008: That Time SoraRabbit Figured Out He Knew How to Dance

I can't dance. This was a deeply ingrained fact that I would pull out as a shield any time someone asked me to dance. I was too lanky, too tall, lacked rhythm. (I was also deeply self conscious, but that was never used as an excuse.) I just couldn't do it. But recently I discovered that isn't entirely true. Yes, I may be terrible at it, but I actually can dance. And the reason for this is video games. Of course. What other reason could there be?

Dancey dancey. (Credit: Ubisoft)

I will start at the end and then move back to the beginning. (That's the correct order for things, right?) Cocoashade and I were married in August. As the date loomed ever closer, I became concerned about my ability to fit into my suit. My workout routine at the time was rather light, and my eating habits were poor. (In other words, I was a lazy spud.) I decided to change my eating habits and exercise more. For some reason I recalled the Just Dance games. I had a couple of them, so decided to give it a shot. Since I like to do things in order (even when it doesn't matter) I started with the first game. I was hooked at once. It proved to be a vigorous aerobic workout that was enjoyable due to the variety of music and the video game/scoring aspect.

Now the beginning. Flash back several years. I was first introduced to this game by my ex-girlfriend. (Well, she wasn’t an ex at the time, but you know what I’m saying.) She had me pick up the first two games for the Wii. I steadfastly refused to play for a long time, because as I mentioned and repeatedly told her, I can't dance. After a lot of complaining, she finally wore me down and convinced me to play with her. We did either two player or alternated turns. I felt very self-conscious, but I stuck with it. I mainly did the arm motions and was fairly lazy about the whole thing. But I was still better than she was... a fact that irritated her to no end.

After a time, the games were forgotten, until I picked them back up recently to get in shape. I pushed the couch back, fired up the first game, and got started. I began with just a couple of songs, gradually increasing my play time until I was up to about an hour a night. Occasionally Cocoashade would sit on the couch and watch me, and to my relief, she didn't laugh at how uncoordinated and bad at dancing I was. This helped me build my confidence little by little.

Oh, have you not heard? It was my understanding that everyone had heard. (Credit: Ubisoft)

One of those times she was watching me, Surfin' Bird came on. We had a psychic connection moment and suddenly we both knew what we wanted our first dance to be at the wedding. We practiced it off and on over the months, leaving it as a surprise to our guests. It went off without a hitch, it was funny, and we got many compliments.

Not much later in the reception, after I had had a couple of drinks and the dance floor was officially opened, Cocoashade pulled me out on the floor and that was when I realized that somehow, at some point in the last few months, I had learned how to dance. Maybe I still wasn't good at it, but I stopped caring, and I feel like maybe that's the important part. I danced to pretty much everything that came on, including making up a dance to the Super Mario Bros theme. I’m sure I looked ridiculous, but it was fun. I was out there, moving my body to the music, and having fun with my friends and family. It's become a treasured memory, one of many from that day.

So my shield is down, I can no longer use that excuse. I know how to dance because of video games. I think my big sticking point, beyond the aforementioned confidence deficiency, was in the belief that there were set moves that had to be done at set times. I learned through Just Dance that the moves don't matter as much as I thought, as long as they're in the spirit of the music. As long as I'm close, I still get points for it.

Hey, that could be the new motto for my life. "As Long as I'm Close, I Still Get Points For It." I like it. Let's slap that on a tee shirt and my blog can have some merch. (Can my own Funko Pop be far behind? I think they give those things out to anyone nowadays.)

Okay, enough history. On to the reviews. Just Dance is a long running series of dancing games by Ubisoft. It started as a spin off from a mini game in Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party. It combines music and motion control in a rhythm game that can be played by one to four players at once. In concept, it's a lot like Dance Dance Revolution, except utilizing motion control. Where DDR uses leg movements, Just Dance only scores the arm movements. The first game was a hit and since then they have released a new game every year for a decade. What follows will be my breakdown and mini reviews of each game in the series that I have played so far.

I’m the duck. I’m always the duck. I miss that duck. (Credit: Ubisoft)

The first Just Dance. This is where it all started. This game came out in 2009 for the Nintendo Wii. Like all the games, this one was produced by Ubisoft. The scoring and graphics were fairly simple. A song plays, you move along with the dancer on the screen, and the Wiimote in your right hand scores. Your movements are scored as OK, Good, Great, or X (which is a miss). All the positive scores fill up your gauge and when it's full, it gets all sparkly. If you get enough Greats in a row your gauge lights on fire and you get extra points.

