we’re Just Dance (-ing) in 2014

A few weeks ago, the dancers in our household got some very lovely mail.

That’s right… the latest and greatest copy of our favorite dancing game for review: Just Dance 2014!

We absolutely love the Just Dance series for our XBOX 360 Kinect, as it makes playing a video game so simple and fun! Just turn on the game, and your arms take over as the controls, and you can dance to your heart’s content! In fact, we own Just Dance 3 and Just Dance Disney Party as well!

Just Dance 2014 is pretty much loaded up with lots of hit songs that you are already dancing to on your own: Just Dance by Lady Gaga, Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, Get Lucky by Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams. And… then it’s got family favorites too… like YMCA by the Village People and Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie by ABBA. Yes… we like the ABBA in our household… probably more due to Mamma Mia! than anything else, but still!

Now the second that Miss L spotted the game on the table, her little 3-year-old brain knew instantly what logo that was! “Mommy! Can we please please please please play this new dancing game??? PLEASE???” So what’s a mom to do when she hears that (and loves home activities that burn preschool energy like magic) BUT pop the disc out and get ready for some fun!

So we hit play on “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga  (“Her name is GAGA? No it’s not! That’s so funny!”) and got to grooving. And at the end, a little surprise awaited us! You see, in this version, every time you dance you’re rewarded with a little snippet video at the end of your performance! You can customize it, share it with other Just Dance users, and even post it to social media all from the game! What fun is that ?!?! Thank you Ubisoft for thinking of such a great addition!

As we played the game, I noticed the same great dance format as the earlier games, but there’s definitely some improved graphics and dance tracking from earlier versions. It’s a little bit harder to gauge the diffiulty of songs from the main menu now, so make sure you know which ones are easy and which ones might present a challenge. (In our house, that looks like me coughing up a lung and Miss L crying, “I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE!!!”)

AND THE BEST UPDATE THE TO 2014 GAME?

A WORLDWIDE DANCE PARTY COMPETITION!

That’s right… you can now have a dance-off with anyone else in the world! I really like that they’ve incorporated a multi-player aspect into the game, but sadly there’s not that many people currently using it (well, at least when I try it out). Maybe more people will gain the confidence to be insane and try it in the future!

Needless to say, we’ve been dancing up a storm since the game arrived and know that we’ll be doing so well into 2014!

You can pick up a version of Just Dance 2014 for your console for around $39.99 ($49.99 for the new PS4 and XBOX ONE systems). It’s definitely a great party gift for the holidays, since you can start playing it right away. You know your mom wants to bust out the moves to YMCA!

FYI: I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.