Video Game Blog 014: SoraRabbit Dances Part IV
Welcome to the fourth installment of my ridiculously detailed coverage of the Just Dance series! I know last time I said that I wouldn’t be releasing another Just Dance post for 3 years, but as I thought about it I realized I don’t need to wait. I have a place on my blog for dedicated video game posts now! I could just cover one game instead of three. So that’s what I’ll be doing from here on out. Interesting fun fact: this series of posts started on my main blog, then moved to Short Hops, and now to Video Game posts. They’ve been all over the place! (Hey, if anyone wants to do a Guest post about Just Dance to give their own opinions of the series, then we can cover all the sections on the SoraRabbit Hole!)
If you want to read up on the series, you’ll find the other posts here:
008: That Time SoraRabbit Figured Out He Knew How to Dance
Flashy. (Credit: Ubisoft)
Just Dance 2022 was released in 2021 by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia. I played the Switch version for this review. (As always, if there are any gameplay differences for the different consoles, I am unaware of those.) This is the 13th game in the series. There were 54 new tracks released, 6 regional exclusives, and 8 tracks on the Kids Mode. (I forgot to look at the Kids songs, but I read that they’re all repeats from previous games.)
Still lots of white space in this one. (Credit: Ubisoft)
This edition of Just Dance is almost identical to the previous one. They continue the stripped-down look, the white aesthetics, and the lack of new gameplay evolutions or options. The Gift Machine returns, this time with 200 prizes, which are all titles, avatars, and skins. (Weirdly enough, when I first played it I was told there were 200 prizes, but then I earned 4 before playing my first song. Maybe from playing previous JD games on the Switch? I dunno.)
The sort is still messed up (and I still don’t know what Pertinence is) but at least sorting by Score it was a little easier to get the data I needed for this post. The bad sorting made it really tough to find the songs I needed to dance to in order to unlock the alternate choreography. I spent way too much time scrolling around the songs trying to find the ones I needed to focus on. Alphabetical would be ideal, but like I complained about last time, the Just Dance Unlimited songs clutter up the list on every sort— aside from Pertinence— and for someone who steadfastly refuses to subscribe to that service, it just gets in the way. (Especially since the scores from the songs you’ve played on previous games still make the Unlimited versions show up in the list when sorting by Score.)
Also, several installments ago I complained about the practice of the game camera zooming in and out on the dancer during the song… I find it very distracting and it makes it hard to see what they’re doing. That crap is back on this one, and it’s way worse. Several songs have ridiculously elaborate intros and unnecessary zooms and transitions. The worst offender is Timberlake’s Rock Your Body where they keep doing stupid side wipes to the same damn dancer as the song continues. Ugh. There was no need for that.
She is way violating the school dress code at this point. (Credit: Ubisoft)
But enough complaining. The complaints are nothing new, and overall this was a really fun addition to the series. As has been the case for several years, the motion control is very forgiving and it’s fairly easy to score high while still making several mistakes. That said, the dance routines have become more and more complex and difficult to master without practice. The Extreme versions continue to be challenging. And the songs that require you to score Superstar before you can unlock the alternate choreo are honestly very difficult. I still haven’t unlocked two of them.
This song is fun. (Credit: Ubisoft)
They made some commendable choices in this one, representation-wise. Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels by Todrick Hall (shown above) is a great example of LGBTQ+ representation. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) by Sylvester has a non-binary coach. And of course it includes the usual variety of nationalities and languages in their songs.
They made some odd choices too. They did a few more songs with human non-animated coaches, which is really weird when the backup dancers are still animated (like the screenshot above.) There were a few interpretive dance kind of things, particularly on Human by Sevdaliza and both versions of Chandelier by Sia. (The version where the dancer was a blank-looking doll was creepy and involved a lot of those annoying transitions I complained about as well as a cinematic intro.) I guess they’re getting all artsy? They seemed kind of out of place but good for them, I guess? After 13 games I guess you’ve got to try new things. Speaking of which, they did several more of those weird claymation animations that they did last time.
Ah, my old nemesis… the dancing panda. (Credit: Ubisoft)
Yup, the panda is claymation now. The traditional panda shows up in another song, so don’t worry. But yeah, aside from these things there isn’t much innovation to be found here, and that’s alright. It’s just another Just Dance, and that’s what we buy the game for every year— to dance to some new songs. Still, I would like to see some new things… game modes, a better Just Sweat mechanic like they used to have… anything, really. I’m fine with the same old, same old, but then I’m a creature of habit. I can see how to some players the series may have become stale. Hey, at least the new titles go on sale pretty quick. I bought this one less than a month after it came out and the price was already reduced! (I love this series, but I’m not going to pay full price.)
This is the bounciest song ever with the word “bitch” in the title. (Credit: Ubisoft)
Songs in this game include Buttons by the Pussy Cat Dolls, Chandelier by Sia, Funk by Meghan Trainor, Run the World (Girls) by Beyoncé, Judas by Lady Gaga, Girl Like Me by the Black Eyed Peas and Shakira, Level Up by Ciara, and many more.
Best Song: Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) by Katy Perry. Score: 12,077 points. (This is, so far, my only Megastar song.)
Worst Song: Rock Your Body by Justin Timberlake. Score: 9976 points. (I blame the stupid wipes.)
Most Fun Songs: China (DJ Version) by Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Karol G, Ozuna and J Balvin. I like the DJ moves on this one and the fact that they made a Spanish version of Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” tickled me. There were a lot of fun dances on this one, but I think my favorite was Last Friday Night. It featured several previous coaches, including all the different Katy Perrys that have appeared in the series. Plus the panda shows up at the end, fashionably late to the party. I like the awkward moves of the main coach and how she gradually gets more confident as she has fun dancing. I identify with that, due to my own experiences with this series and dancing in general. (See my first Just Dance post for a more thorough explanation.)
Oddest Choices: Build a Bitch by Bella Poarch was a strange inclusion. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good song and a fun dance, but they had to censor so much of it for their E rating. Hell, they even had to censor the title! Shouldn’t that have made them think twice? Another choice that struck me as very odd was Mr. Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra (covered by the Sunlight Shakers). Just Dance has always included older songs, but this one felt a little out of place in a title that mostly included current songs. Also it was strange in the fact that the panda was animated and the dance was really easy. (Usually the panda dances are exhausting.)
It’s not really a party until the panda shows up. (Credit: Ubisoft)
Bottom line, I really enjoyed this one. For being a carbon copy of the last handful of games, this one does have fantastic graphics. Everything is crisp and clear. The coaches are more detailed than they used to be. The graphics are where this one really shines. You can tell they took a lot of care in the designs of the coaches and the backgrounds. There were a lot of really fun dances on this one that I did multiple times before even completing each song. I like how inclusive the series has become and although I don’t like all the choices (the long intros, the annoying special effects) I do appreciate that they’re trying to keep the series fresh while still maintaining the same level of quality and gameplay that they’ve had for well over a decade. Bring on Just Dance 2023!
Heheh alpaca DJ. (Credit: Ubisoft)
Thank you for joining me once again for a Just Dance review! Since I decided to move these to the video game category, you can expect an annual post until Ubisoft decides to stop making these games. As for me, I’m back to replaying the whole series while I wait for Just Dance 2023. I’m back on Just Dance 4 now, taking my time and trying to beat my high score on everything. Thanks for reading, I appreciate you all and I’ll be back soon with more geeky fun!