This game contains 32 songs. The songs are graded 1 to 3 stars in difficulty and effort. There is no Just Sweat mode, which becomes a staple in later games, but there's a challenge option to give some variety. In this menu there are Strike a Pose and Last One Standing. (Along with a warm up to stretch out before dancing.) Most of the time I did the quick play option.

When compared to the later games, this one is crude, but the concept is there. The motion control is rough. Hit or miss, really. There are a lot of older songs. A lot of songs that I grew up with-- Groove is in the Heart, Lump, Pump up the Jam. And lots of disco. (Heart of Glass! I love me some disco.) They actually have a pretty good variety of genres. Gorillaz, Spice girls, Beach Boys, New Kids, lots more.

Song I'm Best At: Hot N Cold, Katy Perry (High Score: 13,154)

Song I'm Worst At: I Like to Move It, Reel 2 Real (Score: 5098)

Most Fun Song: Hot N Cold, Katy Perry (Yes, I dance to Katy Perry. I am unashamed.)

I’m usually not good at the fun songs. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Just Dance 2 was released for the Wii in 2010. This one has 47 songs included, but also has downloadable content. (Sadly, the DLC for the Wii games are inaccessible now due to the Wii Shop being closed down. Now they have a subscription service to access other tracks.) The graphics and scoring are a little better on this one compared to the first. Instead of the vertical gauge, there is now a circular gauge. At the end of the song you are graded from one to five stars. (This scoring system continues in all the following games.) The scoring for the individual moves are now X, OK, Good, and Perfect. This game introduced Gold Moves. If you do those moves perfectly, you get bonus points.

This one has some songs that are duets, which involve two dancers, although these songs can still be played by a single player. There is also a Dance Battle mode where you compete for points. This entry is notable for including a mode called Just Sweat, where you select Mild, Tough, or Intense. As you play your songs, you earn sweat beads and the game tracks how many calories you’ve burned. Hit your goal every day for a week, and you win. This was a really good idea... incentivize exercise as a video game achievement.

This is the one that acts as my go-to installment from the series. This has the songs I have the most fun with. It's Raining Men, When I Grow Up, Hot Stuff, Call Me, Monster Mash, and more.

Song I'm Best At: Girlfriend, Avril Lavigne (Score: 10,694)

Song I'm Worst At: Soul Bossa Nova, Quincy Jones (Score: 3251)

Most Fun Song: D.A.N.C.E., Justice (The screenshot above.)

Just Dance 3 was released for the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 in 2011. One of the first songs I came across made me squeal out loud.

It's okay if you don't get the reference. But I like you more if you do. I play favorites. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Just Dance 3 has 57 tracks. This time the point gauge is at the top, showing your star level as you go. The circular gauge is retained, but is only there to show your move score. (OK, Perfect, etc.) Overall, 3 was very solid. The graphics and options were ramped way up. The dancers were more detailed, and you can make out their expressions. (Some of the dancers really seem to be having fun.) After your song you are given a style. Examples of these are Lazy, Wild, In Rhythm, etc. You're assigned currency called Mojo based on how many stars you get. When you earn enough Mojo, you unlock extra songs, modes, and mash-ups. Mash-ups are different versions of the main songs where it continuously jumps to different dancers using different styles. Some of these dancers are from prior games.

Go Go Power Dancers! (Credit: Ubisoft)

Another thing you can do on this one is earn medals. These are separated into bronze, silver, and gold. You earn the medals by accomplishing certain tasks, such as getting five stars on every song or getting a certain number of Styles. Overall, these songs seem less forgiving than the previous games. I got a lot of 1 and 2 star scores. (I swear the Buggles song is broken.) Adding the Mojo level and medals kept me playing this one for longer. I still haven't unlocked everything... some of the medals are pretty difficult. (Getting five stars on six songs in a row? Getting 100% Perfect moves? No thanks.) Some of the songs on here are Take On Me, Promiscuous, Da Funk, Boogie Wonderland, and more.

Song I'm Best At: California Gurls, Katy Perry (Score: 10,303)

Song I'm Worst At: Video Killed the Radio Star, The Buggles (Score: 3848)

Most Fun Song: Spectronizer, Sentai Express (Ever wanted to dance like a Power Ranger?)

