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Just Dance 2021 Review

Just Dance 2021

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Release: November 12, 2020
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Genre: Switch ReviewsXBox One Reviews
PEGI: E
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OUR SCORE

Worth a Play About Rating
           
 
7 - Gameplay
          
 
7 - Video
          
 
10 - Audio
          
 

There are certain things we can rely on in life to have an annual release, Things like the Shamrock shake at McDonald’s, or they claymation Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special during the holidays. Just Dance has been in that same category since it’s inception over a decade ago. With its infectious song lists bright colors and fancy unique choreography Just Dance has always been a fun time for all.

While this year is the first time the game isn’t released on the Nintendo Wii (yep it officially happened) the fun keeps chugging along even though we didn’t get our annual dance number during E3 (screw you Covid). Now to be completely transparent though, and unless you haven’t followed this series in a little bit, the game really hasn’t changed at all. Why mess with a good thing, each year the new version comes out with the same features (mostly) and just an updated tracklist. The lineup for this year is:

In the Navy by Village People
Señorita by Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello
Feel Special by TWICE
Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa
Dance Monkey by Tones and I
Que Tire Pa Lante by Daddy Yankee
Juice by Lizzo
Temperature by Sean Paul
​all the good girls go to hell by Billie Eilish
Heat Seeker by DREAMERS
ZENIT by ONUKA
Boy, You Can Keep It by Alex Newell
Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
Till the World Ends by Britney Spears
Samba De Janeiro by Bellini (group)
Dibby Dibby Sound by DJ Fresh (UK) (Ft. Jay Fay & Ms. Dynamite)
Runaway (U & I) by Galantis
Bailando by Paradisio
The Weekend by Michael Gray (Ft. Shèna)
Without Me by Eminem
Buscando by Good Times Ahead & Jenn Morel
Get Get Down by Paul Johnson
You’ve Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman
Yameen Yasar by DJ Absi (Ft. Kurupt Tha Killa)
UNO by Little Big
Georgia by Tiggs Da Author
Alexandrie, Alexandra by Claude François
Jooneh Khodet by Black Cats
Kulikitaka by Toño Rosario
Magenta Riddim by DJ Snake
Volar by Lele Pons (Ft. Susan Díaz & Víctor Cárdenas)
YO LE LLEGO by J Balvin & Bad Bunny
Paca Dance by The Just Dance Band
Lacrimosa by Apashe
Ice Cream by BLACKPINK & Selena Gomez
Adore You by Harry Styles
Say So by Doja Cat
Rain On Me by Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
Kick It by NCT 127
The Other Side by SZA & Justin Timberlake
Rare by Selena Gomez
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The song selection spans a wide variety of music generations but is very skewed towards the Tik Tok kids, which makes A LOT of sense, to be honest. They are the ones singing and dancing all the time anyway but overall I knew most of the songs listed here and it’s a pretty good selection I must say. The game remains easily accessible by all and really folks of any age can play and follow along with what you have to do here. Grab your joycon or cell phone and mimic the movements of your character on screen. Easy as that. The game also remains a great workout/Zumba option for folks who really get into it. I made myself break into a sweat a few times while getting my Just Dance on, and there isn’t anything wrong with that!
The biggest and most major complaint is Just Dance Unlimited. If you aren’t familiar it’s their subscription service which gives you access to basically every song on Just Dance EVER. You can buy access for a day, week, month, year, whatever but the issue is you don’t get to keep them. When your sub is out you no longer have access. I’d really rather pay a one-time fee and always have access but listen, there are a lot of songs on there so I get it that’s fine music licensing isn’t cheap either. BUT the way the game flaunts all the songs you can’t play over and over again makes it feel like a microtransaction ridden hell that rivals even the BEST of EA games. After each song, they recommend other songs you might like, most of which are locked. I get they are trying to push the subscription model, but it is really in your face.
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Just Dance remains a reliable consistent game and is a lot of fun to both play and watch, however, I fear that if they continue on this road of pushing transactions and not changing anything year after year, it’s going to eventually fall away like Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the like.
 

Article By

blank Kevin Austin has been in gaming journalism in one way or another since the launch of the Nintendo Gamecube. Married and father of 3 children he has been gaming since the ripe age of 6 when he got his first NES system and over 30 years later he is still gaming almost daily. Kevin is also co-founder of the Play Some Video Games (PSVG) Podcast network which was founded over five years ago and is still going strong. Some of his favorite gaming series includes Fallout and Far Cry, he is a sucker for single player adventure games (hence his big reviews for Playstation), and can frequently be found getting down in one battle royale or another. If it's an oddball game, odds are he's all about it.

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