Despite their inherent lack of “get up and boogie” nature, games like Elite Beat Agents and Tap Tap Revenge have shown that portables can shake their money-makers with the best of them, and there’s just something inherently musical about tapping to the beat. After appearing on nearly every other platform out there, Michael Jackson: The Experience HD moonwalks its way onto Sony's new PS Vita just in time for the console's launch, taking advantage of the portable's considerable powers and touchscreen controls that's far less Bad than many thought it would be.

A dance game based on the King of Pop should have been the most natural thing in the world; Jackson’s unmatched iconography, ready-made dance moves, extensive catalog, and penchant for the bizarre have always endeared him to the genre, even personally dipping his black loafers and white socks into the interactive world on occasion. Sadly, Ubisoft’s attempts to Jam such an enticing prospect into playable form have resulted in sub-par efforts like Just Dance knock-offs (Wii) and strange experiments with new technology (Xbox 360 Kinect, PlayStation Move); the less said about the execrable super-deformed DS/PSP versions, the better.

Thankfully, the PS Vita version is based on the much-superior iPad/3DS versions of the game, as substituting fully rendered characters for the cheap cosplay rejects and scanned dancers of previous versions that lets players groove with their virtual Jackson avatars better. You’ll still need skill to unlock and see everything, but not that much, and it won’t take long before even the most casual player manages to blow past the meager 15 available tracks like a champ. It’s still not a great game, but its a huge step up from the home console iterations and a decent way to interact with many of your favorite Jackson songs. The only real drawback is just how limited this 'experience' actually is.

Available modes are limited to HIStory (campaign) and Battle (multiplayer), with the core gameplay keeping things simple as you’ll trace the onscreen arrows, circles, swoops, and tapping pink circles to keep in step with Jackson, occasionally requiring you to double-up with two fingers for twice the fun. It even uses the Vita’s rear touch panel for freestyle moves, though its pretty much limited to your character prance around the digital backdrop. There’s no online multiplayer here, though you’ll get to play with another player via ad-hoc if they’re close by (good luck). There's no training mode, though additional challenges for each song add extra incentives to keep playing once you've unlocked everywhere else.

Thankfully the game is pretty generous on recognizing the blaze of swirls and taps, and you’ll need to post accurate scores in order to unlock things like the higher difficulties, extra costumes, and even the special ‘spectator mode’ that lets you sit back and watch the game play itself. Curiously, you’ll also have to unlock ‘Perfect’ scoring by playing through, which may not help your self-esteem early on.

The game generally looks pretty great, especially on the Vita’s generous screen, with smooth animations and some inspired camera angles that can make the game look pretty exciting at times. I wish the virtual Jackson avatar’s head was more expressive as it tends to look like a mannequin at times, but the virtual moves are slick and the framerate is (usually) consistent and smooth.

Not so great are the vignettes that bookend and are spliced into many of the tracks; they look like an unholy cross between Taiwan's hilarious Next Media’s animated news clips and long-forgotten prehistoric PS1-quality cut-scenes. I can only imagine these exist because Ubisoft wasn’t able to completely replay the original videos, but they could have done a better job. The bastardized Thriller is particularly horrendous, and I’d rather not remember this version of Remember The Time (poor Eddie Murphy).

Jackson’s HIStory (yup) with the video medium was unmatched, and seeing some of the best music videos ever made reduced to such low-quality crap is embarrassing. Adding insult to injury is their less-than-HD video quality and just look hideous. I know they’re not unique to the Vita version of the game, but we're living in Opposite Land when the in-game graphics are more impressive than the embarrassing CG and Ubisoft is fine with that.

There’s not much to say about the sound design; it’s perfect. The the songs used here are of the highest quality imaginable, and you’ll definitely want to substitute a decent pair of headphones to get the most out of them; the Vita’s weak speakers simply can’t do them justice.

While the soundtrack pairs down the dozens of songs found on other versions to a paltry 15, they’re a quality 15, with highlights including Billie Jean, Beat It, Bad, Smooth Criminal, Black and White, and Ghosts, and even a couple of choice tracks from more innocent times like Wanna Be Starting Something and Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough. Each song has three levels of difficulty to conquer, and the ability to swap out costumes and memorabilia helps give the illusion of having more content to play with. At least there’s no baffling inclusions like the completely un-danceable Earth Song or The Girl is Mine to pad the track listing out, and Ubisoft promises that future DLC tracks will be available. As of now the listing is pretty scant, making this a questionable investment at its premium asking price.