My checklist for 2025 didn’t exactly have Ubisoft’s ‘Just Dance’ sitting anywhere on it, but I’ve gotten ahold of the latest entry in the popular dancing franchise ‘JUST DANCE 2026 EDITION’ and, over the last week, I’ve shaken up every bit of fat stored to some killer grooves. It’s not my first time on the dance floor, either. Back during the Wii60 era, my family and I enjoyed a tonne of Just Dance. It’s a game series that lets everyone unwind and shake the flat before a Wiimote inevitably finds itself lodged in the television. And my last foray was Just Dance 2018, back when the Kinect 2.0 was still kicking around and demanding a huge tonne of space to operate. But that game was a lot of fun—between the local and online features alongside a plethora of songs to dance to, it was a household staple for years.
Alas, all good things come to an end eventually. I ended up tossing the Kinect 2 (I actually unearthed it the other day, huge and ugly thing) and the only way to play Just Dance was by using our phones as controllers. As novel as the idea was, it didn’t work well in practise and my family and I slowly found ourselves off the dance floor. Now, five years later and a few grams larger, I’ve come back to see what things look like in the Just Dance sphere of things—and it’s just as fun as before, albiet a bit clumsier and missing a feature that I quite liked in prior entries.
Just Dance is as simple of a concept as you can get for a game: step in front of the TV and dance. That’s all there is to it! Well, the more technical aspect is that Just Dance judges your movement by watching your right hand. In any song you play, you’ll be face-to-face with a professional dancer who’ll guide you through the song’s moves. It’s your job to match the moves as best as you can and the game will judge you based on timing and how well you groove. Some songs you’ll find yourself jiving in an almost 1:1 reflection with the dancer and, in others, you’ll likely be frustrated with the tracking or the moves themselves. But that’s the beauty of these games: it’s as simple to play as it gets, but it can be hard to master.
The Just Dance experience seems to have been overhauled since the last time I played. Compared to the bespoke software experience that 2018 had, Just Dance 2026 seems to be an add-on for a Just Dance Now-styled hub application, which contains Just Dance 23/24/25 and the Just Dance+ subscription. When you first load up the game, it’ll have you connect your phone to the app before you can really do anything else. It seems that this version of Just Dance has completely dropped support for all peripherals this time around. At least on the Xbox Series consoles, you’ll need a phone to either use as a controller (for play with up to six players) or the “camera controller” feature which mimics the Kinect or PlayStation Eye style of tracking with the caveat that this mode only allows for one player to play at a time.
This version of Just Dance is also a tad clumsy to navigate and seems to be missing features from prior games. For example, once you’ve connected your phone to the game, you can use it to navigate the main menu. But if the player wanted to search for a song, the search function will prompt them to pick up a controller to continue searching. My favourite feature, the online dance floor, is also missing. That mode allowed players to jump into a global dance session that rotated between songs and let you compete with hundreds of other players to pull off their best moonwalks possible. It was a great way to feel connected with a bunch of other half-naked-in-their-living-room dancers and also took care of my choice paralysis. Sadly, all that we have here are playlists and world leaderboards for any sort of global connection.
On the bright side, if you’re looking to tackle leaderboards, there’s a lot of profile customisations you can unlock to show off your style if you manage to make it to the leaderboards. All unlockable just by playing the game, which I very much appreciate.
But hey, I’m here to dance, even if it’s all by my lonesome self. As I mentioned earlier, Just Dance has two methods of controlling once you’ve connected your phone. The first option that lets you use your phone as a controller is here and, just like the last hundred times I’ve tried to use this option, it’s just not for me. Detection feels off and oftentimes you’ll perform poorly in songs you know you can pull off with ease, which really dampers the spirits. It’s a clumsy method of controlling, which is why I infinitely prefer the second option: the camera controller!
By setting your phone up against your TV or the table or whatever, you can dance without hanging onto a thousand-dollar brick for dear life. And this option is superior for tracking, in my opinion, as I tested both a Galaxy S25 Ultra and a dying iPhone 11 and got great results dancing my bum off with either phone. The downside to this method is that only a select few songs support this and one in particular (APT) outright not picking up any of my movements. Very lame! But this mode also requires quite a bit of space, which can be difficult for players who have tiny rooms. You’ll need at least two meters for this controller mode, so do keep that in mind.
Speaking of the songs! Just Dance 2026 Edition has a nice variety of songs that range from hip hop to mariachi music and titles from LGBTQIA+ artists. The visuals are always a treat in these games, and they have gotten a boost to production values over the years. “It’s ok I’m ok” by Tate Rae for example is a treat to dance to, both watching the graphics and the actual choreography of the dances you need to perform. There’s a good variety of difficulties and intensities (which are both separate indicators in Just Dance) that let players decide if they just want to mamba a bit, get a bit classy, or tear up their living room floor. There are family friendly songs like the ‘Bluey’ collaboration that made its way to 2026 and then there are songs like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” which is so heavily censored you might as well be listening to the karaoke version.
Just Dance 2026 Edition is still just as fun as it always was. It’s a great title to get your friends and family together around the TV all the while losing a few calories in the process. The experience is a bit clumsy this time around and some bugs can get in the way, but that won’t stop you from enjoying the latest round of songs in this year’s iteration of Ubisoft’s popular dancing series. All you gotta do is Just Dance. ∎
JUST DANCE 2026 EDITION
Played on
Xbox Series X
PROS
- Great visuals and strong choregraphy.
- Solid song lineup and Just Dance+ is reasonably priced.
CONS
- Using a phone as a controller is still a janky experience.
- Missing features from prior Just Dance titles and clumsy UX.
