Review: Just Dance 3 (360)

Sometimes I wonder why I'm such a terrible dancer. I have rhythm. I'm not in bad shape. But dance games like Just Dance 3 remind me that it takes more than coordination and a love for catchy pop songs to effectively pop and lock. Fortunately, being good isn't a requirement for enjoying Just Dance 3; besides, the worse you are, the more fun it is for everyone watching you.

This is the first time the game's been made available on Xbox 360, but despite the Kinect's motion sensing controls, things feel pretty similar to previous Wii versions. You dance along with the same motion-capped silouhettes (though they look better than ever in HD). The tracklist (which you can check out most of here) offers a wide-range of catchy pop tunes. And although you're not holding a controller, the game only really seems to track your arm movements.

That last item is my biggest complaint with the game, and it's the same reason I never enjoyed Just Dance as much on Wii: even on the higher difficulty settings, just waving your arms around in a vague approximation of what's happening on-screen will register more perfect moves than giving the game an honest try with some active, sweaty dance moves. When it's easier to cheat and make broad arm movements to keep your score up, rather than to actually dance, what's the incentive to dancing?

In that sense, I prefer Dance Central 2. Harmonix's game feels like a full-body motion tracker; when I have one foot out of line, that game punishes me with a lower score. Just Dance just seems happy that I'm standing up in front of my TV. And the moves (and corresponding dance cards that tell you what to expect), are nowhere near as consistent or easy to anticipate as Dance Central's. That's partly because Just Dance's choeography is more varied, but it's also because the game doesn't telegraph your next move very well. In Dance Central, once you've got most of the moves down, you can glance at what's coming up next in preparation and know what to expect. In Just Dance, you're going to have to go through the song a time or two before you really know what's going on.

However, when I play Just Dance with multiple people, it approaches Rock Band levels of fun. The four-person choreography in certain songs, even if the scoring never feels entirely accurate, is an amazing way to loosen up a group. As long as you have the living room space and some willing friends, the familiar tracks and attractive visuals beat out Dance Central as a game to trot out at parties for your non-Kinect owning friends. It may not earn you a higher score, but dancing with other people just makes you more inclined to try and match what you see on-screen. And the lack of a controller makes you feel like everything you're doing corresponds one-for-one with what you see on-screen.
Review: Just Dance 3 (360/PS3)

I'm far less-inclined to play Just Dance on my own, and even the recording features, while nifty, don't feel quite as helpful for learning songs as Dance Central's tutorials. And I don't have any interest in recording my own dances to share with friends (though that option's there). But Just Dance's setlist presents the most fun and approachable of any other dance game today. And the multiplayer modes, especially the four-person independent choreography, is infectious (even if your actual moves and score aren't terribly important). While I think of Dance Central as a better video game (and Just Dance doesn't come close to matching the game's choreography tracking) I'd still rather play Just Dance whenever I have friends over.