Getting Down and Dirty With Just Dance 3

With bikini season just around the corner, I, and virtually every other college age female, started a diet this past week. It’s common knowledge that you can’t just lose weight by eating right. If you really want to shed those pounds, you have to sweat a little. So, I asked myself what the best way to start a workout regimen would be that wouldn’t be completely taxing. I could have run to the neighborhood gym and paid an arm, leg, and the blood of my first born child; or, I could get a little creative.

The Nintendo Wii craze has been around for a few years now. Interactive video games are in virtually every household, including mine. I went to the store and asked the salesman what the most active game he had that would help get me in shape and wouldn’t break the bank. I wanted something that had come out more recently, knowing video games only get better with time. He pointed out to me Just Dance 3. Well, needless to say, I snatched it up, took it home, and started to boogie.

When I started it up, it went straight to a main menu, giving me options to “Just Dance” or “Just Sweat”. I wanted to see what this bad boy was all about, so I chose to “Just Dance”. The play list featured songs from Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz, and Cee Lo Green. It also had some fun songs like “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters, and “Take On Me” by A-Ha. The variety of music definitely made it more fun to get my jive on, and the playlists were easy to navigate, letting me skip the tracks I wasn’t interested in.

The “Just Sweat” option was just as fun. After creating a profile by simply adding my name, I was ready to go. I got to pick between three different work out levels, equivalent to either 30 minutes of walking, running or swimming. After I finished each dance I was able to see how many sweat points I accumulated, getting me closer to my predetermined daily goal. Also, each song gave me so many stars, one through five, based on my performance. Once I reached a certain amount I would unlock a gift challenge. This kept the game interesting; and kept me working towards something with a more immediate pay off.

This video game definitely out ranks its predecessors. It’s more user friendly in its ease to navigate as well as how well it reads my moves as a player. Compared to both Just Dance and Just Dance 2, Just Dance 3 offers more dance and song varieties and is overall more engrossing for the player. There is less frustration trying to get to the song or menu I wanted. Also, being a dance game, there is a lot of moving around. If I wasn’t directly in front of the screen, I would lose out on points with the previous two games; however, this version let me move around and still obtain a decent score.

The down side, with the Nintendo Wii, the only thing the censor reads is the controller movement. This means, it’s easy to get a high score while cheating and only moving your arms. There really isn’t much to gain physically by this except maybe a stronger dominant arm, and defeats the purpose of the game. However, with the other consoles Just Dance 3 is available on, it reads your whole body, making it more difficult to cheat.

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 The verdict is: if you want a way to get your cardio up, while working out your arms, legs and stomach, and you’re willing to play the game right, spend the money and get Just Dance 3. It’s fun to play and a good work out. Not to mention, it might teach you a few moves you can throw down on the dance floor. Not a bad investment, if I do say so myself.

Price (Wal-Mart)	$29.99
Game Rating	E 10+
Age Group	Ages 10 and up
Consoles	Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 Kinect, PlayStation 3