Just Dance 2017

Sure, we’ve seen it all before but it’s not about that, it’s about allowing other people to experience the Just Dance phenomenon and even though the controls are not totally accurate in how it tracks your dancing, the fun and entertainment factor of the title more than makes up for this short-fall. All in all, it’s an enjoyable game for people of all ages as they dance to their hearts content, backed by some of the world’s hottest singers and bands.

Quotation forthcoming.

Great at what it does – serving as a surprisingly jam-packed offering for solo players as well as being a great addition to parties, sleep-overs and gatherings of friends; yet it isn't perfect. Although it has a pleasing amount of unlockables such as avatars and the like, it doesn't feel like enough to keep you wanting more, and considering the game is obtainable at a much cheaper rate on other consoles than the full retail price tag on the Switch version, it is hard to recommend this over other versions, as ultimately the game is identical. This is a good version of a solid dancing game, but whether it's a cost effective launch window offering on Switch is up for debate.

A very predictable update to a long-running series of dancing games that shines in visual design and unique choreography but is very loose with its tracking of your body movements. It’s not going to teach you to be a professional dancer, and it honestly doesn’t really teach you how to be good at Just Dance itself. That said, it’s still a whole lot of fun to play, and the songs that aren’t locked behind a paywall are varied and, largely, recognisable.

While there's only so much you can do with a dancing game concept, after playing so much Dance Central over the years, the ancillary modes all seem pretty rote. There's a loose campaign (that's not really engaging enough to follow through with), free play, and a bare-bones weight loss mode. "Dance Machine" attempts to try something new, randomizing routines under the guise of helping aliens refuel their ship, but I found myself just gravitating back toward freeplay after a few rounds.

At its core Just Dance 2017 is solid party fun as always. But while the movement recognition always was quite tolerant, here it is too inconsistent.

Just Dance 2017 on Nintendo Switch is the definition of a port as besides allowing for new control options, there’s nothing to distinguish it from other consoles. That’s not a slight at Ubisoft, as there’s not much that could have been done to enhance this re-release besides updating the controls and they were successful in that. Using JoyCons is a fine way to experience the game, with similar functionality to that of a Wii Remote or smartphone (which are also compatible with the game) and makes it easy to rope in multiple players for those with a ton of them on hand.