The Just Dance series waltzed onto the gaming scene years ago, becoming an unexpected smash hit, particularly for Nintendo Wii owners. Continuing this impressive streak of success on the console, Just Dance 4 arrived, promising more motion-controlled musical fun. As someone who isn’t naturally drawn to dance games, I made it my mission to thoroughly review Just Dance 4. Fair warning: my dance skills are more “dad dancing” than professional mover.
Just Dance 4 welcomes you with a surprisingly sleek and user-friendly interface. Navigating the game is a breeze: you simply choose between “Just Dance” mode for pure dancing or “Just Sweat” for a workout, and then pick your song from the readily available list. While it might be a straightforward menu system, it’s undeniably polished and intuitive, ensuring anyone can jump in and start dancing without frustration.
Once you’ve selected your mode and track, the screen displays a dancer silhouette, clearly indicating the hand you should use to hold your Wii Remote with a highlighted color. As the on-screen dancer begins their routine, your task is to mirror their movements as accurately as possible. Helpful icons appear in the lower left corner, illustrating the fundamental motion of the upcoming move. While this might seem redundant at first glance, these visual cues provide valuable advance notice, allowing you to prepare for the next step.
I’ll admit, judging the motion tracking accuracy of Just Dance 4 with expert precision is beyond my capabilities. However, after spending a good amount of time playing, I brought in reinforcements – my friends – to get a better perspective. Unsurprisingly, those with more natural rhythm and less “movement-challenged” than myself consistently achieved scores more than double mine. But the real takeaway? Everyone was genuinely having a blast. Despite the inherent silliness of flailing around trying to match dance moves in your living room, the room was filled with laughter and good vibes.
Just Dance 4’s scoring system feels almost like an afterthought. While you do earn rewards for performing well, the core of the game isn’t about perfect scores, but about pure enjoyment. It’s not immediately obvious how to improve if you’re struggling, other than simply trying harder to mimic the on-screen dancer. The absence of a dedicated tutorial mode or beginner-friendly settings feels like a missed opportunity, especially for rhythmically-challenged players like myself. Personally, a training mode to grasp basic dance steps would have been greatly appreciated, particularly when my wife pointed out that even some “easy” songs required dance steps I wasn’t familiar with. Ultimately, however, I found immense entertainment in watching my friends genuinely enjoy themselves while I stumbled through the routines. And that’s a hallmark of a truly great party game: fun for everyone regardless of skill level.
Rewards in Just Dance 4 come in the form of “Dance Quests” – achievement-like objectives tied to each song. Completing these quests earns you points to level up your profile. Leveling up triggers a roulette wheel spin, offering rewards such as new songs, remixes of existing tracks, or new workout routines for the “Just Sweat” mode. The song selection itself is wonderfully diverse, featuring a playful mix of quirky classics like “Rock Lobster” by The B-52s and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” by They Might Be Giants, soundtrack staples such as “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing, and contemporary chart-toppers like “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen and “Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj. While a significant portion of the tracklist wasn’t personally my taste, I did discover a handful of songs that were surprisingly fun to dance to, even with my less-than-stellar moves.
For those looking to break a sweat, Just Dance 4 includes the “Just Sweat” workout mode. This mode allows you to dance continuously for a chosen duration, cycling through a mix of high-energy and slower-paced songs. “Just Sweat” offers five distinct workout playlists: ‘80s pop, World Music, Electro Music, Punk Rock, and Classy/’60s pop. All but the “Swinging ‘60s Workout” are available from the outset, with the latter serving as an unlockable reward.
Just Dance 4 clearly caters to a specific audience, and I wouldn’t typically count myself among them. However, I genuinely had a good time with the game, especially once friends joined in. If you have a group of friends who love to dance and aren’t afraid to look a little silly, Just Dance 4 could be the perfect party game for your Nintendo Wii. However, if your idea of a good time is leveling up a mage in an RPG rather than mastering dance steps, then gracefully avoiding this title might be your best move.
