SoraRabbit Short Hop 009: More Dancing

Welcome to my latest Short Hop! This one will be a first for me, as it’s a sequel to one of the blog posts on my main page. This one concerns the next three games in the Just Dance series. I covered the first six games in my full post, so if you’re interested, take a look. In this post, I’ll be building on the things I said in that one.

As this is a Short Hop (and everything else was covered previously) I won’t go into the backstory of my adventures in dancing or much about the earlier games aside from some comparisons. I will mention that my preference is to play games in a series in release order, even when it doesn’t matter, like in this series. So I play each Just Dance game until I get through all the songs, try all the modes, and feel like I’ve gotten enough out of the game to justify moving on. I revisit them as I’m writing the post, and will eventually go back through each game as part of my regular workout routine. It’s nice to have a little variety in your workout, and the games feel fresher when they’ve been shelved for a time. Also I would like to note that I have inspired Cocoashade to also try her hand at these games, incorporating them into her own workouts. She’s still on the first Just Dance, so it will be a bit before she catches up to me. It makes me happy when my posts inspire people to try things they may not otherwise give a chance.

With all that said, let’s get started!

Pure chaos. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Just Dance 2016 was released in 2015 by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Wii, Wii U, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. I played the Wii U version. (Note that if there are any gameplay differences between console versions, I am unaware of those and will not be going into them.) There are 43 new tracks included.

In this one the DLC is gone, replaced by a subscription service called Just Dance Unlimited, which unlocks further songs. For a price. This continues for every game to follow. (Of course the online options for the older games have been discontinued.) You now have the option to play with your Wiimote or your smart phone. (I stuck with the Wiimote. I don’t want to accidentally drop my phone.) The first thing I noticed in this one is that the annoying navigation from the last few games has been fixed. No longer do you have to aim at a small arrow to move from song to song. Now you can use the arrow pad on the Wiimote, which helps tremendously. A fun addition to gameplay is that when you hit a Gold Move, a loud cheer sounds through the Wiimote speaker. The amount of Mojo given for Karaoke has increased from 2-3 to 200. (And I still don’t have a microphone, so what gives Ubisoft?)

One odd inclusion that I noticed on the Wii U version was Autodance. The Gamepad records you dancing and you can play the video after each song or upload it for others to view. I guess that could be fun? (If you’re into that kind of thing, which I’m not.) I found it incredibly creepy, seeing as how I had no idea I was being recorded. Thankfully, for those who are not comfortable with their video games recording them, they did include the ability to turn the option off in the Extras menu. (That took me a long time to locate.)

The main mode is Dance Party, where you can choose between Rival and Coop. Rival is the traditional mode, whereas Coop is a mode where you can team up with a second player (or take it on alone) to earn jewels rather than stars. I, of course, played coop alone.

The Japanese songs are my favorite. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Other game modes are Dance Quest, a fun mode where you dance against computer AI characters in an effort to get first place. You raise in the ranks based on your score and it continuously updates your ranking throughout the song. You earn trophies and avatars from achieving top rank, as well as unlocking the next Quest. There are also three difficulties, but I stuck with Standard. I spent quite a bit of time in this mode. World Video Challenge replaces the World Stage mode from the previous Just Dance. Showtime and Just Dance TV are the modes which use the creepy recordings I mentioned earlier. Sweat and Playlists return from previous installments to assist you in your workout.

Overall, Just Dance 2016 did not have many changes over JD 2015. You continue to earn a currency called Mojo, although there is no Leveling up mechanic. You can buy alternate choreography with the Mojo, but after you buy all that, it just piles up. I have over 40,000 Mojo at the time of this writing, and nothing left to spend it on, making it feel pointless. I found the scoring in gameplay just as unforgiving as it was in 2015, which led me to plenty of low scores on songs I don’t play often. There are much more intricate dances, which ups the challenge as well. Also, they eliminated the annoying zooming effect used in the prior installment. (Thank god. I hated that zoom.)

