Game Reviews

Getting a game like Just Dance 2 right is no easy matter. Although many would have us believe that casual games are easy to churn out - pile them high sell them cheap - the big sellers in this space are actually those games that have invested in both technical delivery and understanding of the market.

Last year, Just Dance took many of us by surprise because it sold so well. Revisiting the game, back for its second iteration, reminded me how many different aspects of intelligent design came together to create a perfect dance game.

The visuals set the tone for the game. They are clear and crisp, but interestingly shun the idea of including images of the original artists in favour of stock dancers. There is a double advantage here, not only do the developers save money on image rights, but they also have the ability to choose the exact look they want.With this in mind, it's interesting that they went for more realistic body shapes, compared to the model-like original singers. This, combined with the flash stylised visuals, creates a look that is strong for both old and young audiences. Parents in particular would be more likely to let their children dance the Just Dance 2 version of Toxic than watch the original video.The dance mechanic itself, which returns in Just Dance 2 pretty much unchanged, is simplicity itself. Players dance along in real time aiming to mirror the actions of the on-screen performer. One hand is coloured differently to signify how to hold the Wii-mote.Compared to more unforgiving and exacting dance games, Just Dance 2 lets players improvise around the required moves while scoring them accurately for each move they make at the right time.