiderable shortcoming.