You’ll recall from the previous post that I felt the year-numbered installments were weaker than the numbered installments. This is a trend that continued with 2016, however, I saw some marked improvement. Although flawed and lacking in freshness, I enjoyed this edition much more than 2015. It has some of my favorite songs of the series so far, which more than makes up for the lack of innovation.

This is what’s going on in my head when I stare blankly into the distance. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Songs in this game include All About That Bass by Megan Trainor, Born This Way by Lady Gaga, Fancy by Iggy Azalea, Hit the Road Jack covered by Charles Percy, I’m An Albatraoz by AronChupa, and Let’s Groove by Equinox Stars along with many others.

Best Song: William Tell Overture, Rossini (High Score: 11,518)

Worst Song: Hey Mama, David Guetta (High Score: 5757)

Most Fun Songs: Chiwawa by Wanko Ni Mero Mero and Ievan Polkka by Hatsune Miku. These had fun moves and very catchy songs. (They’re both featured in the trippy screenshots above.)

Oddest Choice: Balkan Blast Remix, Angry Birds. (Yeah, that’s right. The Angry Birds theme song is on this one with the birds dancing along with a Bad Piggy and crashing into each other. It’s hilarious. Especially since they have arms and legs.)

Birbs and piggo. (Credit: Ubisoft)

One last note before I move on… the song I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas seriously kicks my ass. The recurring Panda dancer just goes nuts in this one and at several points starts dancing like Pennywise from the movie It. I cringe when I see the Panda on other songs now because of this song. It’s not a difficult dance, but still I have not cracked 10,000 points and I’m sitting at 4 stars out of 5. It’s just plain exhausting. When I play Just Dance 2016, this is the song that ends my night because afterwards I’m too tired to keep going.

So many of these song videos are like fever dreams. And I love it. Also, WTF is that green rabbit blob thing and where can I befriend one? (Credit: Ubisoft)

Just Dance 2017 was released in 2016 for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, Wii U, and Switch. I played the Switch version… as I mentioned in the first post, years ago I selected JD 2017 to be bundled with my Nintendo Switch, somehow foreseeing that I would become an avid dancer and dance game blogger. There are 42 new tracks included.

This was my first Just Dance playing with the Joycon instead of the Wiimote. It threw me off a bit at first, but I found it much less bulky and more responsive. Plus the wrist strap is more snug. The motion control seems more accurate utilizing the Joycon. Player Levels return in this installment. The main game mode is again split into Rival and Coop. Returning game modes are World Dance Floor, Just Dance TV, Dance Quest, and Sweat & Playlists. The one new game mode is Just Dance Machine, a very odd mode that actually has a rudimentary story. Two puppet-like aliens are cruising by the Earth when they notice their ship battery is low. Somehow they discover that dancing powers up their batteries. So, of course, they promptly abduct a human and force him to dance. In this mode you play as the abducted human and instead of normal songs, you have to do themed moves as a ballerina, Olympic acrobat, things like that. It’s… odd. But fun.

I found Just Dance 2017 even less forgiving than the last two games. Many of my scores are below 10,000. (Of course, I spent a bit less time with this one than I did on the others.) When you level up in this game, you are awarded with a new skin. In all the previous games you had avatars… this one included a backdrop for your avatar referred to as a skin. All my previous avatars were on the Wii and Wii U versions, so I started this one with nothing. It was sad, until I unlocked the little green bunny blob. That one instantly became my permanent avatar. And once I got the disco ball skin I never wanted to change it.

As soon as this song ends, she’s gonna eat those backup dancers. I have no doubt. (Credit: Ubisoft)

The major change in this one was the addition of a Superstar rank. After you get five stars if you keep going you can earn Superstar, which turns your gold stars into shiny silver. As you scroll through the menu, you can see which songs you got 5 star or superstar on. Anything below 5 stars does not show the stars on the song picture, helping you easily see which ones you need improvement on. As I said, this edition is super unforgiving. In the previous games I attained 5 stars on a majority of the songs. In contrast, on Just Dance 2017 I only got 5 stars on 10 songs. (Roughly a quarter of them.) And I only reached Superstar ranking on 2 of them.

