Big budget projects, big names for the occasion, prominent game designers and famous protagonists? No, what the Wii user wants is only one thing: dancing. Or at least that's what it might have looked like looking at the Nintendo console game sales chart about a year ago, with Ubisoft's Just Dance being taken lightly as if it were yet another casual supermarket basket title, and instead capable of enter the homes of some 4 million and pass users while maintaining the first places in the sales charts for months. No less important is the fact that the Ubisoft production has given birth to a new genre, destined in all probability to expand and evolve on all platforms, even more so in the face of the casual turn that Move and Kinect have brought in recent months.
With flared trousers
It is normal and obvious that gamers who like to call themselves "serious", and who entered the world of electronic entertainment a little earlier than the day before yesterday, look at a phenomenon like Just Dance with disdain and snobbery. A game where do you dance? Unacceptable, the real gamer does not dance. He stands motionless on the sofa, pad in hand, at most some smug expression in front of his own ability. And no game over even looking for it with a light? A real affront that is not even worth commenting, after years spent dodging bullets by eliminating the final boss at the 156th attempt. Yet those who base their beliefs on these assumptions are likely to lose something. Because the market has evolved, it has changed, and new genres have been born that if it is true that on the one hand they have opened the doors to a tide of titles of questionable quality and without art or part, on the other they have still allowed programmers and quality designers to create valid and above all fun productions. And Just Dance, and therefore also this sequel Just Dance 2 they are above all this: funny, and quite a lot too. The fulcrum lies in the very simple concept of following the choreography of a silhouette on the screen that dances to the notes of dozens of more or less recent pop and dance songs; a bit as if we were in front of the mirror, with the only difference that reflected there is a sort of Heather Parisi (or male equivalent) of the best times, while the player tries to run after her mimicking more or less awkwardly steps and movements from Saturday night Fever. This might be enough to have a few laughs alone, but it is obvious that such a game literally explodes into multiplayer, with up to 4 players ready to make a fool of themselves in the same living room.
And, aware of the fact that sharing shame with friends is more beautiful, the hilarious duets have been introduced for this second chapter; in summary, 11 of the 44 songs on the disc have a choreography made specifically for two dancers, who interact with each other during the performance. A very welcome novelty, which is certainly not the only one of a sequel that does not appear as a simple data disk with new songs; although the gameplay has remained almost unchanged - even in a rather obvious way given the success collected in the first place -, additions such as the online store to download new songs become fundamental to guarantee the product a broader breath in the long term. Currently populated by only a few dozen songs that can be purchased, the store will hopefully increase its size thus becoming a fundamental resource for Just Dance 2. Not that the Ubisoft production is missing the contents on disk, mind you; on the contrary, the 44 songs all immediately available are already a good number, and above all they offer a variety of artists and songs capable of satisfying anyone's tastes (obviously always within the pop field). A drawback in this sense can be found in the fact that not all songs are original, but on the contrary there are several covers of rather fluctuating quality. On the other hand, what is difficult to criticize is the goodness of the choreographies, different for each single reason and impeccably made by real dancers from whom the silhouettes were then drawn. It is clear, however, that Just Dance 2 it is not an accurate simulation or a precise didactic tool for learning to dance, but rather a "light" product to be taken simply as a source of carefree fun, preferably with friends. An obligatory premise in the face of the movement detection system, certainly not very refined nor flawless, simply resting on the feedback of the Wiimote only held in the right hand of each user.
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It is not a blasphemy: Just Dance 2 is one of the best casual party games available on Nintendo Wii. Ubisoft has in fact succeeded in the enterprise of giving life to a product with instantly understandable mechanics, and at the same time incredibly fun especially inserted in the multiplayer context. Just like that Wii Sports that formed the cornerstone of the success of the Nintendo console, so too Just Dance 2 it is successful in being able to propose a formula that can be used immediately even by those who have never played video games in their life, while at the same time being sensationally fun even for veterans of the "profession". As long as you agree to get rid of a bit of the stench under your nose, of course.
PRO
- Fun and cool
- Duets and the online shop are two excellent news
- Robust and varied tracklist
- Covers aren't always well done
- Approximate motion detection
La tracklist
1. Avril Lavigne - "Girlfriend"
2. Bangles - "Walk Like An Egyptian"
3. Beastie Boys - "Body Movin' (Fatboy Slim Remix)"
4. Benny Benassi presents "The Biz" - "Satisfaction"
5. Blondie - "Call Me"
6. Bollywood - "Katti Kalandal"
7. Boney M. - "Rasputin"
8. Charleston - "Mugsy Baloney"
9. Cher - "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)"
10. Digitalism - "Idealistic"
11. Donna Summer- "Hot Stuff"
12. Elvis Presley - "Viva Las Vegas"
13. Fatboy Slim - "Rockafeller Skank"
14. Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out"
15. Harry Belafonte - "Jump In The Line"
16. Ike & Tina Turner - "Proud Mary"
17. James Brown- "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
18. Jamiroquai - "Cosmic Girl"
19. Junior Senior - "Move Your Feet"
20. Justice - "D.A.N.C.E."
21. Ke$ha - "TiKToK"
22. Mardi Gras-"Iko Iko"
23. Marine Band - "Sway (Who Will Be)"
24. MIKA - "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)"
25. Outkast - "Hey Ya!"
26. Quincy Jones & His Orchestra - "Soul Bossa Nova"
27. Reggaeton - "Baby Girl"
28. Rihanna - "S.O.S."
29. Snap! - "The Power"
30. Sorcerer - "Dagomba"
31. Studio Allstars - "Jump"
32. Studio Musicians - "Crazy In Love"
33. Studio Musicians - "Jungle Boogie"
34. Supergrass - "Alright"
35. The Frighteners - "Monster Mash"
36. The Hit Crew - "Holiday"
37. The Hit Crew - "Toxic"
38. The Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
39. The Pussycat Dolls - "When I Grow Up"
40. The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil (Fatboy Slim Remix)"
41. The Ting Tings - "That's Not My Name"
42. The Weather Girls - "It's Raining Men"
43. Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
44. Wham! - "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go"
