Just Dance 2 & 4

(Today, on "pictures you can hear"... ^ )

I haven’t done one of those in a while. Three times in the past, I wrote reviews in December for Just Dance titles. I nurture a special attachment to the famous mimic-the-movements-on-screen franchise from Ubisoft (yes, them again). What convinced me to buy a Nintendo Wii, in 2012, was playing Just Dance 3 at my cousins’ place. As a result, that was one of the first games I ever purchased for the console… as well as one of the first games I reviewed on this blog, way back in 2013.

…Fuck me, I’ve been writing this blog for almost ten years. July 19th, 2023, will be the tenth anniversary.

I just love how colorful that franchise is.

Anyhow, following that original review of Just Dance 3 in 2013, I would go back to this franchise a few more times. In 2015, I covered both the 2014 and 2015 editions, and in 2017, I looked at the 2016 edition as well. And although my sessions have been sparse as of late, I try to play a bit of these games from time to time. I got today’s two games (yes, two in one article) because I have an aunt who had rediscovered the joys of the motion control-based Nintendo console, and wanted to play something else than just Wii Fit. My response, naturally, was this franchise. I bought these two games, and so did she.

There was something interesting to purchasing older editions of Just Dance, if only because I’ve become so accustomed to newer ones in comparison. Franchises always have to begin somewhere. They can end up looking very different as they evolve, but there’s a starting point. Hell, today’s two titles were separated by only two years and, yet, the changes were massive. Will this feel like a beloved trip down memory lane, or a look back we could have done without? Let’s see.

Just Dance 2

Wait, was there even a score back in JD1, or
we just had those nondescript filling gauges?

The unexpected origins of Just Dance ought to be repeated: The various mini-games of Rayman Raving Rabbids (especially the third installment, TV Party) convinced the developers at Ubisoft France that the Wii Remote (and Nunchuk) could allow for a peculiar, unique type of motion-based music game. ShakeTV, in particular, is the mini-game they they realized they could expand into a full-fledged game. The timeline checks out, with TV Party’s release in 2008 and the first Just Dance’s release in 2009, with one game every year afterwards.

With the gift of hindsight, Just Dance 1 feels more like a tech demo than a game. All of the major elements were there, merely unrefined; the motion-based gameplay, the “5 stars for a score of 10,000” concept, and a list of 32 songs to pick from, most of which are popular picks. It’s the basics, that's it. From then onwards began a series of experimentations with the formula, with each new title adding a little something: A novel type of choreography, or additional features.

Dange again, bring a friend!

Sure, the dancers still look kinda generic
with kinda... blocky colors, but they get better
over time.

This is where begins the story of Just Dance 2. After playing this game for a while, I feel it’s fair to say that Ubisoft only really began getting confident by the third installment. This one was still looking for its footing and feels meek and uncertain as a result; stuff was still being figured out.

On the content department, JD2 already delivers far more, with a total of 47 tracks. It also adds Duets, choreographies involving two characters dancing to the music. Once again, a lot of songs that are either popular dance picks, or the big songs released in the couple years prior to this release. Songs such as:

-“TiK ToK” by Kesha;

-"Toxic" by Britney Spears;

-“Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne;

-“When I Grow Up” by The Pussycat Dolls (God, I hate that song);

-“Toxic” by Britney Spears;

-“It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls;

-“Funkytown” by Lipps Inc.;

-“Rasputin” by Boney M.;

-“Viva Las Vegas” by Elvis Presley…

Okay, I’m not going to knock the song selection because there’s again a decent variety of genres, styles and artists to pick from. I don’t know if it’s aversion to the popular music of the late '00s, but most of the then-recent music included in the tracklist for Just Dance 2 feels… obnoxious? Or maybe it’s just the main order of the tracks in the game, which unfortunately put together the most annoying songs so close to each other. Hell if I know, that may just be a “me” thing.

The new, the missing and the unnecessary

Not gonna lie, good on Ubisoft for
making a contest and featuring the
winners in a game.

