Last week we reviewed Dance Central Spotlight, the best Kinect game on Xbox One and also pretty much the ultimate dancing game. Spotlight is a downloadable game, but it will soon face increased competition at retail from Ubisoft's Just Dance 2015.
The latest in the Just Dance series will arrive at stores (and for download) on October 21 in North America and October 23 in Europe. The lead versions are Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Wii U, with previous-gen versions on the way as well. Which platform has the best sensor for full-body motion tracking? I think we all know.
The main reason to buy a new Just Dance game is that version's song list. Ubisoft has just helpfully announced the 2015 edition's full lineup. Let's see what variety it offers.
Just Dance 2015 Song List
Get ready to dance to the following songs in this year's Just Dance. Note that many of these are cover versions, not the original artists' versions.
- "Bang Bang"– Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
- "She Looks So Perfect"– 5 Seconds of Summer
- "Problem"– Ariana Grande Ft. Iggy Azalea and Big Sean
- "4x4"– Miley Cyrus
- "Best Song Ever"– One Direction
- "Happy"– Pharrell Williams
- "Till I Find You" Austin Mahone
- "Addicted To You"– Avicii
- "Black Widow"– Iggy Azalea Ft. Rita Ora
- "Maps"– Maroon 5
- "Birthday"– Katy Perry
- "Bad Romance"– Lady Gaga
- "Built For This"– Becky G
- "Holding Out For A Hero"– Bonnie Tyler
- "Summer"– Calvin Harris
- "Tetris"– Dancing Bros.
- "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)"– Dead Or Alive
- "Let It Go"– Disney's Frozen
- "Burn"– Ellie Goulding
- "Bailando"– Enrique Iglesias Ft. Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona
- "Mahna Mahna"– Frankie Bostello
- "Never Can Say Goodbye"– Gloria Gaynor
- "I Love It"– Icona Pop Ft. Charli XCX
- "You're On My Mind"– Imposs Ft. J. Perry
- "Love Me Again"– John Newman
- "Only You (And You Alone)"– Love Letter
- "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"– Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
- "Get Low"– Dillon Francis & DJ Snake
- "Diamonds"– Rihanna
- "Me And My Broken Heart"– Rixton
- "Walk This Way"– Run-DMC & Aerosmith
- "Don't Worry Be Happy"– The Bench Men
- "Epic Sirtaki"– The Bouzouki's
- "Speedy Gonzalez"– Los Pimientos Locos
- "Macarena"– The Girly Team
- "Love Is All"– The Sunlight Shakers
- "It's My Birthday"– will.i.am Ft. Cody Wise
- "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)"– Ylvis
- "XMas Tree"– Bollywood Santa
- "Fatima"– Cheb Salama
I'm honestly looking forward to that Tetris song.
As far as we know, downloadable songs from Just Dance 2014 will not be compatible with the 2015 game. Ubisoft has always lagged behind Harmonix in that DLC compatibility.
New and improved, mobile companion in tow
Just Dance 2015 brings forty new songs, all with their own unique Ubisoft-created music videos to dance along with (a key difference from the Dance Central series). The Xbox One version will support four local dancers, which is actually a pretty big advantage over Dance Central if you have the room for it.
The 2015 Edition adds a cool new Community Remix mode. Instead of dancing along to those music videos I just mentioned, players will be able to dance along to other players shown on-screen.
How the game can share video of other players while filtering out inappropriate content remains to be seen. Players will definitely be able to vote on shared content. If everything works right and nobody gets unwittingly exposed to anybody else's junk, it should be a great alternative way to play.
Alongside the main game, Ubisoft will release a companion app called Just Dance Now. The app acts as a controller for the game, using a phone's accelerometer to communicate the player's hand position. That feature makes more sense on the Wii systems in which players hold motion controllers called Wiimotes in order to play the game. It sounds totally unnecessary on Xbox One and 360. The Kinect sees your whole body and doesn't require players to hold anything.
The app announcement doesn't list specific platforms, but preview images hint at iOS and Android. We'll see whether Ubisoft releases a Windows Phone version of the app – we did get a Just Dance companion app way back in 2012. There was even a (terrible) Dance Central app that year!
Just Dance 2015 arrives on October 21 in North America and October 23 in Europe. What do you guys think of the newly announced song list? And do you have room for two different dance games in your life?
- Just Dance 2015 – Xbox One – $49.99 – Amazon Link
- Just Dance 2015 – Xbox360 – $39.99 – Amazon Link