Just Dance 2025 & Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity Review - A Brand New Immersive Experience

Written by Brandon Hofer  on November 02, 2024

Reviews: Just Dance 2025 offers new songs as well as some classic favorites while Just Dance VR brings a whole new level of immersion.

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Recently Ubisoft released both the 2025 version of Just Dance as well as making their debut on VR platforms with Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity. I have spent time with each version and have come away impressed with what Ubisoft has had to offer. I played the 2025 version of Just Dance on my Xbox Series X and Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity on the Meta Quest 3. Both versions can be a lot of fun to play with the VR experience offering a bit more of an immersive experience.

The 2025 version of Just Dance that is available on consoles will be the version the majority of people experience so I’ll talk about that first. This year’s version has over 40 new songs from Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, Kylie Mingoue, and more. In addition to that there are some returning favorites as well such as “Poker Face” from Lady Gaga, “Unstoppable” from Sia, and “Basket Case” from Green Day.



When I first started up the game I was happy with the number of options that were in front of me. There is the songs tab where I can pick whatever I want. The sorting options are great here as well being able to sort by product, or by difficulty, alphabetically, and more. I was also able to select the order in which they appeared, such as having the songs that I own be listed first. There are also different styles and genres that you can pick from if you are only in the mood for a certain kind of music. Those times I didn’t quite know what I wanted to play I simply hit the “Surprise me!” button and the game picked for me which resulted in some chaotic fun.

I appreciate the fact that I could create my own custom playlist so that I could just pick and choose what I wanted regardless of genre, difficulty, or anything else. For those who want to jump into a quick session there are playlists the team has put together as well. These can include a K-pop playlist using the songs that were in the 2023 edition of Just Dance, eight different songs that will go to the extreme and give you a great workout for almost half an hour, some party night music, and much more. There is even a playlist that should change over time that features the songs that are most popular globally.



For the Xbox version I used the Just Dance 2025 app as my controller when dancing and the PlayStation version will be the same. For the Nintendo Switch version you can use the Joy-Cons to track your movement to score your dance moves. For Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity on the Meta Quest 3 there is a controller you can use for each hand, similar to the Joy-Cons, that will track your movements, in addition to the VR headset itself which provides a fully immersive experience within the world of Just Dance.

For the completionists out there that like to experience everything a game has to offer, there is also a progression section within your profile. This is where you can see what goals you have achieved and how much more you have to do for the next one. This is broken down into different categories such as “explore,” “workout,” “rise,” and more. Goals range from playing 20 solo songs to collecting 200 stars, and completing certain playlists. Once you complete a goal your character earns XP and eventually levels up. I spent a good amount of time in this section trying to plot what goals I wanted to complete to try and level up my character quickly. Rewards for leveling up include new emotes, new landscapes, new outfits, and more. It is something that fans can really sink their teeth into while more casual players can just enjoy playing through songs and never have to visit this section of the game.



Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity introduces a whole new level of immersion for the franchise. There are three main spaces available to you here such as “Dancity,” your “Apartment,” and “Danceverses.” Think of Dancity as a virtual Times Square. This is a hub where you can meet up to 18 different people and where you can control your journey within Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity. This is also where you go to join in public matchmaking to dance with others around the globe.

It should go without saying but I’ll mention it anyway. If you are playing Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity, make sure you have enough physical space to do so. You don’t want to accidentally kick something or hit something with your arm during a dance and potentially injure yourself. The way I was able to explore the world is using the analog stick on the controller in my right hand. Nudge it forward a bit and your character takes a step forward. Hold the stick in the up position and you can aim where you want your character to go and then with a press of a button you are there. When I was in Dancity I walked to the top of a three story structure to get the best view of the surrounding areas. After that I went to one of the billboards and chose “Hollaback Girl” as the song I would play next. There is also a leaderboard within this hub so you can see who is tearing up the virtual dance floor.



The main starting point in Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity is your apartment. It is set overlooking Dancity so you can look out the window and see some of the bright lights. This is also a location that you can walk around that also houses some nice interactive elements. For example, this apartment is two stories, and just below the second floor is a basketball hoop. There is a basketball you can pick up and try shoot baskets, similar to something like Wii Sports. On the second floor there is also a virtual trophy case where you can check out what you have accomplished. I accidentally picked one up and threw it across the room my first time playing. There is also a giant television in the room where you can pick some songs you want to dance to. I’m not going to go over every aspect of the area but I think you get the picture about this being an immersive, interactive space.

I also mentioned the “danceverses” and this is where you can play 360 degree adaptations of some of the songs. I do have to say that it is pretty damn cool to kind of be “surrounded” by a song instead of just looking at a television playing on my Xbox. Being “in” that world and experiencing everything going on is pretty awesome and might become my regular way to experience this franchise going forward.



The controls in Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity are fairly simple once you get over the learning curve, especially if you are new to virtual reality as a whole. At any point when you aren’t dancing you can press the “B” to bring up a radial menu. This is another way to control your experience. On the wheel you can select different locations to travel to, check to see if any friends are online, see if you have any pending notifications, and that type of thing. It all seems to flow together really well once you get the hang of everything and start developing some muscle memory.

If you do want to have a dancing partner, Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity offers private parties with up to six players where you can invite your friends to your apartment to dance the night away, or interact with the items such as the aforementioned basketball. There is also public matchmaking that can take place in Dancity where you can dance with up to six other people. Being able to socialize with each other in this manner is a lot of fun and I look forward to future iterations of Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity to see what they come up with next.



During my experience I only found one negative. The song list in Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity is a little smaller than Just Dance 2025, which is annoying. There is still a lot there to play and experience but playlist parity would have been nice. There are 40 new songs in the 2025 version compared to the 25 songs in Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity. Perhaps that is simply because this is the debut of Just Dance as a VR title and future iterations will have the same song list but that is just a guess.

Overall I really enjoyed my experiences with Just Dance 2025 and Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity. Even though the core principles are the same, the virtual reality edition impressed me the most with its level of immersion and how easy it was to jump into a song, whether I was doing a solo act or hopping into multiplayer. If you are brand new to virtual reality there might be some initial challenges getting used to everything but once you get past that point, the game will open up to you and you will become a dancing megastar in no time.

Please Note: Ubisoft provided codes for Just Dance 2025 and Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity for review purposes.

The score on this review applies to both titles.