Just Dance has been an Ubisoft staple since its original release in 2009 on the Nintendo Wii. It’s also been a party game staple in my own home, bringing in everybody from my 92 year old grandmother to now my 5 year old daughter. It’s accessible, silly and just an overall solid product for gamers and non gamers alike, but what’s changed now, 17 years later? Does the formula still work in today’s modern day? I am happy to say that not much has changed, and that’s a very good thing.

The premise of the Just Dance games is not a new concept. We get popular licensed songs by such artists as ABBA, or Bruno Mars, and are provided basic choreography. With full motion actors performing the choreography, you are tasked with trying to best mirror the dancer's moves, with the key indicator being one of their hands which is highlighted on screen. Each player gets a Joy-Con, but also there are options to use your phone, and the game tracks your hand movement with the dancers. You gain points based on your ongoing accuracy, and get bonus points for synchronization when songs hit key moments, aiming for that 4 or 5 star rating.

What does change is the song selection year after year and this year is no different with such popular songs as Houdini by Dua Lipa, and APT, by ROSE! And Bruno Mars. Those are just a few of the more popular radio hits, but it also comes with the Just Dance classics such as the Disney ballads, and lots of disco hits to get you grooving. What really sent my kid into a spin was the newer inclusion of a Bluey song which is a remix combination of the theme song with their Dance Mode song. I believe we danced to it five, maybe six times in a row. Needless to say, it was a welcome inclusion.

Other new inclusions are a Party Mode and Camera Controller mode. Party Mode is a randomized playlist of shortened versions of songs you dance to while a mad scientist is throwing in new distraction features. So you could be dancing and the game will tell you to freeze, or throw objects to obfuscate your view. It’s a silly one-off mode that adds some swerves but does little else interesting. If the moment to moment dancing gets dull, this will add some giggles and silliness for the kids while also shortening the songs to keep the game moving.

The Camera Controller mode is definitely the big swing here. As usual, you can use your regular controller, but now you can also download the Just Dance Controller app on your phone, pair it via QR code to the game, and boom, your phone camera now tracks your full body as a controller. Once the phone was placed down, I was able to test this feature and played multiple songs and it tracked me impressively well. Using the phone as a controller was a bit annoying, but this is a totally viable and easy option when it comes to dancing, though you do need a lot of room and a good spot to place your phone. Barring those restrictions, it’s like being back in the XBOX Kinect days, using a camera peripheral to track movements, and more accurate than the Joy-Con. Leave it to Just Dance to bring us nostalgia for the old ways while also giving us an entirely different way to play.

Outside of those new features, Just Dance as a series is kind of a known quantity. Most people have played it at some point or another, and decided pretty quickly whether it was for them or not, so Just Dance 2026 will not do anything to change those opinions. For those who KNOW that Just Dance is for them, the updated songs are always a welcome inclusion, plus the new Party Mode and Camera Controller Mode provide additional ways to play, both mechanically and physically. I don’t necessarily agree that these new modes necessitate a new entry, but at this point, Just Dance is a yearly Ubisoft product so 2026 would be remiss without a song refresh. There’s also the in-game store and Just Dance subscriptions if you want to expand the catalog further, but the base product has plenty of content. I’ve always loved the Just Dance series, and I’m super excited that now I get to share it with my child, who’s now just getting to the right age for games. Just Dance 2026 is more of the same that we’ve seen over and over again, but in this case consistency is a fantastic thing.