I wish I was good at this one. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Just Dance 4 was released for Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, and PS3 in 2011. There are 50 tracks included with this game. (I have the Wii U version.)

This is a great installment. Again, the graphics have gotten better. The gauge returns to the side, climbing vertically as you gain stars. The move scoring is up at the top and is very flashy. Actually the entire game is flashy and shiny. There's a lot to do on this one. Every song has "Dance Quests", which are tasks you can accomplish. Completing these tasks will add to your Mojo score. The tasks are varied: getting certain numbers of stars, hitting the Gold Moves, getting a specific ranking at various parts of the songs, that sort of thing. There are also songs randomly declared to be worth Double Mojo. Earn enough Mojo and you level up, which activates a prize roulette. There's a lot to unlock. The motion control is excellent on this one-- they seemed to have worked out all the kinks.

On the Wii U version, some songs have a Puppet Master mode, where you dictate the moves for the player. There is a Battle Mode, where two songs compete. Earn more points than your opponent and your song plays, fail and their song plays. The Just Sweat mode on Part 4 is amazing, I had a lot of fun with this one. You choose your time frame and genre and the game goes continuously until you run out of time. You can select 10 minutes up to 45 minutes, depending on the intensity you want. There is a warm up and cool down built in. Preselected songs play and how well you do decides if the next song will be Intense or Cool. It kicked my ass, but it was a blast.

Brutal. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Just Dance 4 was pretty difficult, but I never got frustrated with it. It’s a rewarding sort of difficulty. The Dance Quests add a lot of replayability. I enjoyed the level system. It never took long to level up, and there was always more to unlock. This one includes songs like Rock Lobster, Hit 'Em Up Style, Never Gonna Give You Up, Time Warp, and more.

Song I'm Best At: We No Speak Americano, Hit The Electro Beat (Score: 10,302)

Song I'm Worst At: Tribal Dance, 2 Unlimited (Score: 3364)

Most Fun Song: Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepsen (Yeah, I said it. Fight me.)

Go Badass Panda! (Credit: Ubisoft)

Just Dance 2014 was released in 2013 for the Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3 and PS4. I have the Wii version of this one. This is when they dropped the numbered entries and moved on to name it for the upcoming year. This entry again has 50 songs. There is a new On Stage mode, where the player acts as a lead dancer with other players dancing backup. This one had microphone support, where you could earn points for singing along. (And sometimes just because the game thought you were singing?) There was a big focus on online play. This one had online multiplayer and a mode called World Dance Floor, where players could compete against others. (This is inaccessible nowadays.)

This is where the series started to drop off a bit for me. This one was super forgiving. I can do utter crap on a song and still get five stars. It kind of cut into the enjoyment for me, but not too badly. There are not nearly as many options on this one. You still get Mojo to unlock new versions of the songs, but the levels are gone. (Sure, there's an online level, but I had no interest in that.) I also didn't like the navigation. I found it difficult to scroll through the songs. The Just Sweat routine also fell off, going back to the old Part 2 and 3 method of "just play for a set amount of time and call it good". Lazy. Sometimes the Gold Moves glitch out and don't score.

One interesting addition was that the game gives out gifts every month, such as avatars and songs. Mojo points lets you unlock other song modes like Sweat (more vigorous dances) and Battle Mode, which works like it does in Part 4. (Although the battles seem easier to me on this one. Probably because the scoring is more forgiving.) Mash ups are still in this one, and some songs have Extreme versions, which are super difficult.

Too many jokes… all colliding in my brain. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Despite all the modes, this edition seemed weaker than the previous entries. Maybe it's the exclusion of levels, or my disinterest in online play, but there just seems like less to do. Unlocking the modes and maxing out stars can be rewarding, but it didn't hold my interest. Another thought: It took five games to include Lady Gaga's song Just Dance? (You'd think that one would be an obvious inclusion...) There were some interesting choices for songs like Prince Ali from Aladdin, The Love Boat Theme, and the Ghostbusters theme song. So yeah, this one had some fun songs, but I didn't find myself continuing to play for long after trying each song. Also, since I’m already complaining, it's a major pain to view your high scores. You have to click on the song and cycle through the different versions. It took me forever to find my usual stats. But I did it… for you. That's how dedicated I am to giving you the best possible blog experience.

