Britney's Dance Beat PlayStation 2

As one of six culturally diverse dancers, players must outperform their rivals in order to claim the final spot in Britney Spears' entourage. A rhythm music game from the makers of the Bust-A-Groove series, Britney's Dance Beat involves challenging each dancer one-on-one in a series of ten heated dance competitions. As in previous games in the genre, dancing involves pressing specific buttons in time to the music.

Situated around the perimeter of an onscreen circle are icons representing the controller's face buttons. Moving clockwise around the circle in time with the music is a transparent cursor. The object is to press the correct button as the cursor moves over the corresponding icon, with a "Miss," "Good," or "Perfect" rating offering feedback on timing. A performance bar moves back and forth along a horizontal meter at the bottom of the screen. The player with the bar on his or her side when a song ends is the winner.

By inputting consecutive commands without faltering, intricate combos can be achieved. Twenty-point combos and above unleash "attacks" on an opponent, causing buttons to change position or to appear and disappear at random, thus increasing the likelihood a rival will make a mistake. The playlist consists of five of the pop diva's most successful songs: "Oops I Did It Again," "Slave 4 U," "Stronger," "...Baby One More Time," and "Overprotected."

The first five auditions are accompanied by shortened versions of each song, while the latter half are performed with the full versions. By dancing well, players will unlock backstage passes granting access to such extras as behind-the-scenes information as well as video footage of Spears' concerts, which can be manipulated 360 degrees in real-time. Audition, Practice, and Two-Player are the three modes available, with the Video Vault providing access to any previously unlocked backstage footage. Britney's Dance Beat supports the standard PS2 controller as well as dance mat peripherals. ~ Gavin Frankle, All Game Guide