''Just Dance 4'' is a 2012

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...

developed and published by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

as the fourth main installment of the ''Just Dance'' series. Announced at

E3 2012 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 (E3 2012) was the 18th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 5, 2012, and ended on June 7, 2012, with 45,700 total attendees. It was ...

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single " Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital dow ...

and

Aisha Tyler Aisha Nilaja Tyler (born September 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, director, and talk show host. She is known for playing Andrea Marino in the first season of ''Ghost Whisperer'', Tara Lewis (Criminal Minds), Dr. Tara Lewis in ''Crimi ...

, it was released on the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

, the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

, the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

(with

PlayStation Move is a motion game controller developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Initially released in 2010 for use with the PlayStation 3 home video game console, its compatibility was later expanded to its successor, the PlayStation 4 in 2013, its Pla ...

), and the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

(with

Kinect Kinect is a line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB cameras, and infrared projectors and detectors that map depth through either structured light or time of flig ...

). The Wii, PlayStation Move and Kinect versions were released on October 2, 2012 in Europe and Australia and on October 9, 2012 in North America, The Wii U version was released on November 18, 2012 in North America and on November 30, 2012 in Europe and Australia, as a launch title for the console.

Gameplay

The gameplay remains similar to other previous ''Just Dance'' games, as players are judged on their ability to mimic on-screen dancers performing a routine to a chosen song.

Karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

-styled lyrics have been revamped, with lyrics being highlighted in a pre-set color. New features in ''Just Dance 4'' include dance battle routines, which allows up to two teams of two to fight as one of the two dancers from two previous songs, expansions to the game's ''Just Sweat'' mode, unlockable alternate routines for songs, and a "Puppet Master" mode exclusive to the Wii U version, which allows a player to use the

Wii U GamePad The Wii U GamePad is the standard game controller for Nintendo's Wii U home video game console. Incorporating traits from tablet computers, the GamePad has traditional input methods (such as buttons, dual analog sticks, and a D-pad), touchscreen ...

to serve as a "Master" to manipulate the routine and visuals, allowing them to create their own mashups by choosing any of the four dance moves from all four entries in the ''Just Dance'' series, as well as the ability to use the "Strike A Pose" mechanic, in which players will have to match the pose shown on the screen, while the "Master" has to choose which player earn a bonus of 1,000 points or decides not to award the bonus points. Previous additional modes (Simon Says Mode, Playlists, Medley, Speed-Shuffle, Just Create, and Hold My Hand (Wii, Wii U and PS3 only)) have been dropped. Additionally, the "On Fire" motive (from mostly Goods and Perfects in a row) and effort ratings have been removed, leaving only difficulty ratings and the "Gold Move" motive, which has been dropped in Mashups. The outfits and hairstyles of the dancers are now colored in a realistic style, rather than just solid colors. Players have "Dance Quests", six missions for each song, that can be completed. Each quest nets the player Mojo points. Downloadable songs do not have dance quests. Players can also create "Dancer Cards", which can display their favorite songs, best scores, challenges, and more. Personal leaderboards are also available for the Wii version of the game.

Track list

The game features 50 songs. Note: "

Sexy and I Know It "Sexy and I Know It" is a hit song by American duo LMFAO from their second studio album, ''Sorry for Party Rocking''. It was released as the third single from the album on September 16, 2011. The song was written by Stefan Kendal Gordy, GoonRock ...

" by

LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off or Laughing My Fucking Ass Off) are an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Le ...

was planned to be featured in the game, but was scrapped for unknown reasons. It was later brought back to ''

Just Dance 2014 ''Just Dance 2014'' is a 2013 dance rhythm game developed by Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Pune, Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Barcelona and published by Ubisoft. The fifth main installment of th ...

'' as a DLC.

Downloadable content

Wii

DLC's for Wii were available from October 18, 2012 until the closure of the

Wii Shop Channel The Wii Shop Channel is a former digital distribution service for the Wii video game console. The service allowed users to purchase and play additional software for the Wii (called Channels), including exclusive games (branded WiiWare), and game ...

on January 30, 2019.

Xbox 360

DLC's for Xbox 360 can also be purchased from the

Xbox Live Marketplace Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace) is a digital distribution platform used by Microsoft's Xbox Series X, S, Xbox One and Xbox 360 video game consoles. The service allows users to download or purchase video games (including both ...

PS3

DLC's for PS3 are region locked (e.g., DLC's bought from US PSN Store will not work on a Region 3 disc).

Wii U

DLC's on Wii U are only available in the

Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...

until its closure on March 27, 2023. Note: "You Make Me Feel..." is only available as DLC if it has not already been unlocked with a Cheetos code of the exclusive, which had a minor adjustment between the two versions, as the Cheetos mascot, Chester Cheetah, was shown on the Cheetos version, and not on the DLC version.

Reception

Upon release, ''Just Dance 4'' received positive reviews from video game publications. At the review aggregate websites

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

and

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the Wii U version of the game holds an average review score of 67.64% and 66 out of 100 respectively, the Wii version of the game holds an average review score of 72.50% and 74 out of 100 respectively, the Xbox 360 version of the game holds an average review score of 75.40% and 77 out of 100 respectively, and the PlayStation 3 version of the game holds an average review score of 77.00% and 77 out of 100 respectively.

Awards and nominations

References

{{Authority control 2012 video games Dance video games Fitness games Just Dance (video game series) Kinect games Music video games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Move-compatible games Ubisoft games Wii games Wii U games Wii U eShop games Xbox 360 games Video games developed in France Video games developed in Italy Video games developed in Romania