Just Dance 4 Review

Game Reviewed: Just Dance 4

Release Date: October 9th, 2012

Developer: Ubisoft Paris

Publisher: Ubisoft

Platform: [Reviewed: Xbox 360], PlayStation 3, Wii

Genre: Dance

Rated: E for Everyone

It’s that time of the year again if you haven’t noticed. Every year Kinect titles keep you off your couch for the entire holiday season. And with this title specifically, it means that your dancing away all the pounds and unwanted calories by doing what you as a gamer do best, dance.

Ubisoft is quite familiar with what it takes to get players in the mood with it all beginning on the Wii. Just Dance 1 and 2, Summer Hits and even the Smurfs energized and captivated people of all ages. Then came Just Dance 3, the first launched for XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3, naturally just as impressive as its predecessor.

Now it’s time to take a look at the new installment, Just Dance 4. Can Ubisoft do it again? Can they keep the party equally as live as their E3 performance with Flo Rida or has it already reached its peak?

Let’s get that question out of the way now. Gameplay IS the same old Just Dance you’re used to. Before diving deep into gameplay I want to speak on the high level of choreography. No matter if you are playing solo or have some friends playing with you, you will have a heck of good time dancing to each track.

There’s a new interface for the menu navigations. Instead of hovering over and holding the position over the selected options, you’ll need to get use to reaching out and touching what you want. Making selections were a bit challenging in the beginning, but you will quickly adjust after a bit of repetition.

Just Dance 4 focuses more on the player than the songs with Just Sweat.  Just Sweat allows you to choose a program such as Cheerleaders Boot Camp and Electro Body Camp, focuses on helping you knock off the calories while enjoying the choreography.

Just Dance continues to use vibrant colors for the on screen dancers and add some eye catching environments. Cards appear in the bottom right-hand of the screen to notify you of what moves you are to perform and what’s to follow.

The Just Dance 4 soundtrack is absolutely bananas! If you for any reason couldn’t get out to the party, then this is the “perfect” party alternative. You’re granted with sounds from Nicki Minaj, Justin Beiber, Flo Rida and many more.

Unfortunately there were a few setbacks in Just Dance 4 that  pulled it away from being a great experience to just a “good” one. While JD4 has a phenomenal soundtrack, there isn’t an easy way of discovering what songs you’re looking at.  It’s all a side scroll option that makes you wave over pictures to figure out the songs.  This tended to slow down the replay by having to learn pictures rather than having titles.

The Kinect responsiveness is flimsy. You have to be very careful when raising your hand and stretching it out to pick a song. I had a number of issues where I was selecting songs I wasn’t interested in, mainly because the system thought I stretched to confirm a track or wanted to navigate back for odd reasons.

In the end Just Dance 4 is an expansion and a new list of tracks to add to your collection. Other than the crazy choreography and the minor setbacks, JD4 once again delivers a fun time for all.

The Scores

Gameplay: 4/5

Visuals: 4.24/5

Audio: 4.25/5

Controls: 3.5/5

Value: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4/5