Just Dance 2019 review

I ain’t shy to say that I’m a huge fan for dancing games, Dance Central and Just Dance are great ways to stay in shape or to have some fun with friends. At Gamescom and Belgium game events GameForce and FACTS Just Dance had an incredible dedicated group of fans that danced all day, fantastic to see that a game can actively bring so many gamers together.  After some sweaty hours, it was like sitting in a Turkish hammam, you can read my review about this established franchise. 

Because I don’t have a Kinect adaptor for my Xbox One X this review is based on playing Just Dance 2019 with the smartphone application. One that worked perfectly! Please notice that playing this game on the Kinect will be even more exciting. 

THE GOOD

• World Dance Floor: There is always something to do in Just Dance and the main reason is the online mode “World Dance Floor” here a random song plays and everyone online tries to beat the highscore. The stress for choosing a song goes away too, honestly one of the things that I hate while playing this kind of game. (especially with the 400+ songs from Unlimited) Just Dance benefits the best from having a little friendly competition and for people that don’t have any friends that want to play dance songs this is a great way of having some fierce and fun dancing battles with other gamers. 
• Profile: You earn ingame currency and with this you can earn new avatars, artwork or song types. It is a simple but great way to keep you motivated. Your profile levels up the more you play and who doesn’t like bragging with a level 100 achievement? Your profile also has challenges, for example: launching a song with the search function, doing 500 good moves or playing a specific song.
• Gameplay: Gameplay is pretty straightforward, you like dancing? You will like Just Dance. You mirror the person on screen and the better you copy the moves the higher the score you get. Some songs are pretty easy, others force you to jump, fall on the floor or move your arms with the speed of light. Really fun is when songs allow for interaction between your friend, dancing together is harder but surely brings lots of laughter and fun too. 
• Presentation: Menu’s and the fancy characters on screen give the game a specific vibe and feeling that lures everyone on the dancing floor. You clearly see what move you have to do on the below right corner and you never get lost trying to play. That you can navigate with your smartphone is another user-friendly feature. 
• Great to get in shape: You play a game and it is good for your health, what more do you need? Just Dance is perfect for those who want to be a little bit more active or want to get in shape more. Sure if you have a little overweight or if your condition is in a bad shape it will take a few weeks before you can really play for an hour straight but the most important thing is that you are making your body (and soul) more healthy! 
• Just Dance Unlimited: (EXTRA PAID SUBSCRIPTION): An ever-growing song list with hundreds of songs, locked at €25/year. (you have shorter subscriptions too) You have a 30 day trial in Just Dance 2019 but it was pretty obvious right from the get-go that I was going to buy myself a year subscription. It allows you to play all former-Just Dance songs and more, having a much bigger selection of songs is perfect for that party night with friends or to keep yourself entertained longer. While the 40 songs on Just Dance 2019 give you enough content, having 400 songs from Unlimited is the icing on the cake. I strongly suggest buying this extra service, I feel that the price versus content is very decent! Not to mention that Just Dance 2019 is only €40, correct me if I’m wrong but that is the first time that it is reduced in price from the start. 
• Remove the dust from your Kinect! While I didn’t use the Kinect, I still need to find an affordable Kinect adaptor for my Xbox One X it is great to see that Kinect owners have another reason to use their device. When I ever get the chance to play with the Kinect I will surely update this review!

• Sweat-mode: Great to see that you can see how much calories you burn while playing sweat-modus but it would have been a better execution if this could be used with the regular points mode too. I kinda disliked that you don’t get your normal points while playing this mode, so I immediately stopped sweat-mode because I prefered getting a normal score. An option to toggle showing calories burned in the normal scoring mode would have been a better solution.  

• Be careful for injuries: No point reduction for this as common sense should be used but be careful and listen to your body. If your knee, arm or back is starting to hurt stop playing! I know the game is addictive but don’t overdo it. That some streamers or friends can play this game for three hours straight doesn’t mean that you can do the same thing. The game doesn’t really warn for this and tries to immediately let you play something else, so forcing yourself is an actual danger. 

Just Dance 2019 |  Score: 90%

Easily the best party game that you can buy on Xbox One, with or without your Kinect. Everyone can jump in with the smartphone application! Dancing brings everyone closer together and the laughs and enjoyment follows. Do yourself a favor and buy Just Dance 2019, your friends, kids and grandparents will love you for it. 

Just Dance 2019 Tracklist!