Wii & Xbox 360
NA: October 7, 2011
PAL: October 11, 2011
PlayStation 3
NA: December 6, 2011
AU: December 8, 2011
EU: December 9, 2011
Just Dance 3 is a 2011 dance rhythm game released on the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 with Kinect and Move support respectively for the latter two. It is part of the Just Dance video game series published by Ubisoft originally on the Wii and the third main installment of the series. Just Dance 3 was announced shortly after the release of Just Dance 2 and was released for the Wii and Xbox 360 on October 7, 2011 in North America and October 11, 2011 in Australia and Europe and for the PlayStation 3 on December 6, 2011 in North America, December 8, 2011 in Australia and December 9, 2011 in Europe. Just Dance 3 received positive reviews from critics and is the best-selling third-party Wii game of all-time, with sales of 9.92 million.
Gameplay
Like its predecessors, up to four players can play to mirror on-screen dance choreography from over 40 songs, as they are judged on their ability to follow a dance routine to a chosen song. During gameplay, the progress bar is displayed above the boomboxes that blast out the five judgements, with stars being obtained during the song. Along with Solo and Duet modes, Just Dance 3 features a Dance Crew mode which allows 4 players to dance together, each with their own unique choreography, as well as playlists that group songs into different categories. Players can now choose which dancer to play as for a Duet or Dance Crew song. The lyrics for the Duet songs are now on the left side of the screen like Solo songs, and the pictograms for each dancer in Duet and Dance Crew songs are placed together on the right side. On the PS3 version, a toggable option for karaoke-styled lyrics (with lyrics colored in yellow for both male and female vocals), in the same vein as the Japanese exclusive Just Dance game on the Wii, Just Dance Wii, is included. For Dance Crew songs, the boomboxes that blast out the five judgements are located on the left side of each player's progress bar. Players can unlock gifts such as new songs, game modes, as well as Dance Mashups which combines different dance routines in this game and the previous two installments of the Just Dance series into one song. Returning features in the game include Non-Stop Shuffle, Speed Shuffle, Medley, Simons Says and Just Sweat.
The Wii and PlayStation 3 versions have a Hold My Hand dance mode, where two players can share a Wii Remote or PlayStation Move Motion controller to dance. The Xbox 360 version has the ability to choose between the full version or the short version, and features two difficulties for both game modes, "Easy", where the player can use only their hands to score, and "Normal", where the player can use their entire body to score, as well as a "Shout Out" feature that uses the Kinect's voice recognition function, respectively, to sing the colored on-screen lyric in light blue when an icon appears. If successful, an additional Mojo point is earned. It also features a Just Create mode in which players can create their own routines with the Kinect. They can be saved, shared with their friends online and be played just like any other Just Dance routine.
Sound Effects Used
- Hollywoodedge, Amazon Jungle Ambien PE011001/Sound Ideas, FOREST, CENT. AMERICA - CENTRAL AMERICA: EVENING AMBIENCE, CRICKETS, BIRDS (Heard at the beginning of "Iko Iko"; DLC.)
- Hollywoodedge, Jungle Ambience Vari AT101501 (Heard at the beginning of "Iko Iko"; DLC.)
- Sound Ideas, ANIMAL, SEAGULL - SINGLE SEAGULL CHIRPS, BIRD 02 (Heard at the beginning of "Jamaican Dance"; PlayStation 3 and Wii versions only.)
- Hollywoodedge, Wind Cold Whistle BT022801 (Heard at the start of "I Don't Feel Like Dancing".)
- Sound Ideas, APPLAUSE, CHEERING - INDOOR: LARGE CONVENTION CROWD, AUDIENCE (Heard when "California Gurls" begins and ends.)
- Sound Ideas, BELL, SCHOOL - SCHOOL BELL: INTERNAL: SHORT RING (Heard once in "Baby One More Time".)
- Sound Ideas, BONGOS - ROLL, LONG, MUSIC, PERCUSSION, DRUMS (Last part; heard once in "Hey Boy Hey Girl".)
- Sound Ideas, CAMERA - 35MM AUTOMATIC: 1 SHOT, AUTO ADVANCE, PHOTOGRAPHY 02 (Used when swiping to take a new photo for a pose; Xbox 360 Only.)
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, GONG - SMALL, HIGH GONG, HARD HIT, MUSIC, PERCUSSION, CRASH (Heard once in "Hey Boy Hey Girl".)
- Sound Ideas, EXPLOSION - LARGE EXPLOSION 05 (Series 6000) (Heard at the beginning of "It's Raining Men"; DLC.)
- Sound Ideas, STEAM - SINGLE BLAST 01 (Heard at the start of Toxic; DLC)
- Sound Ideas, WIND - MAGIC WHIRLWIND, FANTASY (Heard at the beginning of "Proud Mary"; DLC Xbox 360 Only.)