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Dear Thursday: Wii’s Just Dance [FaN Favorites]

So, as many of you know, I’m just obsessed with Wii Just Dance. So I’m running my original review of the game and hoping all the things I didn’t like get fixed in the next version. We’ll see…

From March 4, 2010

Okay, I’m just an hour away from finishing my latest audiobook, but I’ve accepted that that hour is just not going to happen today. So look for that review next Tuesday and let’s talk about the new Wii game, JUST DANCE, b/c every time I mention this game on Facebook, somebody’s asking me whether I like it or not. So w/o further ado, here are my thoughts, organized in what I have decided to make my usual reviewing fashion:

just-dance-wii-14501912Why I Decided To Buy It: The commercials made it look like so much fun. Also, this seemed like an even more fun version of Dance Dance Revolution, which CH and I played a lot when we were slimming down for our wedding. But on a more practical note, the way my (absolutely free) weight loss program [more on this later] works is that I’m given a low number of calories and after that, the more calories I burn, the more calories I can eat. My MIL is a fantastic cook, so I need to burn a lot of calories if I want to enjoy a decent dinner. You burn about 292 calories after an hour of non-aerobic dancing, and a ton more with aerobic dancing, so I’ve been dancing like a fiend lately.

What’s It All About: Basically you hold the Wii Remote in one hand and mirror the movements of either a male or a female dancer. And you accumulate points by how well you mirror her or him. Both dancers looked like they escaped from an iPod commercial.

What Makes It Different: Unlike DDR, you actually get to do real dance moves. And there’s a huge variety of songs from the 60s, 70s, 80, 90s and 00s.

What I Loved: Dancing to 60s music just plain makes me happy and I understand why teenagers used to have so many dance parties back then. I also loved, the one Africanesque Dance song set to Fatboy Slim’s wonderous “Jin Go La Ba,” the reggaeish moves from “I Like to Move It” (it turns out that song isn’t just for the zoo animals in Madagascar), and I don’t know who Divine Brown is, but her song “Bebe” is just fantastic to dance to. Lots of heart-pumping songs, and it burns way more calories than a half hour on Wii Fit Plus — I know b/c I tested both out this week. I can’t wait to play this game with someone else.

What I Didn’t Like: Unlike with DDR, you can’t put together a play list and do the dances in succession with out have down time between them. I had to spend at least 30 seconds scrolling through options just to get to the next song — that doesn’t sound like a lot, but you notice it when playing the game. Also, you only have the option of two white avatars. I really felt they should allow you to use a Mii like over Wii games. And it doesn’t feel like the remote is matched up with your movements on some of the songs. I swear, I did most of the Divine Brown moves right and they were still claiming that I was missing most of the cues. Frustrating. One last thing: I wish they would get some kind of calorie counter on this game, so that I had a better approximation of how many I was burning. But maybe they’ll do that in the 2.0 like Wii Fit did.

Oh and I just remembered to add that the “Who Let the Dogs Out” routine was even worse than I expected to be, considering it’s set to the most irritating song ever. Not only was the routine lame, but they made the poor iPod refugee dress in a dog costume. I’m sure the producers thought this was cute, but all I could think was, “This isn’t what this poor guy imagined when he was getting his BFA in the Dance Arts.” I hope he got paid.

To Whom Would I Recommend This Game: Moms, Families, Calorie Counters, People Who LIke To Dance, People Who Need to Ease Into a Regular Workout Routine, People Who Want To Do A Little Cardio Before Their Workout, and People Who Are Bored With Their Regular Workout.

Click on the pic to purchase Just Dance from Amazon!