Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Just Dance 2014, as all of its predecessors, is a great video game, but it can be a bit of a dilemma for parents. On the one hand, it's a great way to have fun as a family and to get some great exercise. But on the other hand, some parents may feel uncomfortable having to explain songs like "Get Lucky", "Blurred Lines" and "I Kissed a Girl" to their very young kids. Ubisoft's answer to these parents is Just Dance Kids 2014. The gameplay is essentially the same as Just Dance 2014, with a few differences that make it more kid friendly. While it's not without its flaws, Ubisoft did a pretty good job of making it a game that the whole family can enjoy. The first difference is that a lot of the extras you see in Just Dance 2014 aren't there. There are no "Sweat Mode" and no "Mojo Points" to earn. The tracks have one set of dance steps, unlike Just Dance 2014 that has multiple routines per song. And of course, there's no "JDTV" nor online play options. You also can't create dancer cards nor track individual dancers' performances (everyone plays as "Player 1", "Player 2", and so on). The next difference is in the track list. It's not the typical fingerboards-on-the-chalkboard-please-put-me-out-of-my-misery collection of kiddie songs sung by someone who's breathed in too much helium. It actually has a soundtrack which, dare I say, is pretty "cool". You have pop songs from stars who got their starts on the Disney Channel like Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Bridget Mendler, as well as popular songs from groups like One Direction and Owl City that tweens in the family will enjoy. You also have oldies like "Magic Carpet Ride", "Footloose" and "The Hustle" that Mom and Dad will appreciate; a few kid-friendly songs from the likes of the cast of Fraggle Rock and The Wiggles; and even "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Hickory Dickory Dock" for the toddlers in the family (the former which inexplicably has a difficulty rating of 2/3 stars). Here's a complete track list: 789 Day O Do You Love Me Fireflies Footloose Fraggle Rock The Freeze Game - Yo Gabba Gabba Get Down On It Get Ready to Wiggle - The Wiggles Give Your Heart a Break - Demi Lovato Hickory Dickory Dock Hit Me With Your Best Shot Hit the Lights - Selena Gomez and The Scene The Hustle I Like to Move It Interstellar Simon Magic Carpet Ride Make It Shine - Victoria Justice Mary Had a Little Lamb One Thing - One Direction Party in the Kitchen A Pirate You Shall Be Power Ups Problem (The Monster Remix) - Becky G feat. will.i.am Put Your Hearts Up - Ariana Grande Ready or Not - Bridget Mendler Shout Skip To My Lou The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room Walking on Sunshine We Go Well Together - Goldheart Each song is marked with 1-3 stars for difficulty and 1-3 sweat drops for energy level, something which has been in all the versions of Just Dance but which some reason was taken away from Just Dance 2014. The other big difference is in the graphics. Instead of a faceless silhouette as your dance guide, your dance guide is a video image of actual kids dancing to the songs. My guess is that they decided to use real animated figures instead of abstract ones because they're easier for kids to follow--there's even a glowing trail on the dancer's right hand that makes it extremely easy to follow. The animations are also whimsical and again, have a bit more realism and a bit less abstraction than the grown-up game. I'm not sure if I was having a bad night, but motion tracking wasn't working as well for me as it did on Just Dance 2014, which can always be a bit frustrating. Interestingly, Just Dance 2014 for Kids uses the Wii Remote, while the grown-up version uses the Wii Remote Plus, so that might account for some of the difference. There are three dance modes. The first is "Just Dance", where just like the grown-up version 1-4 players can dance to the song and are scored on accuracy. The second is "Freeze and Shake", which is kind of a cross between "Red Light, Green Light" and "Simon Says" where in the middle of the song you'll see icons next to your avatar telling you to shake your Wii remote or to freeze, and you'll get points for following the instructions correctly. While I assume this mode was meant to appeal to younger players who are frustrated because they can't do the dance moves, but want to get points for following instructions, this feature kind of fell flat for me. Even as an adult, it was hard for me to focus on the dance moves and constantly be looking in the upper left-hand corner to see whether I should shake the remote or move it. The third mode is "Team High Score", where all the players will dance, and while a "spotlight" shines on a certain player's avatar, that player will dance while the other players will shake their remotes vigorously to collect the "stars" that the player generates. Again, probably a good feature for young players who want to feel like they're earning points just like the older players, but not a very appealing feature for everyone. While I appreciate the addition of these extra modes to try to make it more fun for the family to play together, I'm not sure if these particular modes will be appealing to anyone except for the very young players to "fit in". That said, I'd definitely like to see future versions continue to try to come up with ways the whole family can play together. There's a "Parents" section of the game that has six options: "Play Tracker", where parents can view the gameplay history; "Progress" that shows top scores for each of the songs in each of the modes, as well as the number of times each song has been played; "Medals", which shows achievements of various kinds; "Options", which lets you toggle lyrics, next move icons, progress meter and usage tracking on and off, and also lets you choose your language (English, Spanish, French). There's also a "Philosophy" button in this section; when you click it, you read a personal note from the designers, artists, producers and programmers of the game who talk about their approach to making this game. I definitely appreciate this team's philosophy, and they did do a very good job of making a game that's really family-friendly and age-appropraite. But I was a bit disappointed that the new modes weren't as compelling for all ages as they could have been. Also, there are plenty of songs and features on the grown-up version of Just Dance that are perfectly family-friendly, and kids who see their friends with Just Dance 2014 may feel a bit slighted that Just Dance Kids 2014 doesn't have the same level of features or songs. I almost wish that instead of "penalizing" parents by making them purchase a new $29.99 game, Ubisoft could just incorporate some of these songs and features into the regular version of Just Dance and provide parental controls for parents who want them. But that said, if you're a parent who has young children, Just Dance Kids 2014 has a great selection of songs and dances for kids aged 6-14, and you can rest assured that you won't be blushing trying to explain the lyrics to the songs.