Sadly, this is probably going to be one of the last Playstation 3 fitness games I or anyone else ever reviews. There just aren’t new games being developed for the PS3 as the world gets ready for the PS4. And of course, fitness games themselves have gone a bit out of vogue.

Back in 2012, you might recall I excitedly talked about a new game from Sony Computer Entertainment called Move Fitness. It had been released in Europe and I was eagerly awaiting its arrival in the US.

Funny thing, I didn’t even realize until a few months after the fact that it had been released in the US, albeit as a downloadable title on the Playstation Store (the official launch date was March 26, 2013). Seems that fitness games had gone so out of vogue that Sony didn’t even bother to release it on a disc nor throw a lot of marketing behind it. My guess is that Move Fitness went on the drawing board at a time when games like Wii Fit were raking in money, and by the time it came to fruition the industry started to turn its back on fitness gaming.

What’s sad is that Playstation Move Fitness is great. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the best fitness games I’ve reviewed, and those of you who’ve been reading this blog for a long time know that I’ve literally played every fitness game on the Wii, Xbox, and PS3. Playstation Move Fitness is probably the first game that gets motion controls right. The controls aren’t imprecise like the Wii, nor are they sluggish or bloated like the Kinect. The on-screen character reacts at the same time you do with one-to-one precision.

Something else I like is that this game keeps it simple. It doesn’t try to be all things to all people like Adidas MiCoach or Nike+ for Kinect seem to do. It just sticks to what it does, and does a great job at it.

Okay, enough talk, here’s my review.

The first thing you see when you start the game is the “Sony Computer Entertainment” credit. Right away, this is a good sign. I’ve had nothing but great experiences with SCEA titles, from Sports Champions to MLB: The Show to LittleBigPlanet. Right away, I know the quality is going to be pretty good.

You start by configuring the Move controller for your dominant hand, adjusting the screensize (which will be important to make sure your gameplay is accurate), and selecting your age and gender.

You then choose a “trainer”. It really doesn’t make a difference which one you pick; each one will give identical workouts, so it really depends on whose voice you want to hear and whose picture you want to see giving you instructions. In politically correct fashion, there’s a white dude in a tanktop, a white dudette in a tanktop, an African American (or more likely, a Black British) dude in a tanktop, and an Asian female in a tanktop.

You then choose your unit of measurement–metric or imperial. I don’t think too many people know what the word “Imperial” means anymore, so they probably would have been better giving examples, like “meters vs. feet”.

You then enter your weight. Of course, unlike the Wii the game can’t calculate your weight for you, so you’re on the honor system. You can enter a minimum of 44 pounds and a maximum of 441 pounds, so anyone who’s 442 is out of luck. You then enter your height and click “Create Profile”. You do have the option to connect to the Playstation Network.

The home screen has four options: Workout Programs, Single Exercise, Profile & Info, and Settings & Extras.

Workout Programs are basically tailor-made fitness programs that put together multiple “Single Exercises”. You can schedule workouts on a regular basis, and because of the sheer number of exercises you can choose from it’s unlikely you’ll ever get bored.

When you select Single Exercise, you see a list, in alphabetical order, of every individual exercise that’s featured in the Workout Programs.

I would divide them into three broad categories: Ball and Sports games, Boxing and Punching games, and Cardio and Aerobics games.

When you select an exercise, the first thing you do is calibrate the second Move controller by pointing it at the Playstation Eye and pressing the trigger button. You then stretch out your arms to the widest they will go, and then move your body so that it fits within the camera. One thing I absolutely love about the game is that it’ll accommodate you playing in a small room, a minimum of 5 feet 9 inches and a maximum of 9 feet 9 inches. This is much more forgiving than most Kinect exercise games, where you have to completely clear out all the furniture in your living room.

The main page of the exercise will appear, displaying the best score (and highest amount of calories burned) you’ve gotten on the exercise, the last score and calories burned, and the total score and calories burned added up from all the times you’ve ever played it.

You can turn the tutorial (a few intro screens) on and off. Happily, most of the exercises are so intuitive that you really don’t need them.

You can also select 1-4 players. Unfortunately, they can’t play simultaneously, but you can play one at a time and compare your scores. It’s great if you have a workout buddy.

All the games keep score based on how well you do the exercise; do a good job and you’ll get double scores, and do an outstanding job and the exercise will go into “overdrive” mode, during which time you can get 5x scores.

Here’s a description of each exercise.

Ball and Sports games

Basket – This was the first exercise I played, and it shows the best of the best this game has to offer. You squat down to pick up a basketball, and then stand up, rear back, and throw the basketball into a hoop, using the T button to let go of the ball. I won’t say this is the most realistic basketball game; as long as you throw the basketball with both hands using an arc motion, sufficient force, and the generally correct direction, you’ll have no problems scoring baskets. Bottom line, you do get the same thrill you get playing real basketball, and you squat, stand up, and jump without even thinking about it, which provide great exercise. This is what a fitness game should be–one that’s fun enough that you don’t even notice that you’re getting a workout. 5 out of 5.

