Just Dance 3 – Review – Xbox 360 Kinect

Motion gaming has been the pivotal turning point for rhythm based games. Games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band hit a point where there was no where left to go. They were great games that allowed your fingers to match the beat of a song, but year after year it was always the same and required quite a lot of learning for first timers before you could really play. However, there was another form of rhythm that everyone could get involved with and all they needed was their body.

Apart from a standalone attachment for an older game called DDR, The Nintendo Wii brought dancing to the home consoles and allowed anyone, who was willing, to dance. Just Dance from Ubisoft quickly became a popular title on the Wii. It was closely followed by a sequel with new songs but you always felt attached to something. That something was the Wiimote that had to be held in one hand while you played so it could track your motion. Then Kinect for Xbox 360 came along allowing full body motion tracking, which for dancing, is perfect because it gives full control to the player’s body when mimicking dance moves. With the release of Just Dance 3 for Xbox 360, the need for a handheld accessory to track motion is eliminated giving players full freedom to dance how they want.

It’s been one year since Kinect launched and with it a game called Dance Central. It provided the most fun on Kinect even for those that didn’t know how to dance. Now with the release of Just Dance 3, I was excited to see how much the dancing genre could improve and what Ubisoft could do now that players have full control. It would be hard not to compare these two titles to each other.

Gameplay: One thing that Dance Central is known for is the extended arm swipe controls for the menus. It was very fluent, easier and faster than the little hand. In Just Dance 3, this same control mechanic is used; however, I find it is too sensitive. Any movement of hand or arm from the right side of your body and inwards will activate the forward option; left swipe in for back. Whereas with Dance Central, you had to do a quick swipe from right to left and anything slower or partial would not activate the option. Same thing happens when choosing the difficulty which is done by raising your hand above your head. Almost always, especially with multiple players, raising your hand above your head to choose difficulty can result in premature continuation because of all the movement and the fact that the game tracks anyone in the playspace at all times. In other words, there is a lot of frustration before you even begin playing.

Frustrating menu system aside, the dancing is what the game is all about. Dancing, although not something I do outside of the game, is fun, but unfortunately, the difficulty system is flawed. There is no “easy” section for songs to start out with and choosing easy before a song makes no difference with the dance moves compared to normal. I believe the only difference this selection makes is the way the game tracks your motion. Easy tracks one hand, just like a Wiimote and your chest for body rotation and movement. Normal tracks your full skeletal structure so hands, arms, legs and chest are all tracked so keeping up and matching the dance is crucial. The choreography for each song is very well done but, compared to something like Dance Central which dumbs down the moves for each difficulty setting, I found myself stumbling a lot trying to succeed in each song. I managed to range between 3-5 stars for each song and it was fun but not very user friendly for new players. Luckily there is a coaching section that allows you to take it slow and learn the dances at your own pace. So compared to Dance Central, there can be a much steeper learning curve which is reminiscent of Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

One of the really exciting features about Just Dance 3 is the new freestyle mode. Now players can choose a song and choreograph a dance for their friends to dance to. Basically the game records an overlayed video of you dancing to the song and when saved, it can either be played back on your console or sent to friends. It works surprisingly well and was quite a hit with my sister who loves to dance.

Apart from the main dance and freestyle modes, players can unlock new songs, challenges and mini games with mojo – essentially the amount of stars you earn per song to unlock new content.

Multiplayer: Just Dance 3 is also really great for parties. Up to 4 players can hop in and play at once which each person being tracked and separate points for each are tallied. Some songs are made specifically for 4 players while some are made for only 2 players, but you aren’t required to stick to those numbers. Support for 4 players is great and all but it presents two major problems. One is space. The game suggests players to stagger their position while playing so that two players are in front while two are slightly behind but to the side. With this, the second problem arises. Tracking. For the most part, the game does a surprisingly good job of simultaneously tracking 4 players at once; however, turning sideways, in a circle or going behind another player will result in a temporary loss in detection which causes a loss in score for that move. For those that are competitive, this is a major problem, but if you are just looking to have fun and dance with friends with score being secondary, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Graphics/Audio: Just Dance 3 features bright, colourful and cartoony scenes while the on-screen dancers are seemingly real people fitted with colourful and crazy clothing to match the theme. In freestyle mode, the game records a video of you and puts a colourful overlay on your video to again, fit the theme of the song.

There are over 40 songs in the game ranging from classics in the rock, pop, hip hop genre to modern mainstream pop, dance and other popular genres. Basically, there is at least one song for everyone to enjoy.

Overall: In the end, Just Dance 3 is a great addition to the Kinect library with a new range of songs, choreography and modes not present in Dance Central, but compared to Dance Central, Just Dance 3 has a much steeper learning curve. The menu system and flawed difficulty can be a little frustrating but with over 40 songs and various modes that allow 4 player co-op, Just Dance 3 provides a lot of fun for those that love to dance or even those who are willing to just give it a shot.

Overall Score: 6/10

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