Since I’m covering two titles today, I’ll quickly go over the extras, and then the features. The first is a Warm Up Mode, a choreography of classic workout warm-ups – unnecessary, in my opinion. Next up are three extra choreographies on… When I Grow Up (oh, joy), that were designed by fans. Hey, I may not like the song, but I can appreciate that Ubisoft went and included these on the disc. Lastly, the “Tutorial” before every choreography can be turned off – thankfully, because it’s invasive and annoying. Even if I had never played a Just Dance title before, I would know how this works by the third track.

Also here is a Just Sweat mode, which can let you create a week-long plan of one, three of six songs per day, with the game tracking your workout. (Clearly not the best version of the idea, as we'll see later.)

Air violin, let's gooooo!

A mode I wish would return (in part), however, is Dance Battle. Available in Free-For-All (1-4 players) or Team Battle (5-8 players) modes, this turns Just Dance into the competitive multiplayer game it could be. For up to 5 rounds, you’ll compete against opponents in one of five modes: Solo choreographies only, Duets only, a Simon Says mode that adds special requests within stages, a Medley that cycles through the pieces of 5 tracks selected at random, a Race to reach a certain score… or, if you want, you can have a different one on each round. Notably, in all modes, you are given the songs at random; in all modes except Medley, you’re given one track among those available for that type of Round, and must play it (or tap “Joker” on the screen to select another track at random, but you can only do this once). The mode is fun but the types of challenges are a mixed bag (the Simon Says mode is the worst of the lot, but Medleys are great!). With a few tweaks, I could see this working on the latest Just Dance releases.

Hey Ya, Hey Ya...

Now we get to the song menu. First off, the store’s servers have been discontinued, but the button is still there, a relic of times past. The tracks are followed by a Non-Stop Shuffle (a long-lasting mode in the franchise), as well as special Solo and Duet Medley modes, which play similar to the mode in Dance Battle.

Even the menus change a lot between installments.

One glaring absence here: Aside from the three contest-winning choreographies, there are no alternate dances for the songs here. This began in JD3, and hindsight gives the impression that something’s direly missing. What we don’t miss from the earliest titles, though: The chronometer that you can set to play the full song or only a third of it – yet another unnecessary feature, gone by the sequel. Each song also has a Physic and Technic rating that determines how much of a workout and how complex the choreography is, respectively; that feature would be gone a few installments later. The final element to disappear later down the line is the option to sort the tracks in a different order (original, alphabetical, by current highest score, by technic or physic rating, or picking only the duets).

The worst thing about the game? When you play a Duet, you cannot even select which choreography you’d like to do. You’re immediately assigned the left one, and whoever has the second remote is assigned the other. Seriously? Nobody in development thought that players might like to choose which side they want to play? What an oversight!

Oh, you wanted to play the yellow shirt guy?
Nope, too bad for you! Come back when you
have a P2 you can have the first Wiimote to!

When I Grow Up: I may hate the song but I do
appreciate the style and changes in the
choreography itself.

Final verdict? It’s only the second game in the series, and it shows – still severely unpolished in places (the issue I just described being a major example) and figuring out its identity. A lot of elements here are not needed, and would quietly exit in the following installments. But not everything here is to be ditched; I could see the Dance Battle mode making a comeback, as an example, for players seeking a more party-like experience. And although I can’t say I like every song on the roster, most choices here are logical, safe dance picks (barring a few odder choices) for the then still-nascent franchise that needed to have heavy hitters, proper bangers, to advertise itself on.

Moving on to…

Just Dance 4

I don’t like to use the “night and day” metaphor too often, but two years made a world of difference. Whereas JD2 was still, in my opinion, searching itself, JD4 gives the impression that the pieces had fallen into place. Perhaps not all of them, but Ubisoft was on its way to perfecting the formula. (You could say, “So they could re-pump it out every year with new songs”, and I’d agree, but that’s a different issue altogether.)

These games are, notably, the only time I ever
had enjoyment from hearing One Direction.

Compared to JD2, this menu looks... slick.

As a matter of fact, since I've covered the games in the franchise that directly preceded and followed it (JD3 & JD2014), this one actually feels… transitional, in a way. Many of the more cumbersome and unnecessary features from the original three Just Dance games have been removed or improved. The physic and technic ratings are gone, replaced by a simple difficulty rating. Duets and Dance Crews (the latter introduced in JD3) are aplenty, with a lot of alternate choreographies.

