I’ve been playing Just Dance for years, and camera controls make 2026 Edition the strongest entry yet

There’s always been one big problem with Ubisoft’s flagship dance party series since it made the jump to modern platforms. Without the motion sensing capabilities of the Kinect, Wii Remote, or PlayStation Move controller, it’s just been a pain to control.

Sure, those playing on Nintendo Switch have benefitted from the option to use a single Joy-Con in one hand, but if you were on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X and Series S you’d have to rely on awkwardly waving your phone around with the Just Dance Controller mobile app open on screen. The results weren’t particularly accurate or reliable, making chasing high scores far more awkward than it ever should’ve been.

With Just Dance 2026 Edition, however, it feels like the series has once again found its footing. This annual expansion introduces camera scoring letting you simply prop up your phone to record your actions and it’s something of a revelation.

Pair this brilliant feature with a fantastically varied song selection that contains some of the most visually stunning music videos yet, heaps of content, and a neat new mode, and you have by far the best instalment in years.

Break it down

If you’ve played a Just Dance game before, then you know the basic thrust here.

You pick a song from a selection and a stylized music video begins on screen. Your goal is simple, match the moves of the on-screen dancers as closely as possible - racking up points for every successful move as you go. Your score is then added to a leaderboard, measured against your previous attempts, or those of other players if you prefer. It’s a simple but effective formula, especially when you factor in the countless cosmetic unlocks awarded for hitting various goals and used to decorate your online profile.

Well-implemented local co-op makes it a great pick for livening up parties for up to four friends, while solo players can use an on-screen calorie counter to turn their dance into a workout. These aren’t entirely new features as Just Dance 2026 Edition is the fourth entry since the series made the transition to more a live service model, releasing as song packs alongside meaty updates rather than entirely new games, but there’s still a lot that’s new and exciting here for returning fans to enjoy.

The big new inclusion is the camera scoring system, which has been added to the existing Just Dance Controller mobile app. Whenever you start a compatible song you’re asked whether you want to play with the old motion scoring, or camera scoring. If you select camera scoring you’re instructed to prop up your phone on a surface a few meters away from your play space and line yourself up with an on-screen silhouette.

I normally play in the very compact area around my desk, so I was a little sceptical that I would have enough room but I was thankfully proven wrong. Propping the phone up on my bookshelf, it detected me immediately and never lost track of where I was. Playing without the weight of a phone in your hand is liberating and makes it so much easier to follow the choreography. Worrying about accidentally catapulting your pricey device out the nearest window every time a move has you swing your arms is finally a thing of the past.

Better still, if you already own Just Dance 2025 Edition you’ll be able to play all of those songs with this new control mode, giving you a fantastic excuse to revisit them. The only minor letdown here is that you can only use camera scoring when you’re playing alone. This is presumably some technical limitation and not a huge dealbreaker, but is worth bearing in mind if you were planning to pick up the game just for co-op play.

It can also be a little bit tricky to keep your phone stable. I reliably managed it with some books, but you might want to invest in a cheap phone stand if you intend to set it up directly in front of your screen.

Backing track

It wouldn’t be a new Just Dance edition without a heap of fresh songs to play, and this year's entry doesn’t disappoint. Your enjoyment of any line-up is always going to come down to personal preference, but I found the 40 or so tracks this year to be fantastically varied.

Where previous years have been dominated by one or two big artists or themes, 2026 Edition has everything from recent hits like Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ and Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Feather’ to long-awaited party titans like Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’.

K-pop fans can feast on Babymonster’s ‘Drip’ while TikTok addicts will have plenty of fun with viral sensations like Doechii’s ‘Anxiety’. Just Dance titles also offer their own original songs which for the last few installments have basically boiled down to generic pop with slightly cringeworthy lyrics. One of this year’s however, the cutesy ‘Sokusu’, is genuinely very catchy with an easy to learn but hard to master dance that has you hopping across the screen.

Each track is accompanied by a gorgeous music video which all stand apart as some of the most attractive and complex that the series has had yet. They look stunning with a wide range of colorful visuals and themes. Some also break away from the conventional Just Dance aesthetic in innovative and interesting ways. Take this year’s inevitable kids song inclusion, a Bluey-inspired medley that’s animated exactly like the hit children’s TV show or the spooky claymation style of ‘Born to Be Alive (Reborn Version)’.

A few songs have engaging alternate versions too, whether that’s relaxed drag show performances or intense sports routines designed to test your fitness.

Just Dance 2026 Edition – Full Songlist Trailer - YouTube

Watch On

If all of this somehow isn’t enough, you can add to your library by picking up previous Edition releases (which are available pretty cheaply now) or subscribing to Just Dance Plus to stream hundreds and hundreds of songs taken from across the series.

All versions of Just Dance 2026 Edition include memberships of varying length (which you can activate at any time from an in-game menu) and it only costs $24.99 / £19.99 to add on a whole year - a very reasonable price for what you get.

Personal highlights for me include the energetic ‘Love Ward’ from Just Dance 2018 and the utterly ridiculous Angry Birds ‘Balkan Blast Remix’. The only thing that could possibly make it better would be if some of the best tracks from the more obscure entries came over.

Where’s Koda Kumi’s ‘Cutie Honey’ from the Japan-exclusive Just Dance Wii, Ubisoft?

Lab rats

Just Dance games rarely ship without some kind of new mode, and Just Dance 2026 Edition is no exception. This year you get a new co-op Party Mode themed around a mad scientist’s lab. It lets you play any of your owned songs in short bursts with weird visual effects overlayed on top.

This could involve an animated dinosaur appearing on screen and blocking your dancer from view to being forced to clap for points.

The effects themselves are amusing but not particularly game changing, though the fact that the mode can draw from your entire song library is great. If you’re playing with a Just Dance Plus subscription then there’s a strong chance that you haven't played whatever comes up before, forcing you to adapt not only to the special challenges but an unfamiliar routine.

It’s a great way to find new songs to play, and I've picked up a few new favorites that would have otherwise been completely overlooked given the sheer size of the roster.

It also helps avoid the struggle to pick which song to play when you’re joined by friends, leading to a much more frictionless experience and helping everyone get straight to the dancing rather than faffing around in menus.

I can't think what else you could possibly want from a dance party game.

Should I play Just Dance 2026 Edition?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

There is unfortunately no dedicated accessibility menu in Just Dance 2026 Edition. The game supports scoring via both holding your phone in your hands or using its camera but each method requires a substantial range of motion across your whole body. The user interface can be tweaked somewhat, for example disabling visual score feedback or song lyrics.

How I reviewed Just Dance 2026 Edition

I played almost 10 hours of Just Dance 2026 Edition on PlayStation 5. For the controls, I relied on my Porsche Design Honor Magic 7 RSR Android phone using the official Just Dance Controller mobile app.

During that time I played the songs that appealed to me from the overall line-up, chasing high-scores in both motion control and camera control modes. I compared my experience to my hands-on testing of previous Just Dance games on a wide range of platforms including Just Dance VR.

First reviewed October 2025