Review: Just Dance VR – Welcome To Dancity
When Just Dance was originally announced for as PICO exclusive, I was a bit unsure why that decision was made. Then it went all quiet and, then it was re-announced as a Meta Quest exclusive and felt like the right option – given the user base the device has. I have now been hitting the dance floor but, do my hips lie?
Release Date: October 15th 2024
Developer: Ubisoft Paris / Soul Assembly
Publisher: Ubisoft
Price: US $29.99 / £24.99
Reviewed On: Meta Quest 3
* Access Provided For Review *
I Wanna Dance With Somebody
One thing that had always confused me is why some of the big-hitters in rhythm games never made the jump to Virtual Reality, especially Just Dance, as Ubisoft have dipped their toes into VR games. Now we have it, and I was happy to see them include some extra VR elements rather than just do just a direct port. Gameplay wise you know what to expect from Just Dance games, even if you don’t play them on flat-screen, people are aware of what the game entails. If you have previously played Just Dance, watched people play it or seen the adverts, you are not going to be let down.
If you are not aware of what it is for any reason, don’t be expecting to be just slashing blocks, hitting orbs or striking poses, Just Dance VR is essentially a VR dance lesson. You will be following an on-screen character/coach move for move, as they take you through a full on dance routine. Beside the coach you will be given an idea of the starting position that is coming up after the current section of that routine.
As someone who hasn’t played a Just Dance for a long-time I am not sure if Just Dance VR is more forgiving when it comes to hitting the correct placement of your hand, or whether this is because the controller tracking is a lot better without needing to use a phone in one of your hands. I am leaning towards it being more forgiving because, I am not good dancer of any sort and have hit some ‘Superstar’ ratings.
Your first introduction to Dancity is in your own hub, which allows you customise your avatar by visiting the mirror (with models and options very similar to Ready Player Me avatars), play some basket ball and most importantly select songs from your TV. You can also invite friends into your own little hub and hang-out in this virtual apartment. If you are looking for a more social experience you can visit Dancity, which is a big online social hub built for VR, where each of the tracks is represented by a giant billboard that you can select them to join match-making for that song – also there is a quick way to jump into the daily/weekly track from the hub, to get yourself registered on the chosen tracks leaderboard. You will see other players avatars walking around the hub but, unlike your private hub there will be no VOIP in Dancity – meaning you end up just trying to gesture each other, like VR’s own sign-language.
The game comes with loads of unlocks to aim for, which are used to personalise your avatar and player card, give you more emojis, scoring effects and victory celebrations. At the start when playing songs for the first time, you will be getting explosions of trophies and goodies but these will slow down as you start to dig into the massive 300 levels of progression.
A New Platform - But Old Content
When it comes to the content, Just Dance VR only has twenty-five songs compared to the forty plus that launced in Just Dance 2025 on the same day. With no word on if they plan to extend the library with new songs by DLC or support for the Just Dance+ subscription service. Meaning, there is not a huge library compared to what people usually get from Just Dance or other rhythm games in the Virtual Reality space.
For the twenty-five tracks they have chosen peoples favorite tracks from Just Dance over the years, with tracks like Nikki Minaj’s Startships (2014), Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now (2017), Selena Gomez’s Bad Liar (2018), but has thrown in Blackpink’s How You Like That from Just Dance 2024. The tracklist is very pop biased but, even though that’s not essential my taste in music I have enjoyed playing it. But, unlike the flat-screen it would have been great to have a better mix of genres in the songs selected. That being said, I have been finding myself loving Billie Elilish’s Therefore I am, Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl and Carly Rea Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe.
The team have done a great job of transforming the flat-screen look to VR, with the 2.5D coaches in the center of the of your viewpoint for you to follow, with the 3D looking bars either side of the coach showing the upcoming moves and your progress towards the next star rating – while making sure they are not distracting. Then they have brought all the different themes for each tracks background as a whole 3D settings, be it the school for Hollaback Girl or the cemetery for I Will Survive. It makes a great use of VR, while keeping inline with the feeling of the Just Dance franchise. One thing I would have liked to see was maybe some MR implementation that brings the coach into your room. Even thought MR is not something I would use myself for a game like this, I think some people would appreciate it being there.
Comfort
The Verdict
It’s great to see a well known rhythm game make the jump to VR and seeing Ubisoft continuing to bring their franchises to the medium. Although Just Dance VR has been populated with songs from older versions of the flat-screen games, the twenty-five chosen tracks are recognisable hits from over the years. Despite the tracklist all being very pop biased, all of the songs are fun to dance along to and learn, as you aim for better scores and climbing the leaderboards on your own or by visiting Dancity – a VR social hub created for Virtual Reality. The team have done great job porting the flat-screen game to Virtual Reality, while keeping it inline with the feel and design of the franchise. It does feel a bit forgiving scoring wise, then this is mixed with older tracks with the same routines, means it will feel very familiar to fans of the flat-screen games. This is a great start for the franchise in VR, I am just hoping it gets more songs in the form of DLC or support for the Dance+ subscription service they offer.