Just Dance 2017 did not have many improvements or changes over 2016. It was actually kind of lazy, design-wise. I expected much more out of my first JD for the Switch. It was seriously interchangeable with the last one… when sorting the screenshots I honestly couldn’t remember which game which song was on without checking. However, I did enjoy it. The Dance Machine, while odd, was enjoyable. The Dance Quest mode again gave me a lot of replay value as I worked to get first on each one and unlock all the trophies. The inclusion of Superstar ranking was a great advancement… finally a new ranking after 9 games. Although I was a bit disappointed by this one, it also had some really fun songs, so it wasn’t a total loss.

Alien technology and the power of dance! (Credit: Ubisoft)

Songs in this game include Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira, Lean On by Major Lazer, Scream & Shout by will.i.am, Single Ladies by Beyonce, Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) by Silento, and Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen, along with many others.

Best Song: PoPiPo, Hatsune Miku (High Score: 11,233)

Worst Song: Cake By the Ocean, DNCE (Earphones Version) (High Score: 4125)

Most Fun Songs: Both are Japanese songs. (Surprise, surprise.) PoPiPo, Hatsune Miku (the girl dancing with veggies) and Oishii Oishii, Wanko Ni Mero Mero. (The screenshot above with the green bunny blob. This song is so freaking catchy.)

Oddest Choices: Two way tie, and both are alternate choreo. Hips Don’t Lie had a Sumo Version where the dancers were in sumo costumes. And Don’t Stop Me Now had a Panda Version. (I have a panda phobia now. This one was pretty energetic too, but didn’t kick my ass as thoroughly as I Gotta Feeling.)

This is the main menu. Simplify, maaaan. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Just Dance 2018 was released in 2017 for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, Wii U, and Switch. I played the Wii U version, mainly because I couldn’t find it for the Switch for some reason. There are 41 new tracks included.

This one was super disorienting at first. On my first gameplay session I felt like they had completely given up. Let me try and walk you through the start of this game. From the start you see a simplified menu with only three options: Just Dance, Kids, and World Dance Floor. The first thing I noticed was that there was no profile. No avatar, skin, name, nothing. No Just Sweat or Playlist. It also appeared to have no Mojo, levels, or unlockables. I have a whole page of notes complaining about the lack of content. I felt like they were just going through the motions and wondered if I would continue playing the series after this one. Thankfully all my fears proved unfounded. I pushed ahead and found that there was actually much more content than I thought… they just dole it out to you as you progress in the game rather than all from the start. Before I figured that out, though, I was very disoriented and disappointed. (A little warning would have been nice Ubisoft.) After the first song I got to set up my profile and choose an avatar. A few songs later (four I think?) and I gained access to the main menu with the Just Sweat option and playlists. As I continued I was given levels, challenges, and the gift machine.

Pimp Daddy Panda. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Once I got over the disorientation and start unlocking things, this game is excellent. The main menu scrolls up and down to different categories, separating things into the new songs, favorites, playlists, and different categories. In the Fitness Menu you can Activate Sweat mode, turning on the kcal counter. Dance Machine is replaced by Dance Lab, new episodes of which are unlocked through the gift machine. The aliens are gone for this one and the dances are set for the episodes rather than being random like they were in Dance Machine. You also lose energy with time, so you have to keep moving to score high.

The Kids category includes several kid-friendly songs with really easy moves for younger players. The ranking on the moves are Haha, Yay and Wow. It’s super cute. I thought this was a good idea. There were actually three full Just Dance Kids games released between 2010 and 2014, but the series has since been discontinued.

