Just Dance 4 Review

Just Dance 4 is the latest instalment in Ubisoft’s Just Dance series, bringing more than 40 tracks for players to dance along to. This review focuses on the Xbox 360 version of Just Dance 4, which utilises Microsoft’s Kinect technology to track the players every movement as they dance along to their favourite songs.

One of the best things about Just Dance 4 is the way that it did not feel like a port on Kinect, as it made sole use of Kinect as the game’s controller. The decision to block out the handheld controller makes perfect sense when you consider  that Kinect is required to play the game, as it ensures constant control switches do not retract from the game experience. If anything, the only issue with the game’s move away from handheld controls is the potential confusion that will follow as players no doubt spend a few moments wondering why the controller won’t work.

Tracking itself has seen a fair improvement, as the game responds a lot better than it’s predecessor with both dancing and menu interactions. This is great if you’re good at the game, as you’ll feel less robbed of your perfect score, but not so great if you’re bad, as you are provided with a bug fat reality kick.

The artistic style of Just Dance game’s has never failed to impressive, and Just Dance 4 makes no exception to this rule. The game does well to maintain its cool silhouetted presentation, whilst presenting unique imagery for each song that ensured a player will get into the right mood. Even the silhouetted characters (with the exception of the super hero playing Rick Astley) seem to match the artists they have been positioned to represent, providing a recognisable theme throughout.

Straight  off the bat, It’s clear that Ubisoft have gone the extra mile to ensure the visual presentation used throughout the game’s menus suit a kinect enviroenment, as  buttons and carousels provide easy navigation, whilst bright colours and stand out themes ensure the game remains a treat to look at. As mentioned previously, it’s features like these that really make it feel like Ubisoft have taken the time to consider each  console environment the game will sit in.

The track list for Just Dance 4 is a bit of a treat, boasting more than 40 songs for players go dance around alone, or in groups to. The game brings together the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe with Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up – because everyone loves a group RickRoll! As before, the game’s tracks have been selected from a range of decades, ensuring that there is something for everyone right off the bat.

Alongside the standard track list, Just Dance 4 caters for the fitness freaks out there with its ”sweat mode”. The sweat mode feature in Just Dance 4 returns in a much bigger way, as players are now presented with a dedicated sweat mode menu that allows them to select a music genre that best suits their workout needs.  These genre selection is great, but does unfortunately see the game’s continuous mode scrapped in their favour.

Overall Just Dance 4 is a great addition to the series, especially for players on Xbox Kinect. Everything from the game’s tracklist to its visual presentation allow for a guaranteed fun time, whether you’re playing alone, or at a party with friends.

8/10