Just Dance 4 – Why Not?

Wii U has certainly had a big impact on my gaming world, and getting my first real fix of Just Dance (bundled with the console) is one reason why. I’ve tried to play this game a number of times and always failed, dismissing it as something that didn’t even work. I’m moving the Wii Remote up… the girl on the screen is moving the Wii Remote up… why aren’t I winning?

Giving the game a proper chance in my own space was a revelation. I got to see myself playing in the mirror, and realised that maybe I’m a floppy retarded mess. The game is far more accurate than I ever gave it credit, in fact it’s probably one of the best uses of the Wii remote to date. A few adjustments to my posture and I doubled my score, and more importantly I was enjoying it. But how, the Wii remote is still just going up? I really don’t know, it could be angle, previous position or rhythm; either way when you’re dancing with your whole body it WORKS. Alternatively, you can sit there and shake the Wii Remote and get every second move right like this IGN reviewer, and say “good enough”. It’s a great way to make friends.

I don’t even care when I’m doing bad, some songs are ridiculously hard. It’s like a fighting game with 50 moves to remember for each song. ARE YOU READY? HERE THEY ALL COME! Whether you screw up or not, the song goes on. It’s still fun, in fact losing your balance is pretty damn hilarious. With the assault of achievements and trophies demanding we master 10 laws of broken physics each year, this just feels like an escape. If you’re having fun, you’re doing it right and the game just throws stars at you for every single move. A wise Pietriot named RABicle once said “I only lost because I was playing with more style” and that couldn’t be more appropriate here. Style is the only thing that matters. Instead of dominating the world with our thumbs, Just Dance draws attention to the other body parts. How does that guy rotate his arm like that? Why aren’t my legs moving like hers? Am I retarded?

This young lady here is showing gamers how it’s done. I’m really impressed with Ubisoft, this game has been selling millions (25 million across the whole series) over the past few years and now I understand why. It’s not a scam, it’s not shovelware. Call it a game or don’t, but it’s a great experience and realistically dancing games can only go so far before you turn the game off and go to a club. If you want an accurate rhythm game with multiple layers and difficulties… well there’s plenty of those and they’re awesome, but you’re not dancing. Your fingers are. DDR is an exception but sadly that series seems dead, and you’re basically hitting buttons with your feet anyway.

Just Dance 4 also has a shitload of songs, some of them I haven’t even played yet (the shit ones). The only real disappointment is that it’s not a very strong Wii U game, the Wii version is $10 cheaper and basically the same. It also takes a really long time to boot up (more than a minute), but that seems like the standard for Wii U games sadly. I hope Just Dance 5 uses the GamePad more, it would be great if you could stand it up and use the camera to see yourself on screen. Like a Kinect game but with a controller. I probably still wouldn’t have bought this game on its own, but I’ve gained a solid respect for it and it’s growing on me.