Soooo shiny. (Credit: Ubisoft)

The biggest new addition is the gift machine. Mojo has become super important in this game. You no longer unlock new songs and choreo using Mojo. Now instead the Mojo is spent on the gift machine. For 100 Mojo you get a capsule containing a new song, a sticker (collect them all to get songs), avatars, skins, Dance Lab episodes, and additional Mojo. You get more Mojo by leveling up, completing challenges, and playing songs. There are over 200 prizes in the gift machine, shooting the replay value of this game through the roof. (The screenshot above doesn’t show it but the circle under the crank normally keeps track of how many prizes you have left.)

Another notable addition is the return of Challenges. This time there are three daily challenges. If you begin working towards one, it keeps your progress. One of the three is always related to Just Dance Unlimited. Since I never signed up (and it was discontinued for this version by the time I played) I never got any of those. The challenges include tasks like playing the gift machine a certain number of times, playing duet songs, and getting certain numbers of stars. You gain mojo for completing the challenges. A big change is that now there is a ranking in between Good and Perfect. This rank is Super. The Superstar rank returns from the previous game, but above that is a new rank called Megastar. This turns the stars super sparkly and pinkish-gold. Along with all this, Just Dance TV and Dance Quest have been removed.

I know I’m a SUPERSTAR. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Just Dance 2018 was super forgiving. I found it way easier to hit moves than any of the previous installments. For most of the songs I managed to get 5 stars and fell in the 9000 to 12,000 range. I achieved Superstar ranking on 11 songs and Megastar on 2 songs. I’m not sure what made Ubisoft change the motion control to make it easier to score, but it really didn’t take away from my enjoyment.

Overall, I loved this one. It has actually displaced Just Dance 4 as my favorite installment. The variety of fun and strange songs, the sheer amount of unlockables and challenges, and the cleaner layout and smooth navigation has made this into my new go-to Just Dance. I dismissed the previous three games as lazy and cookie-cutter. That was all thrown out the window for this one. They went back to the drawing board and completely surpassed expectations, forging new ground while still keeping the tried-and-true formula Just Dance is known for. Including a category for younger players was a good move, too.

The fact that they included this song makes me so happy. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Songs in this game include Despacito by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee, 24K Magic by Bruno Mars, Another One Bites the Dust by Queen, Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, Side to Side by Ariana Grande, Daddy Cool by Groove Century, and Rockabye by Clean Bandit along with many others.

Best Song: Fight Club, Lights (High Score: 12,388)

Worst Song: 24K Magic, Bruno Mars (Extreme Version) (High Score: 5511)

Most Fun Songs: There are several in this one. Beep Beep I’m a Sheep, LilDeuceDeuce (I lovelovelove ASDF so including this song made me super happy. I Superstarred it pretty quick.) In the Hall of the Pixel King by Dancing Bros. (Chiptunes and 8-bit fun.) Love Ward by Hatsune Miku (because I have to include a fun Japanese song.) Sayonara by Wanko Ni Mero Mero (Japanese heavy metal. Gotta love it. It tires me out, but it’s great.)

Oddest Choices: Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie by the Sunlight Shakers. (A bikini-clad woman dancing around with a man-sized seahorse.) Make it Jingle by Big Freedia. (A Christmas rap with a pimped-out twerking reindeer. Need I say more?)

So there’s the next three installments in the Just Dance series! It’s been really interesting and fun tracking the evolution of this long-running series and sharing my thoughts with you all. I really enjoyed these three games, especially 2018, and I’m hoping the next installments continue this upward trend in added content and replayability. I have the next two games and soon will get 2021, so once I’ve played through those three, you can expect another Short Hop continuing this journey. I hope you’ve enjoyed my return to the quirky and sparkly world of simulated virtual dance. Until next time, keep on dancing!

Freakin’ Panda. Just looking at him makes me wanna take a nap. (Credit: Ubisoft)