Just Dance for Wii Review

Just Dance is the game that made me fall in love with the Wii. I also caught a glimpse of how it could be used as a fun way to exercise.The concept is simple: hold a Wii remote in your right hand, and mirror the dance moves of the character on the screen. You can dance alone, or with up to three friends. The game ranks how well your moves match the dance, and you are given a score of Great, OK, or X, depending on how you did. You also get points, which determine your final score and who won that particular dance.

Over thirty songs are included, with hits from decades past as well as some current ones. Everything is available as soon as you start the game – there is nothing to "unlock", and no user profiles or statistics are created, except that each song lists the current highest score.

This game definitely makes you sweat! As an exercise tool, its main strength is as an upper body aerobic workout, though if you incorporate the footwork your legs get some exercise as well. I recommend using it with another Wii game that focuses more on your lower body, such as Walk It Out or Wii Fit.

As a party game, this game surpasses just about every Wii game out there. Upbeat music and groovy dance moves combine with pick up and play ease to get the fun started right away, and you can play for any length of time you want! Though only 4 people can play at one time, because the game is such a workout players can take a break while others jump in if you have a larger group. It's almost as fun to watch others play as to play yourself, and you can join in the dance even if you're not holding a Wii remote.

The fun carries over to using it as a workout – you might feel ready to quit, but then you scroll to one of your favorite songs, and you're ready to dance again! The songs have different intensity levels, so you can warm up and cool down with some of the slower ones.

The drawback to using Just Dance for a fitness workout is that it doesn't calculate how many calories you burn, but they vary widely depending on how much effort you put into it. If I'm counting calories, I usually mark it down as dancing or aerobic dancing for a general idea.

When you start using Just Dance multiple times a week for exercise, you'll realize that even though more than 30 songs sounds like a lot, it's really not. But there's good news! Ubisoft is released Just Dance 2 on October 12, 2010, with over 40 new songs and many new features.