Ever since the runaway success that was 2009's Just Dance for the Wii, Ubisoft have been on a quest to create a Just Dance game for every eventuality. We've had a Smurfy spin-off, a Disney version and one themed entirely around the songs of Michael Jackson. There's also been an ABBA game, one crammed with songs from various Broadway musicals as well as a couple of greatest hits compilations taken from the main game series. Perhaps the most lucrative of the spin-offs though were those aimed at children - the Just Dance Kids franchise - which came packed with a number of more child friendly songs and simplified routines to get more youngsters up and active.
Instead of the neon styalised people of the other Just Dance games, Just Dance Kids has always favoured real kids for some reason.
Releasing a few weeks after Just Dance 2014 comes the newly announced third entry in the Just Dance Kids series, the cunningly named Just Dance Kids 2014. Much like its main series counterpart, the game looks set to keep things simple - as always, playing is simply a case of copying the moves shown on screen, scoring points based on your timing and accuracy. Promising a selection of thirty songs packed onto the disc - which range from King Julian's 'I Like To Move It' to the musical 'talent' of One Direction and more than a handful of tunes from Disney Channel TV shows, the game comes packing a selection of funky beats to get its target audience of children and tweens up and dancing. So far only 24 songs out of the total 30 have been revealed, with the list being as follows:
- Hit the Lights - Selena Gomez & The Scene
- Give Your Heart A Break - Demi Lovato
- We Go Well Together - Goldheart
- One Thing - One Direction
- Put Your Hearts Up - Ariana Grande
- Make It Shine (Victorious Theme) - Victorious Cast featuring Victoria Justice
- Ready or Not - Bridgit Mendler
- Get Ready to Wiggle - The Wiggles
- The Freeze Game - Yo Gabba Gabba
- 7 8 9
- Day O (The Banana Boat Song)
- Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)
- Fireflies
- Footloose
- Get Down on It
- Hit Me With Your Best Shot
- I Like To Move It
- Magic Carpet Ride
- Problem (Monster Remix)
- Shout
- Fraggle Rock (Opening and Closing Theme)
- The Hustle
- The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room
- Walking On Sunshine
Based on the titles of some of the screenshots we found, we can also speculatively add the following three tunes to the list too:
- Hickory Dickory Dock
- Skip To My Lou
- Powerups
The one gripe we've always had with the Just Dance Kids games over the years is that the game seems so much further behind the main series - they usually have half the songs, less modes and none of the new features that have become pretty much standard since Just Dance 3. Given that the new game is adopting the same yearly numbering system as it's more mainstream sibling, we're keeping our fingers crossed for a more substantial offering this time round. Depending on the platform you choose, it looks like we're getting at least one of the newer modes for Just Dance Kids 2014 too - Kinect players can use the new 'Just Create' mode to make up your own original choreography, whilst parents on the Wii U can try their hand at 'Dance Director Mode' which lets you switch around dance routines on the fly to keep your children on their toes.
Tut tut - promoting incorrect spellings...
Just Dance Kids 2014 waltzes on to the Wii, Wii U and Xbox 360 Kinect on the 25th October - with the Playstation 3's Move being noticeable by it's absence. But with seven more songs still to be revealed, whether it's an executive decision or an accidental omission should become clearer in the coming weeks.
