Excellenté?

There's no end of dancing games on Kinect, but each occupies a small subsection of the genre. Nickelodeon Dance joins Just Dance Kids at the very youngest end of the spectrum, and if you've got little ones who like to get jiggy it might be worth a look.

As you'd expect, Nickelodeon Dance is a collection of catchy kids' pop tunes from the likes of Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, The Backyardigans and The Fresh Beat Band. There are some recognisable tunes sung by Nickelodeon characters, too.

Understandably, considering the source material, High Voltage Software plumped for cartoon-like graphics that are simple, bright and easy on the eye. There's nothing spectacular to speak of — backgrounds and camera angles are simplistic, for instance — but the animation is solid and characters are recognisable.

The kiddiwinks won't have any trouble learning how to dance with their favourite characters either: clear demonstrations and tutorials make the game easy to pick up and play, teaching kids simple dance routines like the pogo stick jump, aeroplane swoop and star jumps. Moves are very easy to mimic and well demonstrated beforehand with a step by step video; with a three-star rating for each song it's also not a matter of finishing a song and moving on, with some progression in there. Difficulty-wise it's right on the button: adults might find it too easy, but youngsters will find enough challenge to keep them coming back.

There's quite a lot to get through too, from collecting stars and unlocking new songs as you complete each tune to the obligatory quick dance and workout routine. It won't last forever but it's no one-trick pony either.

Conclusion

Nickelodeon Dance is a good party experience for toddlers to tweens, and is even enjoyable for those who aren't big fans of the source material. Good controls, solid presentation and a good list of catchy tunes to bop along to are all present and correct, and with accessible gameplay this could do well in the long winter nights and inevitable upcoming kids' parties.