Just Dance 3 (Wii) Review

The answer comes with the question - do you like to dance? Even if you have a small, itching sensation trickling down your legs whilst watching club goers do their thing, Just Dance 3 makes approaching the medium far more accessible than those dance mats - instead of tapping out specific routines with your feet, it's up to your paws to do the talking. With Wii Remote held tight, players mimic the on-screen avatar; usually a rather voluptuous woman or street-loving chap. He or she swing their arms about, gyrate, hop and bop to various songs. There are action prompts that shuffle about on screen, but generally it's a free-for-all experience and up to you how much you attempt, with points rewarded for accurate positioning and timing.

With the simpler tunes, it's fairly easy to rack up the points and perfects, even for a bumbling computer-slave with two left feet. Granted, it's only measuring your arms - and just one for that matter - so you could get away with sitting on the couch with a burger in one hand, waving the Wii Remote in the other, but the concept is intended to be as accessible as possible. You simply can't fail. Can't quite work out those moves? Take a breather and try again. It's almost like the practice mode in Guitar Hero, or playing a fighting game with both players set to invincible.

The recognition this time round feels far more accurate than our Just Dance 2 encounter. In the previous game we found there to be niggles in how the game picked up the Wii Remote; we'd swear on our sparkly dancing shoes that our hands were swooping into the right position, yet the game would slap a large, unsightly cross, a big, menacing zero, next to our points meter. In Just Dance 3, the experience is far smoother and more enjoyable - the stream of points heading our way is far more consistent this time around. Getting the moves right for the sheer thrill of it comes with the varied routines on offer - while some dance moves are shared between songs, the majority of songs have their own specific choreography that each ooze their own distinctive personality - something that sets Just Dance 3 from its contemporaries. It offers a far more refined and polished experience from past entries.

Price Tag sees you bursting with feminine attitude just as artist Jessie J dictates, whilst Katy Perry's California Gurls finds players using their curves and gyrating their hips like Shakira after too much sugar. Hip swaying routines aside, there are plenty of styles and routines to satisfy every guilty pleasure. Club classic Da Funk and the super-repetitive, yet catchy, Barbra Streisand are almost guaranteed to get those closet dancers at least merrily foot-tapping away. These tracks are all complemented by vibrant and relevant backgrounds - flashing neon lights, stylised exotic and glamorous settings that, although not too different from past entries, bust with rich detail and offer something interesting to gawp at whilst trying to score the big points.

Many games within the rhythm/music genre have some kind of solo campaign mode, yet Just Dance 3 opts to do away with all that and focus on getting stuck in from the moment the Ubisoft logo fades away. That said, there are a handful of unlockables and a basic achievement system, granting you bronze, silver or gold based on a rather random list of goals: completing certain dances, styles or genres. These grant you access to various new songs and a handful of unlockable tunes to boost your Just Dance 3 jukebox. There is, of course, a growing amount of DLC on the virtual Ubisoft airwaves, but unfortunately Just Dance 2 additions can't be accessed or bought.

Whilst going at it alone is fine - and not as awkward as dancing solo in a club - the core setup demands multiplayer. There are specific routines for up to four players this time, seeing you slide to one another, playing a macho bloke or ditzy lass and, opening up the potential to become the focus of tomorrow’s most "liked" video on your social networking hub. If you were to spend a moment trying it solo, the included Just Sweat feature makes a welcome return, allowing players to rack up a profile of exercise over a seven day period. Each tune comes with its own difficulty, but also a score to sweat up to if you expect to burn calories. To mix it up there are several set-lists available. If you desire only 80’s hits or can’t stand anything but contemporary beats, there are neat new options to explore during your workouts. This mode has greater depth than the past Just Dance games, but once the novelty wears thin it's hard to keep following these workout routines; but at least it gives the experience that extra purpose.

Aside from that, there isn't much else to strive for in Just Dance 3. One of the main complaints we had with previous entries, and likewise Ubisoft's other dance games like Michael Jackson: The Experience, was the lack of instruction and tutorials for those who do want to learn some of the more sophisticated arm jiggles and leg twirls. The more recent dance-offs have included basic videos, yet no way of slowing down the action and practice. Just Dance 3 follows the same routine and unfortunately doesn't offer any means of slowing down the tempo for those keen to learn.