Extreme versions are more energetic, and much
more technical, dances on tracks that already
have main choreographies.

This game marks the first proper appearance of Extreme variants for songs in the series (there was one in JD3, but you had to use a cheat code to unlock it), Battle/VS variants (I still dislike those but they’re tolerable) and Dances “with a prop” (meaning you have to treat the Wii remote like it’s an object – a katana or an umbrella, as an example). Choreography mashups return (I still love those). Alternate versions, where applicable, are available by pressing Up on a song, and those extras are unlocked through a Mojo Meter that increases with every star you earn by playing stages.

Yet again, the store is defunct.

Sweating to excellent music

This edition has one of my favorite rosters of songs in the entire series, just surpassed by its two direct sequels, the 2014 and 2015 editions. Let me make a quick list of songs/levels I enjoy here:

Uh-Rock, Lob-Ster!

-“Good Feeling” by Flo Rida;

-“Rock Lobster” by the B-52’s;

-“Disturbia” by Rihanna;

-“On the Floor” by Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull;

-“Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley (yeah, it’s because of the meme, but the choreography is enjoyable too);

-“Livin’ la Vida Loca” by Ricky Martin;

-“The Final Countdown” by Europe;

-“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valli (Boys Town Gang);

-“Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” by They Might Be Giants;

-“Superstition” by Stevie Wonder;

-“Umbrella” by Rihanna ft. Jay-Z…

...All 4 players? Great, I need three friends
to help me beat this game now.

My favorite addition to the series, and one I wished would come back, is the Achievements, here called Dance Quests. Classic goals such as scoring three or five stars on a song, getting a certain type of “dance style” in the post-song screen (ex. get “Twins”, meaning an identical score and fails at roughly the same time, for a Duet), get a high score in an Alternate version, get a “Good” or better on precise moves… If you aim to get them all, there’s even more replayability here than there was at merely trying to score 5 stars on every song. Only a shame that some of these Quests require extra players (ex. Play a Dance Crew with a full party of 4, with everyone scoring 3 stars or better).

I'll admit I rarely paid attention to Just Sweat
modes, but this one is definitely one of the
standout versions.

Yet again, the Just Sweat mode has been reworked, and it may be my favorite iteration, though it promises some intense dance sessions. You can choose between 5 different thematic sequences, 4 of which can be unlocked through the levels gained with Mojo Points. The themes are stuff like Aerobics in Space (to ‘80s pop music) or Cheerleaders Boot Camp (featuring mainly punk rock). On start, you choose to play for an approximate duration of time: 10, 25 or 45 minutes.

And since the focus here is on the workout, there is no need to worry about scores and such; however, your intensity is tracked with a meter at the top of the screen, going along to moves that are either quicker or slower, and the goal this time is to adjust your own intensity to fit with the sweat drops in the meter, which are the “stars” in this mode. The sequence will always begin with a warm-up, close on a cool-down, and have some more standard exercises between regular songs, with the mix lasting roughly around the duration you’ve selected. I didn’t know Just Dance tracked your intensity, the speed of your moves and your apparent energy… hey, guess we learn every day.

Istanbul is one of my favorite levels. What a weird
but valid way to discover They Might Be Giants!

So yeah, in short, it’s impressive to see just how much JD changed from its second to its fourth installment. The franchise had found its stride and settled into its look and feel, and now only had to further build from there. The next year’s installment, JD2014, would introduce the World Dance Floor, adding an online multiplayer mode.

Dancing while there's a kaiju behind you?
To "Never Gonna Give You Up", at that?

Yeah, I don’t know if there’s anything I can actually add to this franchise now. Short of reviewing the very first game… or the 2020 edition, the very last released for the Wii. Eh… I think I’ve done what I could. Just Dance 2 you can skip, but Just Dance 4 is great, I recommend that one. I’ve heard that JD2023, released very recently, is just an empty Switch box with a download code instead of a cartridge… which is bullcrap on Ubisoft’s part, but whatever, that’s not for any console I currently have.

(Look at that, who wants to bet I’ll have a Switch before next Christmas?)

Anyhow, this is all for this year. Have a good end of 2022, happy Holidays, see you in 2023 as usual for my recap of this year and whatever else I’m planning for that upcoming year. See you then.