Playing Ubisoft’s Just Dance for the Wii is a fun way to exercise and get fit. Just Dance contains over 30 popular tunes for you to dance along with. All you need is a Wii game console and remote to play, and you can dance along with up to three people. If you’re a woman aged 35 to 50, chances are you’ll love Just Dance. You can dance along with your friends, your spouse, your kids or anyone else you like. There’s even a “Challenge” mode in which you can face off against other players to see who’s the best dancer.
One of the best things about Just Dance for the Wii is that it’s a great workout. Given a choice between trudging on an exercise machine or dancing to hot tunes, I’d take the latter any day. Playing Just Dance can be addictive, and it’s easy to bop away the hours without realizing how much time has passed. When you play Just Dance, you simply hold the Wii remote in your right hand and mirror the movements of the dancer onscreen. The game compares your movements to those of a professional dancer and scores you on how well you perform a dance move. There are three scores; “GREAT” gets you the most points, “OK” will gain you a few points and “X” gets you no points at all. You get bonus combo points for scoring several “GREATs” in a row. Sometimes when I play Just Dance, I feel that I’m reproducing a dance move perfectly, but the game still registers it as an “X” or as just “OK.” Still, the more I play Just Dance, the better my score gets. I often enjoy letting go of my inhibitions and dancing to the music in Just Dance, but at times I get annoyed that my not-so-nimble moves are being compared to the moves of a professional dancer.
The songs in Just Dance span a wide range of genres, such as rock, pop and disco. The songs include new selections such as “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry that appeal to younger audiences, 80s songs like “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, and 60s favorites such as “I Get Around” by The Beach Boys. The dances are professionally choreographed and performed by professional dancers. Some of the dance moves in Just Dance seem a bit silly and some are difficult to perform if you’re not a seasoned dancer. The good news about Just Dance for the Wii is that you don’t have to hit every single dance move right on target. You just have mimic the general motion and intensity of the dance movements.
The dances in Just Dance for the Wii are rated for difficulty and effort on a scale from one to three. A dance with a difficulty rating of one has relatively easy dance steps, and a dance with a difficulty rating of three has very complicated dance steps. A dance with an effort rating of one will give you a mild workout, while the ones with an effort rating of three will likely leave you sweating and gasping for air. But don’t be deceived by the ratings system. Some of the dances with an effort rating of one will give you a good workout, and some with a higher effort rating can be toned down so they’re not so exhausting. Also, if you’re more comfortable with a particular style of dance, you may get a higher score on a dance with a higher difficulty rating than on dances that are technically easier.
There is a “Quick Play” mode that’s ideal if you’re playing alone. There are also three “Challenge” modes in Just Dance. In the “Regular” challenge, up to four players to dance against one another to see who gets the highest score. In the “Strike a Pose” challenge, you have to freeze when a red “Stop” light appears, then start dancing again when a “Go” light shows up. In the “Last One Standing” challenge, each player gets seven lives. If you make a wrong move in the dance, you lose a life. You can earn an extra life by getting 5 “GREAT” moves in a row.
The “Regular” challenge is the the most fun of all three challenges in Just Dance for the Wii. “Strike a Pose” is more difficult, because you have to hold perfectly still when the red “Stop” light shows on your points gauge. If you move even the slightest amount, you will lose a massive number of points per second. If you can adapt to seeing the “Stop” light sooner and holding very still, you’ll have more fun and have a better chance of beating your opponents. The “Last One Standing” challenge is the least fun of the three challenges. Since Just Dance often doesn’t register your dance moves properly, you may lose a life even if you perform the move exactly as shown. The “Last One Standing” challenge will probably be a waste of time for most gamers, but you might enjoy it if you don’t take your losses too seriously.
If you plan to have a dance-off with other players, you will need additional Wii remotes. Just Dance can be synced with a total of up to four Wii remotes to allow four players to dance at the same time.
Just Dance is a game with a few quirks and limitations, but it has its strong points, too. The bottom line about Just Dance is that if you put a little effort into the game, you’ll have plenty of fun.
Sources:
“Just Dance,” Nintendo.com
