After having played Michael Jackson: The Experience on the Wii, I felt assured that I had gotten the full scope of the game experience this title had to offer. All other Michael Jackson games were going to be direct ports of the version of the game that came first, and in the case of the PS3, this was pretty much the truth. In a rare turn of events, the Xbox has scooped the exclusive content out of Sony’s grasp with the Michael Jackson Kinect game. While the scoop comes soley from Microsoft simply having the better hardware, it’s still a rarity in a day where it seems like the PS3 owners get everything cool.
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 List Price: $39.99 Sale Price: $17.85 
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First of all, whatever appeal there is to a Michael Jackson dancing game for a guy like me, the Wii version didn’t really sell it to me as well as it could have. Once again, though, the Kinect has taken a title I would have otherwise rolled my eyes at and turned it into a solid title. The Kinect Michael Jackson game plays intuitively, letting you set the parameters instead of telling you where it thinks you should be. Before every dance session, certain moves are recorded by the Kinect sensor, and you try your best to repeat those moves when they come on the screen. The fully rendered environments add another touch of class to the game, and are a distinct improvement over the DDR-esque animations of the Wii version of the title.
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However, the Kinect Michael Jackson title, for all it’s innovation in using the hardware, still falls victim to a few of the peripherals pitfalls. For instance, seeing a live version of yourself projected onto the screen is a cool idea in theory, when you’re as good at dancing as Michael was. Unfortunately, what you’re usually treated to is a sparkly, Edward Cullen version of yourself dancing like a fool amongst the backup dancers. Menu navigation is also a pain, something no Kinect game seems to have done right yet.
While the game has a multi-player mode, which supports two to four players, it doesn’t support them at the same time, which is a bit unfortunate. Also, some songs are strictly singing songs, with no dancing, and some are all dancing, with no singing. Singing can be turned off, if desired, but strangely there is no option to turn off dancing and just sing. Either option still displays your awkward stance as you attempt to look cool playing a Michael Jackson game.
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This iteration of Michael Jackson: The Experience was definitely a vast improvement over the Wii title, which was was so aware that it was marketing mostly to fans that it included a sequined glove to wear while playing. This game has a far wider appeal, and both fans of Michael Jackson’s work and dancing game alike should have a great time with the title.
