Just Dance 2015
Just Dance 2015 is a dance video game developed by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Milan and published by Ubisoft. The sixth main installment in the Just Dance series, it was announced at Ubisoft's E3 2014 press event on 9 June 2014 alongside Just Dance Now—a web-based spin-off of the franchise. It was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, and Wii U on 21 October 2014 in North America, 23 October in Europe, 24 October in the UK and 25 October in Asia. A sequel, Just Dance 2016 was released in October 2015.
2015 introduced additional social networking features to the series, including the ability for players to challenge other players online, and submit clips of themselves playing for inclusion into crowdsourced "Community Remix" routines featured in-game. The game also added the ability for a smartphone to be used as a controller with a companion app.
Just Dance 2015 received mostly positive reviews by critics, praising the franchise's continued focus on casual audience through its forgiving motion detection, multiplayer functionality, and pop-oriented soundtrack, although criticism was directed at the soundtrack for focusing too much on teen pop, as well as its user interface for having confusing and irregular conventions. As of December 31, 2014, 4 million copies have been shipped worldwide.
Gameplay
As in previous installments, players must mimic the routine of an on-screen dancer to a chosen song, scoring points based on their accuracy. A new "challenge" feature was added, which allows players to send and receive challenges to and from other players as ghost data. As with the spin-off Just Dance Now, Just Dance 2015 allows a smartphone to be used as a controller with a companion app, as an alternative to requiring a console's own motion control accessories. Motions are detected through the phone using its internal sensors.A new "wall" feature allows players to view news and updates, including received challenges. The online "World Dance Floor" mode introduced in 2014 returned, along with the "Autodance" video creator. Players could also submit clips of their own gameplay for a chance to be incorporated into a "Community Remix"—routines for selected songs that feature a compilation of player videos in place of the rendered dancers.
All online services ended on November 19, 2018.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of Just Dance 2015 includes 45 songs spanning across various genres. Geoffroy Sardin, Ubisoft EMEA's senior vice president of marketing, explained that the soundtrack was intended to contain "more top Billboard artists than ever before", citing demand by players.Note: "Dancing Queen" by ABBA was supposed to be in the game but was removed for unknown reasons. It later made an appearance in Just Dance 2018 as a Just Dance Unlimited exclusive.
| Song | Artist | Year |
| "4x4" | Miley Cyrus | 2013 |
| "Addicted to You" | Avicii | 2013 |
| "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" | Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell | 1967 |
| "Bad Romance" | Lady Gaga | 2009 |
| "Bailando" | Enrique Iglesias featuring Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona | 2014 |
| "Bang Bang" | Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj | 2014 |
| "Best Song Ever" | One Direction | 2013 |
| "Birthday" | Katy Perry | 2014 |
| "Black Widow" | Iggy Azalea featuring Rita Ora | 2014 |
| "Built for This" | Becky G | 2013 |
| "Burn" | Ellie Goulding | 2013 |
| "Dancing Diva" | The Girly Team | 2006 |
| "Dark Horse" | Katy Perry | 2014 |
| "Diamonds" | Rihanna | 2012 |
| "Don't Worry, Be Happy" | The Bench Men | 1988 |
| "Epic Sirtaki" | The Bouzouki's | 1964 |
| "Fatima" | Cheb Salama | 2014 |
| "Get Low" | Dillon Francis and DJ Snake | 2014 |
| "Happy" | Pharrell Williams | 2013 |
| "High Light, High Life" | Eason Chan | 2013 |
| "Holding Out for a Hero" | Bonnie Tyler | 1984 |
| "I Love It" | Icona Pop featuring Charli XCX | 2012 |
| "It's My Birthday" | will.i.am and Cody Wise | 2014 |
| "Let It Go" | Disney's Frozen | 2013 |
| "Little Apple" | Chopstick Brothers | 2014 |
| "Love Is All" | The Sunlight Shakers | 1974 |
| "Love Me Again" | John Newman | 2013 |
| "Macarena " | The Girly Team | 1995 |
| "Mahna Mahna" | Frankie Bostello | 1968 |
| "Maps" | Maroon 5 | 2014 |
| "Me and My Broken Heart" | Rixton | 2014 |
| "Movement Is Happiness " | Avishay Goren and Yossi Cohen | 2014 |
| "Never Can Say Goodbye" | Gloria Gaynor | 1974 |
| "Nitro Bot" | Sentai Express | 2013 |
| "Only You " | Love Letter | 1955 |
| "Papaoutai" | Stromae | 2013 |
| "Problem" | Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea and Big Sean | 2014 |
| "She Looks So Perfect" | 5 Seconds of Summer | 2014 |
| "Speedy Gonzalez" | Los Pimientos Locos | 1961 |
| "Summer" | Calvin Harris | 2014 |
| "Tetris" | Dancing Bros. | 1989 |
| "The Fox " | Ylvis | 2013 |
| "Till I Find You" | Austin Mahone | 2014 |
| "Us Under the Sunshine" | Wanting Qu | 2013 |
| "Walk This Way" | Run–D.M.C. and Aerosmith | 1986 |
| "Xmas Tree" | Bollywood Santa | 2014 |
| "You Spin Me Round | Dead or Alive | 1984 |
