Break out your dancing shoes
Just Dance is a franchise I haven’t touched since I was a young kid flailing around like a tube man at family Christmas parties. Dancing games are something I usually avoid outside of arcades, but this review felt like an opportunity to check in on a franchise I’d long lost touch with. As it turns out, Just Dance 2022 is a pretty fun time for those looking to keep active at home. It’s also an opportunity to get laughed at by your family members for your general lack of dancing skills.
Just Dance is a franchise that takes after Electronic Arts’ FIFA, in that it only takes one trip to YouTube to see that this year’s entry hasn’t evolved much beyond last year’s. To be fair, you don’t pick up a new Just Dance game for massive innovation - but it would be nice. You do
it for the new songs, new choreography and new stages. This being my first Just Dance game in years, I thankfully went into it with zero franchise fatigue and could approach it as if it were all-new from the ground up. Returning players from Just Dance 2021 will not be able to say the same.
Just Dance 2022 is a dancing game, populated with a selection of modern mainstream hits designed to get you moving even if you’re not a fan of the artists behind them. I’m awful at keeping up with the Top 40s, but even I recognised some of these tunes, like K/DA’s POP/ STARS and Doja Cat’s creatively censored Boss ‘Witch’. I say creatively, because the song now comes with spooky Halloween witchy visuals, and I honestly consider that a slight upgrade from the original.
All this is to say that you will have zero issue finding a recognisable tune to dance along to, and the remaining few that I didn’t recognise were still a lot of fun to discover. Even without the introduction of new game modes, there were plenty of ways for me to throw down with variety. The game’s co-op mode is a lot of fun with friends (and incredibly reluctant family members), especially since competition is thrown out of the window and you’re just working together for a high score. Quickplay introduces a randomised playlist in case you don’t feel like picking a song, and World Dance Floor pits you against other online players with similar skill levels.
I’ll admit I used World Dance Floor the least, if only because I prefer dancing with as little antagonism involved as possible, but I’m sure Just Dance veterans will appreciate the opportunity to show off their skills to other
DOESN’T BREAK NEW GROUND, BUT JUST AS FUN AS EVER.
players. There’s also a Sweat Mode which seems perfect for those of us still working from home and looking to get
some exercise in without going outside. This mode tracks the time you spend dancing and the calories burnt while doing so. It’s certainly a good motivator to keep you coming back for more.
The songs themselves aren’t as important as their in-game choreography, and thankfully most of these moves are super fun to play through. There’s a wide range of dance styles covered here, so it rarely feels repetitive bouncing from one song to another. Different difficulties are covered as well, so you could be having a nice easy-breezy time hopping about to Imagine Dragons and then pitying the fools carving away at the Korean music industry within two minutes of a K-pop song. The skill. The talent. I am traumatised. Still, it’s a lot of fun learning new dances, and immensely satisfying when you manage to nail down a tricky move. Just Dance 2022 isn’t too difficult to master however, as I noticed that I could flop about terribly in a song and still be awarded a decent score for my effort.
And now we’ve arrived at my biggest bone to pick with Just Dance 2022 - its subscription service. This year’s entry has 40 new songs, which already feels like a small amount to dance to until Ubisoft starts advertising Just Dance Unlimited, a subscription service that unlocks access to over 700 songs. 700!
Everywhere you go, you’re constantly reminded that this service exists, and you’re missing out on a massive amount of content by not forking over extra money to subscribe, and it’s even worse with friends, when you have to admit that they can’t play certain songs because you haven’t paid for a subscription.
If you view this as the occasionally fun party game for having friends over however, it’ll do just fine.