The latest entry in Ubisoft’s dance craze is here… or at least it’s supposed to be. Just Dance 2024 Edition which just came out with its latest slick choreography and music lineup, boasts a whopping 40+ tracks right off the bat and much like its previous entry, it showers its fans with the same love and passion that it just feels like I’m playing the same old game from last year which is by no means meant in a bad way.
However, what really makes Just Dance 2024 a bit too familiar is its running on the back foot of its predecessor because, unlike previous entries in the franchise, Just Dance 2023 and 2024 feel like a merged experience on a persistent online platform. And as a huge fan of music-rhythm games, it just feels like a natural progression for games in this genre to take this approach sooner or later.
Because after owning every title from the Hatsune Miku: Project Diva series it just feels like I spend more time swapping applications around than actually playing when I want to play songs that aren’t included in the current version I’m using. For the current and future titles for Just Dance, it just feels like a step in the right direction. However, because it’s running on the same but updated software as last year’s, it’s no surprise that it also brought some of its shortcomings as well but more on that later.
Don’t think, JUST DANCE!
The Just Dance franchise has seen countless iterations ever since it came out back in 2009 and over the years, it has made a lot of improvements and upgrades from its visuals to its overall player experience. This year though, mankind isn’t making any major leaps to surprise you. Just about everyone has heard of people landing on the moon and much like Just Dance, there are not a lot of new things to expect here.
Because if it isn’t broken, well, you already know how that saying goes. Where Just Dance shines though is its lineup and choreography that hasn’t skipped a beat ever since we’ve gotten a taste of what last year had to offer.
Over 40 unique and varied tracks are included in the 2024 edition which just about anyone can at least find something to dance into. From pop culture favourites like Butter from BTS which even has its regular and extreme version to boot to the zany and erratic coaches dancing to “Makeba” and “My Name Is” which really just shows how it can solidify itself as a pretty fun and accessible party game for just about any age or skill level.
The level of detail in its stages and the elements included in each one is also spot on. Fall Out Boy’s I Am My Own Muse for example opens up the stage to a picture of Rasputin and her bride getting shattered in half before dropping you into a dark and empty wedding hall where he dances haphazardly. This, followed by a couple of stage swaps later just makes you much more invested not just on the dancing but really more on the kind of lore it’s trying to create across its multiple tracks.
Since as it turns out, 2023’s Sweet but Psycho from Ava Max has the bride dancing solo on the very same stages but not before they got together in 2019’s Sugar by Maroon 5.
JUST issues, JUST errors!
Just Dance 2024 Edition is a pretty fun game but where it kind of drops the ball here is when the game starts becoming more like a chore. I love the idea of the game being in a shared environment across multiple titles and I will love it even more as newer versions of the game come out in the following years. However, its live service approach where you’re forced to have an active online connection to their servers just ruins it for me.
As someone who plays it on the Nintendo Switch, the thought of needing to be connected to the internet at all times to even play the game seems awful. More than anything, I treat this as a party game that I can just bust out every once in a while, and in places that may or may not have good access to the internet.
This doesn’t help its cause when the Nintendo Switch itself isn’t exactly known for having great connections to anything. Downloading pretty much anything takes quite a while when on my PlayStation or PC, that would’ve been done in a minute or two. But why am I saying this? Well, as it turns out, there are quite a few instances where I would constantly get into problems connecting to the servers which becomes so annoying to even start anything.
Starting a song, although not often, would also take quite a bit of time while syncing progress with the servers after each song concludes has a lot of connection timeout errors forcing you to resync to be able to save your progress.
But in a less dreary sort of news, Just Dance 2024 Edition introduces a new way for players to compete with each other. We’ve got World and Friend Leaderboards if I ever feel like I need to show off to my three friends on the platform. And as usual, multiplayer and online play is still there. You can have up to six dancers at a time while also being able to use your phone’s Just Dance Controller App should you not have a handful of joy-cons lying around.
You also have a progression system much like a Battle Pass where you’re able to unlock new avatars, borders and stuff like that as you play through the game and earn XP.
Conclusion
Just Dance 2024 Edition is a downright great game. You’ve got a great and varied selection of tracks that range from the wacky to some of the more amazingly choreographed. Its visuals in between the stages and its colourful cast of coaches provide an eye-catching and immersive experience not just to dance into but also something to please your eyes and just watch. Its only real downside is it’s hard to get into since you’re forced to be connected at all times which even with a decent internet connection still suffers quite a bit.
Just Dance 2024 Edition Video Review
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