Just Dance 2015

Just Dance 2015
North American box art
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Paris Ubisoft Milan Ubisoft Reflections Ubisoft Pune Ubisoft Romania
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Producer(s)	Ubisoft
Series	Just Dance
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Release	NA: 21 October 2014 EU: 23 October 2014 UK: 24 October 2014 CHN: 25 August 2015
Genre(s)	Rhythm
Mode(s)	Single-player video game

Just Dance 2015 is a dance video game developed by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Milan and published by Ubisoft. The sixth main installment in the Just Dance series, it was announced at Ubisoft's E3 2014 press event on 9 June 2014 alongside Just Dance Now—a web-based spin-off of the franchise. It was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, and Wii U on 21 October 2014 in North America, 23 October in Europe, 24 October in the UK and 25 October in Asia.^[1] A sequel, Just Dance 2016 was released in October 2015.

2015 introduced additional social networking features to the series, including the ability for players to challenge other players online, and submit clips of themselves playing for inclusion into crowdsourced "Community Remix" routines featured in-game. The game also added the ability for a smartphone to be used as a controller with a companion app.

Just Dance 2015 received mostly positive reviews by critics, praising the franchise's continued focus on casual audience through its forgiving motion detection, multiplayer functionality, and pop-oriented soundtrack, although criticism was directed at the soundtrack for focusing too much on teen pop, as well as its user interface for having confusing and irregular conventions. As of December 31, 2014, 4 million copies have been shipped worldwide.^[2]

Gameplay

As in previous installments, players must mimic the routine of an on-screen dancer to a chosen song, scoring points based on their accuracy. A new "challenge" feature was added, which allows players to send and receive challenges to and from other players as ghost data.^[3] As with the spin-off Just Dance Now, Just Dance 2015 allows a smartphone to be used as a controller with a companion app, as an alternative to requiring a console's own motion control accessories. Motions are detected through the phone using its internal sensors.^[4][5]

A new "wall" feature allows players to view news and updates, including received challenges.^[6] The online "World Dance Floor" mode introduced in 2014 returned,^[3] along with the "Autodance" video creator. Players could also submit clips of their own gameplay for a chance to be incorporated into a "Community Remix"—routines for selected songs that feature a compilation of player videos in place of the rendered dancers.^[7]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Just Dance 2015 includes 45 songs spanning across various genres.^[3] Geoffroy Sardin, Ubisoft EMEA's senior vice president of marketing, explained that the soundtrack was intended to contain "more top Billboard artists than ever before", citing demand by players.^[8]

Note: "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, along with "Dancing Queen" by ABBA were announced to be in the game. However, both songs were removed for unknown reasons.

Reception

Just Dance 2015 received mixed-to-positive reviews by critics; Metacritic lists the Xbox One version of the game with an aggregate score of 70 out of 100 based on 17 critic reviews.^[17]

Zack Stein of IGN gave the Xbox One version of Just Dance 2015 an 8.0 out of 10; describing the game as "a welcome, surprising reinvigoration of the series", Stein praised the game for continuing to provide an overall experience catered to a casual audience, jump-in multiplayer, along with improved Kinect motion tracking in-game, and the higher-quality production of the per-song background videos, but criticized the user interface for being "as confusing and frustrating as ever" due to irregular design choices and behaviors. In conclusion, Stein felt that "It would be easy to dismiss Just Dance 2015 as the 'same-old-same-old,' but that would overlook this finely tuned party game’s special-effects-laden dance numbers, complete with chorus lines and elaborate sets and costumes, and the social integration that holds the world-wide Just Dance community together."^[3]

Game Revolution, giving the game a 3 out of 5, felt that the game's soundtrack was "high-energy" albeit catered to a casual audience, noting that "singles like Pharrell's 'Happy' provide a strong pop basis while oddballs like a Tetris track or an unfortunately obnoxious song about a fox explore the far reaches of danceable contemporary music." Still, Just Dance 2015 was praised for its forgiving motion detection and multiplayer experience, concluding that "of my own preferences regarding the music genre, dancing remains somewhere out of the lead when it comes to interacting with sound and visuals, though Just Dance 2015 hits on every requirement I have from anything asking me to move my feet without a pad to stomp on."^[11]

Steve Hannley of Hardcore Gamer was more critical of Just Dance 2015, arguing that it did not provide enough differentiation over Just Dance 2014 to be described as anything more than a "track pack". Hannley felt that the game's social features, although well-designed, would not appeal to what he believed was the game's target audience (those playing the game for exercise, not wanting to dance in public, or are "underage"). The game's soundtrack was also criticized for being the worst in series history for "clearly catering to teeny boppers and in doing so [leaving] out practically anybody older than 21 with decent taste in music", and containing fewer "good" songs than 2014. In conclusion, giving the game a 3 out of 5, Hannley argued that "Just Dance is a series that's hard to hate as it genuinely wants players to have a good time, but 2015 is a misstep. Hardly anything has changed and practically nothing has for those who don’t partake in the online functionality".^[6]

As of December 31, 2014 Just Dance 2015 has shipped 4 million copies.^[2]

References

External links

• Official website