Harmonix might be the saviors of nerds everywhere. First they made us cool by teaching us how to play actual guitars and real-life keyboards in Rock Band 3’s Pro modes, and now they’re completing our transformation from awkward wallflowers into socially adjusted humans — all by showing us how to move and shake at the virtual club via Dance Central.

Kinect’s standout launch title tasks you with mirroring the dance moves of your on-screen performer to the beats of 30-ish current and classic tracks — everything from Lady Gaga and Soulja Boy to Kool & the Gang and Salt-N-Pepa. On paper, 30 might not seem like much, but in the game it feels like plenty, as you’ll likely need to learn each song in Dance Central’s Break It Down mode before you’re ready to perform it. And the routines change depending on which of the three difficulty levels you’re playing.

Given the amount of time you’ll spend in Break It Down, we’re relieved that it’s mostly helpful. When you nail each move it presents on-screen, you’ll feel major accomplishment (“Yeah, I’ve got this!”). If you don’t, though, a quick swipe of your left hand will slow it down, offering additional vocal aids to get you through. Still, it doesn’t help enough. We’d love more detailed verbal instructions as well as a Kinect-ified body scan that describes exactly what we’re doing wrong.

But once you’re comfortable with a song’s parts, it’s time to perform it. Here, Dance Central’s you-go-booooooy attitude and stylish art direction make the action infectious. In fact, we guarantee you’ll find yourself occasionally breaking out your favorite move (ours is the Double Dig ’Em) at work or in the kitchen when you’re not playing. Dance Central’s fun, all-inclusive feel sticks with you long after you’ve stepped away from Kinect’s Johnny-5 gaze.

Even Dance Central’s interface works great. The previously mentioned left-handed swipes slow moves down and navigate backward in menus, while your right hand does the primary navigation. Multiplayer, meanwhile, is a bit sparse, consisting of just a take-turns-in-the-middle-of-song Battle mode (à la Guitar Hero’s old-school Face-Off mode). Forget about two simultaneous players, let alone online matches, which is a little disappointing. At least you can download new songs and routines from Xbox Live to keep the track list fresh.

Ultimately, if you’ve invested in a Kinect, this is definitely the game you must pick up to showcase to your friends and justify your purchase. Now if Harmonix could just find a way to make us rich through videogames…

Kinect

+ Simple moves that are an absolute blast to string together.

+ Instantly approachable for all skill levels.

- Training mode isn't nearly deep enough.

? Will you have the courage to play it with other people around?

9.0