Oh when did gaming get so energetic? The Boss was perfectly happy playing Space Invaders, his hand forming a claw around the joystick, and the only energy expelled by leaning over and taking a sip of a carbonated beverage. Those were the good ol’ days, when all gamers were geeks, we crept into electronic stores and hid for hours in the games section, before sheepishly emerging from the store, our fresh copy of Beer Belly Burt’s Brew Biz on cassette tape tucked away in our bags like we’d just purchased a gentleman’s magazine of the higher shelf variety. When people asked what our hobbies were, we murmured something incoherent then walked away.
And then gaming went and got popular. Stupid popularity. Now that gaming is the biggest entertainment industry on the planet, surpassing even movies (or ‘Clickies’ – one for the Discworld fans there), we can’t play games without jumping around the room like a dog chasing its own reflection. We even have to swing our arms around when we save Princess Zelda these days. Maybe Link should join a Hyrule dating site and save himself a lot of effort.
Anyhoo, this is one of those dancing game didgeridoos that have become popular amongst the kiddliwinks, people who think they can dance, and people who know they can’t dance but like to make a plonker of themselves. The Boss has managed to avoid dance games over the years, except for some bopping to retro Nintendo music on Dancing Stage Mario Mix, and a surprisingly enjoyable excursion on Dance Central for the Kinect last year. But Just Dance has become one of the largest franchises on the Wii, so, for better or for worse, The Boss must don his dancing shoes and party like it’s 1999.
And… ok now you’re not going to tell anyone about this are you…? But Just Dance 3 is, well, it’s actually quite a lot of fun. I mean, it really shouldn’t be. You know the game with its Wii technological limitations is only monitoring the hand in which you’re holding the Wii remote (a limitation which applies far less to the Kinect and Move editions of this game on the Xbox 360 and PS3). You also know that you can get away with effectively doing nothing more than wildly gesticulating a Wii remote. But somehow it becomes a lot of fun – you genuinely get into the party spirit and feel that you’re dancing. It’s the gaming equivalent of having one too many drinks and then spying a dancing pole at your local nightclub, thinking to yourself “now THAT looks like a good idea!”. Everything in the game is so positive; it fills you with a party vibe. This is helped immeasurably by some wonderful presentation.
The track selection is both extensive and eclectic, and features something for all tastes and ages. The Boss admits that much of his time was spent on the 80’s classics, but unusually he also ventured into some of these more modern ‘choons’ that the whippersnappers listen to these days (for the record, by ‘modern’, the boss is referring to anything released after 31st December 1989). There’s even specific playlists tailored to certain music types, additional music tracks to unlock, along with a fitness mode for those who manage not to collapse after spinning round like a loon to Baby One More Time (no I won’t hit you again dear, I’m far too knackered).
Ok, this game is never going to steal much time away from The Boss’ more hardcore gaming antics, but he can see it coming out occasionally to while away a rainy afternoon, or to please these new style ‘gamers’ who are unaccustomed with the concept of a joystick. And with the Wii version at a budget price, this becomes more appealing. More serious dance game-loving Move or Kinect owners may be better off opting for one of the HD versions instead, but for everybody else, Just Dance 3 is worth a look, even if you’re only ‘dance-curious’.
The Boss says:
It’s not about the money, money, money, UbiSoft just want to make the world dance; then play Space Invaders.
