| 4 / 5 |
Just dance and make a fool of yourself
C. Buck (UK) - 16 April 2010
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful ==Introduction==
Dance games have been popular in arcades and on consoles now for the past decade. All previous games have relied on the player placing their feet in certain positions in time to the music. Just Dance for the Wii however brings a much needed change of focus to this genre of game, now your hand and arm movements are they key to big scores but does it work or will it just sell thousands of copies to people desperate to lose a few pounds after binge eating over Christmas?
==Getting Started==
I actually bought this game for my 9 year old daughter who fancies herself as a bit of a dancer. She loaded the game up with excitement, not really knowing what to expect.
The first thing the game requests you do is a warm up. This is a nice gentle introduction to the game which is designed to get your muscles working in preparation for the more strenuous routines that are to follow. If this is the first time you have played the game, doing the warmup really is essential as it allows you to get used to the way the game works. In a similar vain to the yoga poses in Wii fit, you have to follow the actions of the on screen silhouette, making sure you keep in time. Although points are not awarded for the warmup, it is worth taking it seriously in order to get your mind focused on the task ahead. The warmup lasts for approximately 4 minutes and you can choose to skip it completely or cancel it at any stage.
==The Game itself==
The actual game has no real structure or story. It is a simple case of pick a song, dance to it, view your score and them start all over again. I am indifferent as to whether this is a good idea or not. There are however a number of modes, just to add a little variety. All dance routines have been designed and choreographed by professional dancers.
Quick game - Here you get to choose a track from one of the 30 plus original tracks included with the game. Each track is rated on a 3 star system for both difficulty and effort. I have found this to be an accurate guide, one which should help you burn off the calories without having to perform anything too complex. For each track you get to choose either a short version of the full length track. Depending on which track you choose, you will find that in some cases the short version is more than enough to get you puffing and panting. Each move you make is categorised as either Great, OK or a miss depending on the timing. You can also perform combo moves which are a series of perfectly executed moves in sequence. I personally, am still to achieve one of these but my daughter is able to pull them off frequently which proves that they can be achieved once you have got over the initial learning curve.
At the end of the track, the game shows you the stats of your performance, breaking it down into total score, % great, % ok, %miss and number of combos achieved. It goes without saying that the majority of my moves ended up in the miss section but even so, I was still tired after the workout so I suppose, even if you are not very good at the game, you will still get the benefit out of playing it.
Challenge mode - This is similar to quick mode but with far greater configuration. You can now choose your own rules and also choose which choreography you want to dance to. I found this mode useful when I fancied a change but it wont be one that I use often.
Last one standing - This is a very good mode for seeing how far you have progressed. You start with 7 lives at the beginning of the song and lose a life with each missed move. When all your lives have gone then its game over and the song stops. You can earn extra lives by completing 5 great move combos. This mode is fun in a multiplayer environment where you are trying to last longer than your family and friends.
Strike a pose - This mode again, is best suited to parties when the drink has been flowing for a while. In simple terms, this game is musical statues, when the light is green you have to dance in time with the music. When the light changes to red you have to stay still in whatever position you are currently in. If you move whilst the red light is on then you stand to lose a lot of points. I enjoyed this mode a lot, it will bring out the competitive streak in anyone and the winner is not decided until the very last minute.
==Track List==
In total, the game consists of 32 tracks. These tracks cover music across the generations so there should be something for everyone here. What I did find a little bit strange is that, after naming the game Just Dance, the Lady Gaga track of the same name was not included. This doesn't take anything away from the game whatsoever but it just puzzled me personally.
Acceptable in the 80's - Calvin Harris
A Little Less Conversation - Elvis Presley
Bebe - Divine Brown
Can't Get You Out of My Head - Kylie Minogue
Cotton Eye Joe - Rednex
Hot n' Cold - Katy Perry
Dare - Gorillaz
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor (Rocky)
Fame - In the style of Irene Cara (cover)
Funplex CSS - The B 52's
Girls and Boys - Blur
Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cindi Lauper
Groove is in the Heart - Dee-Lite
Heart of Glass - Blondie
I Get Around - The Beach Boys
I Like to Move it - Reel To Real
Jerk it Out - Caesars
Jin Go Lo Ba - Fat Boy Slim
Kids in America - Kim Wilde
Le Freak - Chic
Louie Louie - Iggy Pop
Lump - The Presidents Of The USA
Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp
Pump up the Jam - Technotronic
Ring My Bell - Anita Ward
Step by Step - New Kids On The Block
Surfin' Bird - The Trashmen
That's the Way (I Like it) - Kc & The Sunshine Band
U Can't Touch This - MC Hammer
Wannabe - The Spice Girls
Who Let the Dogs Out? - Baha Men
Womanizer - Britney Spears
==Verdict==
Playing this game over Christmas gave me the opportunity to turn my Wii on for the first time in months. After playing beautiful HD games on my Xbox, this game looked very basic on the eye, but what it lacks in graphical beauty, it certainly makes up for in gameplay. I bought this game for my daughter after seeing an advert on the TV for it. I was a bit impulsive and hadn't even read a review about it so I had no idea if it was any good or not. As soon as she started dancing to the first song, it was obvious that this game would be a massive hit. From my experience, playing this game for half an hour each day will get you out of breath a lot more than playing Wii Fit (I haven't played Wii Fit plus so cannot comment on that version) and it is streets ahead of Wii Fit in terms of entertainment. You can play with upto 4 people at a time but logistically, this is impossible unless you are lucky enough to have a massive playing area. We found even 2 players to be difficult as quite often we were bumping into each other.
This game will appeal to people of all ages, the kids will love it, parents will love it, even grandparents will be hard pushed not to get up for a boogie. I would seriously recommend this game to any Wii owner. It is great fun which will keep you entertained for hours.
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(517 Reviews)