Just Dance 2025 (Switch) Review

We all know that Just Dance is an inevitability. As long as the world keeps turning, Ubisoft will keep you dancing. Since the series started way back in 2009 I have managed to dance my way around the games. Rock Band was more my thing and the very public-facing Just Dance areas at PAX Aus felt outside of my comfort zone. 

While I imagine if you’re picking up Just Dance 2025 chances are high you’re familiar with the series, but like myself want to see what it’s like jumping in and Just Dancing so late to the party. 

It didn’t take very long to be won over by Just Dance. Even though I’m not generally a big dancer, it’s hard not to get caught up in enjoying the music and the animated videos you’re dancing to. For newbies like myself, when you select a song you get to pick the dancer whose actions you’ll be copying. During the song the right hand is highlighted and your job is to copy those motions best you can. Along the bottom of the screen are visual instructions to follow so you know what moves are coming up. Personally I found it easier to pick up what the dancers were doing over the visual prompts, which at times could be hard to hard to work out what motion is needed. It also felt that when I attempted the prompts I would often get a miss, whereas dancing along with the dancers was more reliable but also more fun if you’re willing to commit to it. I never felt the game was overly strict on your movements, as always motion controls aren’t perfect. While at the same time, it could be inconsistent to what it classed as a successful move and a missed move, although it might be a different matter for veterans of the series used to burning up the dance floor/lounge room. 

With the Switch having two JoyCons by default comes in handy for two players, if you don’t have enough around or prefer using your phone’s camera to track your motion it’s also a viable option. Keep in mind the more players you have the more space you will need. This is not an inactive game, you will need to move!

As with any music game, there is a fair variety of songs on offer here, there’s at least 40 in the 2025 edition. Here is the part where I indicate how out of touch with current music I am that I don’t recognise most, where Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’ is a song from my youth. If you’ve been anywhere near commercial radio you’ll be familiar with enough of the tunes. There are also some songs like Lady Gaga’s ‘Pokerface’ which I am very surprised wasn’t already featured in a previous game.

Each song is accompanied by stylish animations, with the dances on the screen representing a different variation of the dance moves. The videos feel like a big part of the series’ charm. Of course, combined with fun music and dancing, I was sucked into the fun, energetic dances straight away. While it’s hard to pay too much attention to everything going on, there’s an undeniable pull that you can easily get caught up in as you get footloose.

The interface is fairly straightforward for jumping right into the music. Having played the game for the first time and with the subscription service activated it chucked in all the music together without a discernible ‘Just Dance 2025’ section outside of a selection of songs. It depends on what you want out of your music games, if you want to unlock your way through different songs, or if you want a more curated experience. There are playlists to fit within certain moods, if you want to get active, or you can just go down the rabbit hole of fun songs that pop up in the menu. 

The Just Dance+ subscription offers a free trial. Depending on what version, you can get up to a year of the service. For disclosure I received the ‘Ultimate’ Edition so for most of my experience I had a mountain of music to choose from. From the amount of songs and the wider selection, there is definitely value for people who want an extra 150+ songs to choose from. If you’re really into Just Dance there is a chance you already pay for the subscription, there are other options to purchase previous years’ playlists as well so you don’t have access through Just Dance+. Subscription value is subjective for everyone. For me it’s not a bad price for the wide selection of music it offers, it gives you a lot more options for parties and whatnot. 

Across the 40+ songs there is plenty to keep you moving, with the possibility of adding many more songs with the Just Dance+ service. With music-based games it can be quite subjective depending on how much you like the tunes within, Just Dance manages to make songs you might not be so familiar with enjoyable enough to dance along. If you haven’t been sure about Just Dance in the past, it’s worth giving a go. 

Just Dance 2025 might not surprise long term fans, but that could be due to Ubisoft having the formula finely honed over the years. For the newcomers (such as myself) there is a fun party game here, and it’s a pretty fun way to be active too.

Rating: 4/5