Song I'm Best At: Summertime, Mungo Jerry (Score: 11,140)

Song I'm Worst At: Careless Whisper, George Michael (Score: 4797)

Most Fun Song: Blame it on the Boogie, Mick Jackson (It has fun moves.)

I'm still working my way through the series. I'm currently sweating it out to the songs on Just Dance 2015 on the Wii U. Just Dance 2015 was released in 2014 for the Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3 and PS4. I have the Wii U version. This entry has 45 songs. The focus on online play continued in this one, with an increased focus on social media integration.

This one has been my least favorite entry so far. Mostly due to the annoying zooming effects and distracting graphics. I'm not sure why they feel the need to do this, but on some songs they zoom way in on the character, sometimes to the point where you can't even see what they're doing. I can see no reason for this, and it's very distracting. (I think they were just trying to be flashy and "hip".) Also things in the background fly by, pulling your attention away from the dancer. Hopefully that's better for future releases. I'll wait and see. Also, the navigation is just as awful as in the previous game. You have to click on very small areas to navigate.

Still, we did get this gem, so it's not all bad.

I’ve had dreams like this. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Yes, that is Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler. Stills do not do this song justice and there’s too much to GIF, so I would suggest looking it up online. A man in a strange barbarian getup dances on a flying platform in outer space, shoots fireballs from his hands, plays with a sword, spins around, and does the splits. All while being pursued by space cats, laser beams, rainbow unicorns, and disembodied wolf heads. He also high kicks watermelons. It's the trippiest shit and it's utterly glorious.

There is no Just Sweat mode in this one, but you can create playlists and turn on the KCal counter, so I suppose that counts. (I still think it's lazy.) There are fewer unlockables too. There is a chart with new avatars on it that are unlocked for completing a song for the first time.

This one is slightly less forgiving, but still inconsistent in the scoring. I can do terribly at a song and still get 4-5 stars. Also I still don't understand the karaoke mechanic. I think it picks up on any sounds or talking and assumes I'm singing and assigns me points for them? I don't know and don't care enough to look it up. It's weird. The worst part is the stupid zooming. It’s the worst in Happy and I Love It. There were some weird songs sprinkled into this one like the Tetris theme and What Does the Fox Say. (The song Speedy Gonzalez was a very questionable choice. Why would they include that in this day and age?) But then you have songs like Mahna Mahna from the Muppet Show, which is always entertaining. So I guess the variety of songs and the quirkiness keep this one from being a complete bust, but I do expect more. (It's all been downhill since Part 4.)

Song I'm Best At: Tetris (Score: 11,176)

Song I'm Worst At: It's My Birthday, Will.i.am (Score: 5953)

Most Fun Song: Holding Out for a Hero, Bonnie Tyler (Was there any question?)

My collection.

So those are the games I've played up to the writing of this post. I also have 2016 for Wii U and 2017 came with my Switch. I had a choice of games in the bundle and nearly three years ago I instinctively chose this game, even though I had no idea I would later become such an avid dancer. I'm really looking forward to that one, mostly because it will give me a bit more use out of my Switch. (Currently I'm only using my Switch for Super Mario Party and Steven Universe: Save the Light. More on that one at a later date.) (I'm never going to run out of material. Neat.) I haven't gotten the last three entries in the series yet. I figure I'll wait until they drop in price or I can find them used at Gamestop. (Just Dance 2020 looks very interesting, so maybe I’ll buy that one new when I get that far.) I think I might do another post when I've played the next five games.

Overall, Just Dance is a fun series. There's a ton of variety, so if you ever get bored with one installment, you can just put in another. (They’re fairly cheap if you buy them used.) The difficulty levels vary between games and songs. There's a lot to keep you playing, with unlockables, new song versions, and challenges. It gives you a sense of accomplishment to hit a new high score. You can improve with practice. (Except for on that damned Buggles song.) It's the best of both worlds: you get to play a video game but still be active. And listen to music while doing it.

This series taught me that you never know how important something will become to you as time goes on. I went from avoiding the game, to lazy flailing, and now have done a serious review of the first five games for my blog. Weirdness. These games have brought me enjoyment, boosted my confidence, helped me get in shape, and made it possible for me to dance at my own wedding. So that makes it all worth it.

I'll be back soon with some other randomness. Before I go, I feel like we need to check in again with our favorite cosmic hero...

Sweet dreams to all my Space Barbarians. (Credit: Ubisoft)