Video Game Blog 060: SoraRabbit Dances Part VIII

Hey everyone, I’m back with yet another Just Dance post! I had no idea when I did the first post that this would become one of my longest-running series. (My Kingdom Hearts coverage still has this one beat, but not by much.) Here are the previous installments:

This will be a quick one, covering just the latest release in the Just Dance franchise.

Just Dance 2026 was released in 2025 by Ubisoft for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It is playable on the Switch 2 due to the built-in backwards compatibility. (This is how I played it.) This is the seventeenth installment in the Just Dance series and there are 40 new tracks with 8 alternate versions that have different choreography. This is the fourth “annual song pack” following the new release format introduced in 2022.

Some of the intro sequences are clever. (Credit: Ubisoft)

This edition has fewer tracks than any other installment, aside from the very first one. While that is notable, there isn’t much else notable about this game. Being the latest in the annual releases, there is little innovation or new features. As usual, there are some new playlists and achievements with associated prizes. The level cap has not raised, so you’re still capped at Gold Prestige Level 50. (Level 150 overall.)

For the first time in several editions, there is a new game mode, Party Mode. There is a little story in this mode and an introductory video. The story is that Dr. Gigavolt, an inventor and instructor in the Just Dance Academy, has created a Dance Machine and is running experiments so that he can learn to dance like his more talented father. (Gigavolt is uncoordinated and clumsy but his dad was an award-winning dancer.)

In Party Mode, you select up to six players either locally or over the internet. (You can also play solo, which is what I did.) Then you choose from three difficulty settings and duration settings.

In Party Mode, you play a set duration of a random routine and you’re scored on your accuracy. There are periodically challenges that can distract you, obscure the screen, or direct you to do other moves like clapping or shaking. You have to score a certain percentage to move on to the next test and there are five to twelve tests in all, depending on your settings.

I didn’t play around with this mode too much, but I’ll get back to it sometime. It’s okay… probably fun with multiple people. It reminds me of Dance Lab, Dance Machine, and similar game modes in previous installments. There are some associated prizes with it, so I’m sure I’ll revisit it.

Some returning characters. (Credit: Ubisoft)

The progression stays the same, but as I mentioned there are some new achievements and prizes. There are actually a lot of new achievements, but they mostly follow the same three tier format: Play a specific song, get five stars on said song, get Megastar. I’m not sure why they did this, and it came across as pretty lazy to me.

For upsides, some of the routines were creative, with really good visuals and well-designed coaches. They continue their trend of inclusion by featuring a coach who is an amputee (Kitipo), two androgynes coaches (Abracadabra (Extreme Version) and Zombieboy), and a drag queen (Good Luck, Babe! Drag Version). I also liked the variety of musical eras that appeared.

There was only one stop motion routine this time around, and they also had an animated song for Bluey similar to last year’s Spongebob song. There were Halloween and Christmas themed songs, which is pretty common. Surprisingly, there was only one K-Pop song (DRIP, by BABYMONSTER) when recent editions have had a lot of K-Pop tracks. There was, instead, a lot of older songs from the 80s, 90s, and a decade ago.

Downsides: This installment felt dull and thrown-together. The routines clearly have a lot of work and care put into them, but there are so few of them and it’s forgettable overall. I didn’t know this last time, but they eliminated Seasons, so there’s less incentive to come back to the game in between installments. Aside from the new game mode, it doesn’t feel like much thought was put into this one. And I know I keep harping on this, but again there was no story mode.

Once again, they made no effort to continue the story from JD2023 and 2024. Last time they at least had one lore-adjacent song and two continuations of ongoing stories. (Ari and Grace’s romance and Rasputin and the Bride’s tragic breakup.) They also told some more of Night Swan’s backstory in Just Dance+. This one had none of that. Hell, the Panda didn’t even show up. This was the first time that happened since Just Dance 2015.

That said, there are some returning characters, like the reindeer and some coaches from previous routines. Dr. Gigavolt, the host of Party Mode, shows up as a coach in the song All Star. All three coaches in the new version of Girls Just Want to Have Fun were from previous songs.

Some of the visuals are pretty cool. (Credit: Ubisoft)

Songs in this game include Abracadabra by Lady Gaga, Viva la Vida by Coldplay, Thrift Shop by Macklemore, All Star by Smash Mouth, Apt by ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, La Bamba by Los Lobos, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John & Kiki Dee, and more. There was also a new version of Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper which originally appeared on the very first Just Dance.

Best Song: Show Me What You Got: 12,502 points.

Worst Song: Houdini (Extreme Version): 4,204 points. (Only two stars. Don’t see that very often.)

Most Fun Songs: Girls Just Want to Have Fun was a cool routine. (And a nostalgic song for me.) Messy by Lola Young was cool. I’d never heard that song before and I liked the lyrics and the style of the coach. I really really liked Sokusu by Wanko Ni Mero Mero because it was a cute routine and a good song. Anxiety by Doechii had cool backgrounds and fun moves.

Least Fun Song: I really didn’t like Feather (Parachute Version) or Houdini (Extreme Version). There were a lot of songs with difficult or confusing movements.

Progression: By the end of my play on this edition, I reached Level 42, gold prestige. (Overall Level 142.) I was on Level 34 prior to starting JD2026.

So to wrap up, I didn’t hate this release but I didn’t really like it either. Nothing sets it apart. Although there was a low number of tracks, it still felt like a slog to get through. It was incredibly meh, as you can tell by how short this post is compared with the previous one for Just Dance 2025. Of course, I did like some of the visuals, some routines, and some of the coach designs. I had fun with it, but mostly I just wanted to get through it so I could go back to making use of my Just Dance+ free trial.

It feels like they’re giving the bare minimum and treading water, which is what I was afraid would happen when they moved to the annual “song pack” format. They abandoned Seasons and rarely put out DLC song packs. All I can really say as a positive is that they have been putting out a few Just Dance+ exclusives, so at least that’s new material. Overall, Just Dance has become stale and repetitive again. Ubisoft appears to have become complacent, which happens periodically in this franchise. It’s all a cycle, so this will likely pass. Maybe with this year’s release? We’ll see. It’s been four years, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they update and reorganize the game hub, raise the level cap, and add more features. But that could be wishful thinking.

Thank you for joining me on my latest foray into video game dancing. I’m going to spend my time before the next post working my way through the Just Dance+ catalogue and trying to reach the level cap. I’ll see you later this year for Just Dance 2027! Thank you for reading, I appreciate you all, and until next time, keep dancing!

Hi.

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