Parents' Guide to Just Dance 3

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Common Sense Media Review

Marc Saltzman By Marc Saltzman , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 10+

Social game encourages exercise, but mild cussing in lyrics.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 10+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 9+

Based on 4 parent reviews

age 7+

Based on 33 kid reviews

Kids say this game is a fantastic choice for family fun and parties, appealing to all ages with a variety of danceable songs. However, some songs contain suggestive lyrics and moves that may not be suitable for younger children, leading to mixed opinions on age appropriateness.

  • fun for all ages
  • suggestive lyrics
  • family party game
  • mixed age suitability
  • popular song choices
Summarized with AI

What's It About?

The third game in Ubisoft's hit dancing game franchise once again challenges players to mimic moves of professional dancers. As with past games, the Nintendo Wii version of JUST DANCE 3 has you hold the motion-sensing Wii Remote in your hands as you perform the onscreen dance moves to rack up points. But for the first time, Xbox 360 gamers can also get in on the fun by using the hands-free Kinect for Xbox 360 peripheral; body moves are captured by the sensors and camera to judge your rhythm compared to the onscreen dancers. The game is also available on PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Move peripheral and PlayStation Eye camera.

For all three versions, there are more than 40 tracks to dance along with, spanning a wide range of musical genres, such as pop, hip-hop, rock, country, disco, R&B, Bollywood, and Reggaeton. Example of popular songs from today and yesterday include "Pump It" by Black Eyed Peas, "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by KISS, "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and the no. 1 spot on music charts during the summer of 2011, "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO. More songs will be available via optional download.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 4 ):
Kids say ( 33 ):

With this third version of the Just Dance series, Ubisoft has retained its accessible and fun gameplay -- ideal for all ages, both genders, and varying skill levels -- but has added new consoles, songs, and new features for each of the three versions. For example, the Nintendo Wii game now has four-player support and dynamic, colorful environments. The Xbox 360 version, on the other hand, has the new "Shout Out!" feature, which lets you score extra points by singing along with the tunes (captured by Kinect's microphone) and the option to create your own choreographies.

As with its predecessors, the game has very basic visuals -- simply showing colorful silhouettes of its dancers rather than detailed characters (like MTV Games' Dance Central) -- but the game isn't about great graphics. It's a very fun social game with great music, numerous modes; and it gets gamers on their feet instead of lounging around.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether Ubisoft did the right thing by keeping the gameplay essentially the same as its best-selling predecessors -- but adding new music and modes -- or do gamers prefer when developers change the gameplay more to justify the purchase?

  • Do you like getting your exercise by playing games that give you a physical workout?

Game Details

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