Floor Kids

You know that show So You Think You Can Dance? In my case, the answer is no. But if I could dance, I would love to pull out the cardboard mat and spin around as a breakdancer. Those cheesy '80s movies always made it look like so much fun, yet always out of my reach. Now I'm able to bust-a-move with the best of them thanks to Floor Kids, an addictive little rhythm game that is all about learning moves, impressing the crowd and having fun. I may never be able to spin on my head in real life, but this is a pretty good substitute.

Floor Kids is an instantly likable dance game with a great look and easy gameplay. At its simplest, you are tapping the four face buttons on beat to earn points. The trick is mixing in the other types of breakdance moves, each of which require you to do something different with the controller. There are power moves, for example, that have you spinning the left analog stick, down rock moves have you pulling off moves while holding the down direction, and freeze moves require you to hold both the face button and analog stick together. You can also modify these moves and link them together for bonus points.

The goal is to not just dance your way through all eight locations, but also recruit as many breakdancers as you can along the way. You do this by earning high scores and the three songs found in each location. You'll also be able to discover new moves while you're impressing the crowd, all of which feeds into you unlocking new characters and locations. The good news is that most of the content is extremely easy to unlock, but recruiting all those dancers is going to take some work.

There's a freedom to the gameplay that I appreciate. This isn't a game where you're forced to pull off certain moves at certain times, you control how you dance and when. That said, there are times when the audience will yell out what they want to see, giving you a chance to pull off a sick move and earn some extra points. There are also two breaks in each song where you stop spinning on your head and clap along to the beat. It's a nice breather from the dancing, but I'm not sure it's needed in each song.

What this game gets right is the presentation. A lot of the charm comes from the hand-drawn breakdancers and locations. The animation is the real star here, and I like that each character has their own signature moves. The music is also infectious; laying down a funky beat that you can't help but move along to. I like that the game didn't try to shoehorn in a bunch of licensed songs, and instead chose to focus on a consistent soundtrack that fits perfectly with the stylish visuals.

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Unfortunately, great looks and sounds can only get you so far. For as charming as Floor Kids is, it's also repetitive to a fault. It's easy to point the finger at the freestyle approach to each dance, but I have a hunch it has to do with the shallow gameplay. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of moves to learn and linking the different types of dances together becomes a real skill. But this is one of those rhythm titles where I kept waiting for game to introduce a new layer of complexity. It just feels like there's something missing that would take this concept to the next level.

This is a problem that ended up dogging the Switch version when it was released late last year, and I'm sure it will be an issue when PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners get a crack at it in a few months. I enjoyed playing through this brand new PC port, but found myself impatient for those other versions to come out so the developer can start work on a proper sequel. There's so much potential here that doesn't quite come together like it should.

Although it can be repetitive at times, I still had a great time playing Floor Kids. What it lacks in depth, it more than makes up for with charm and personality. I like the funky soundtrack, the hand-drawn graphics, the accessible gameplay and the lengthy story mode, but wish there was a little bit more to the mechanics. Floor Kids is one of the best dance games you'll play this year.