| "You're on My Mind" | Imposs featuring J. Perry | 2014 |
Downloadable content
Additional songs for Just Dance 2015 were released as downloadable content. Some DLC songs were re-issues of songs released as DLC for previous editions.| Song | Artist | Year | Release date |
| "Break Free" | Ariana Grande featuring Zedd | 2014 | 21 October 2014 |
| "I Luh Ya Papi" | Jennifer Lopez featuring French Montana | 2014 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Papaoutai" | Stromae | 2013 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Till I Find You" | Austin Mahone | 2014 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Movement Is Happiness " | Avishay Goren and Yossi Cohen | 2014 | 21 October 2014 |
| "One Way or Another " | One Direction | 2013 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Don't You Worry Child" | Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin | 2012 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Wake Me Up" | Avicii featuring Aloe Blacc | 2013 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Sexy and I Know It" | LMFAO | 2011 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Gangnam Style" | PSY | 2012 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Roar" | Katy Perry | 2013 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Die Young" | Kesha | 2012 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Just Dance" | Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donis | 2008 | 21 October 2014 |
| "I Need Your Love" | Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding | 2013 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Moves Like Jagger" | Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera | 2011 | 21 October 2014 |
| "Beauty and a Beat" | Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj | 2012 | 21 October 2014 |
| "We Can't Stop" | Miley Cyrus | 2013 | 25 November 2014 |
| "Want U Back" | Cher Lloyd featuring Astro | 2012 | 25 November 2014 |
| "C'mon" | Kesha | 2012 | 25 November 2014 |
| "Kiss You" | One Direction | 2013 | 25 November 2014 |
| "Funhouse" | P!nk | 2009 | 25 November 2014 |
| "Boom Clap" | Charli XCX | 2014 | 20 January 2015 |
| "Kiss Kiss" | Prince Royce | 2014 | 20 January 2015 |
| "Let It Go" | Disney's Frozen | 2013 | 20 January 2015 |
| "India Waale" | From Happy New Year | 2014 | 20 January 2015 |
| "Rock N Roll" | Avril Lavigne | 2013 | 20 January 2015 |
Reception
Just Dance 2015 received mixed-to-positive reviews by critics; Metacritic lists the Xbox One version of the game with an aggregate score of 70 out of 100 based on 17 critic reviews.Zack Stein of IGN gave the Xbox One version of Just Dance 2015 an 8.0 out of 10; describing the game as "a welcome, surprising reinvigoration of the series", Stein praised the game for continuing to provide an overall experience catered to a casual audience, jump-in multiplayer, along with improved Kinect motion tracking in-game, and the higher-quality production of the per-song background videos, but criticized the user interface for being "as confusing and frustrating as ever" due to irregular design choices and behaviors. In conclusion, Stein felt that "It would be easy to dismiss Just Dance 2015 as the 'same-old-same-old,' but that would overlook this finely tuned party game’s special-effects-laden dance numbers, complete with chorus lines and elaborate sets and costumes, and the social integration that holds the world-wide Just Dance community together."
Game Revolution, giving the game a 3 out of 5, felt that the game's soundtrack was "high-energy" albeit catered to a casual audience, noting that "singles like Pharrell's 'Happy' provide a strong pop basis while oddballs like a Tetris track or an unfortunately obnoxious song about a fox explore the far reaches of danceable contemporary music." Still, Just Dance 2015 was praised for its forgiving motion detection and multiplayer experience, concluding that "of my own preferences regarding the music genre, dancing remains somewhere out of the lead when it comes to interacting with sound and visuals, though Just Dance 2015 hits on every requirement I have from anything asking me to move my feet without a pad to stomp on."
Steve Hannley of Hardcore Gamer was more critical of Just Dance 2015, arguing that it did not provide enough differentiation over Just Dance 2014 to be described as anything more than a "track pack". Hannley felt that the game's social features, although well-designed, would not appeal to what he believed was the game's target audience. The game's soundtrack was also criticized for being the worst in series history for "clearly catering to teeny boppers and in doing so out practically anybody older than 21 with decent taste in music", and containing fewer "good" songs than 2014. In conclusion, giving the game a 3 out of 5, Hannley argued that "Just Dance is a series that's hard to hate as it genuinely wants players to have a good time, but 2015 is a misstep. Hardly anything has changed and practically nothing has for those who don’t partake in the online functionality".
As of December 31, 2014 Just Dance 2015 has shipped 4 million copies.