Catch – Here, you’re holding up a net with both your hands as a machine shoots balls out at you all over the place. You have to run to the left and to the right and hold your hands in the right place to catch the ball. This is one game where I wish they had 3D support, as it’s tough to really pick up the ball coming at you on a 2D screen. But as long as you watch the red light on the machine (which tells you when the ball is being released) and follow the trajectory of the ball into your glove, you’ll have a lot of fun with this one.  5 out of 5.

Clear – This is another simple but ridiculously fun one. Your trainer is standing on top of a ramp and rolling medicine balls down to you. Your job is to intercept them and roll them back up to him. In a short time, it becomes a lot like that episode of I Love Lucy in the chocolate factory, as you’re running from left to right trying to keep all the balls on the ramp from getting past you. This is another one that’s both fun and realistic in its graphics and physics. 5 out of 5.

Dodge – This is another game where a ball machine is hurling balls at you, but instead of catching them you need to dodge them. Blue shading in front of you will show you the area you need to avoid getting hit. You can move to the left or the right, or you can lean, lunge, and dodge. This one is pretty simple when the balls are slow, but once you get into “overdrive mode”, look out! 5 out of 5.

Dodgeball – This game is a combination of Dodge (above) and Throw (below). It’s a game a lot like classic dodgeball, where you have to duck from the machine throwing balls at you, while picking up balls in front of you and hurling them at one of five cutout figures. As I’ll mention below, the throwing took a little getting used to, but this one was a lot of fun as well. 5 out of 5.

Pickup – In this game you crouch of pick up a ball, and then you need to crouch, stand up, or jump or stretch upwards to deposit the ball into one of six targets using a forward pass. What’s very cool about this game (which we’ll also mention in some of the boxing games) is that your vantage point changes in the game depending on how you move; stretch or jump upwards and the camera will pan to the top targets; duck downwards, and the camera will pan to the bottom ones. 5 out of 5

Throw – In this game, you need to crouch down to pick up a ball, and then hurl it with either your right hand or your left hand to topple one of five cardboard cutout figures. Figuring out how to aim and throw is a little tricky at first, but after time you’ll get the hang of it.  5 out of 5

Chopping – It wouldn’t be a Move game without swords. This game is a lot like Fruit Ninja and every other slashing sword game you’ve played, but the swords are amazingly precise. Unfortunately, the same 2D vs 3D problem I mentioned above applies here, as it’s very, very difficult to make out the depth of the plates being thrown at you. I ended up just flailing my arms wildly, which perhaps isn’t good samurai technique, but I did get some good cardio out of it. 5 out of 5.

Boxing and Punching Games

Breaking Walls – It wouldn’t be a Move game without boxing either. Unlike on the Wii or Kinect, the boxing on the PS3 is amazing, down to seeing your hands rotate in real-time on screen as you do it in real life. Breaking Walls is a great game where you literally punch out pieces of a call, causing it to shatter and clear. You basically go from pane to pane, rearing up and punching as hard as you can. It’s very realistic and very cathartic on days when you feel like punching the wall but don’t want to clean up the mess. 5 out of 5.

Dummy Targets – Here, you face off against a dummy that looks like he’s made of foam. Targets will light up on his face, chest, and lower left and lower right sides. You need to punch the targets, in some case adjusting your body (again, which automatically adjust the camera angle accordingly). I really like how this encourages not just punching but also squatting and leg movements as well. 5 out of 5.

Dummy Warmup – This is a good exercise to get acclimated to punching the dummy in “Dummy Targets”. There are no targets here, you just get a minute to punch as much as you like out of the foam dummy. The more, faster, and harder you punch the more points you’ll rack up. The attention to details is astounding. As you punch the dummy, you’ll see it move exactly the way it should in real life, even down to the detail of the foam and vinyl on the dummy changing as you hit it. This is another great one to play if you just need to let off some steam. 5 out of 5.

Heavy Bag on Rail – Here you’re hitting a heavy punching bag along a rail. As the bag starts to travel down the curving rail, you’ll need to position your body to keep the bag moving. This one is really realistic and a great workout. 4.5 out of 5.

Heavy Bag Targets – This one is similar to  Dummy Targets, except instead of targets showing up on a dummy they show up on a heavy bag. As with Dummy Targets, as you rotate your body in real life, the camera rotates around the bag on your screen, making for a virtually realistic experience. 5 out of 5.

Heavy Bag Warmup – This one has the same concept as Dummy Warmup. Just wind up and flail away as long as you can until your arms get sore. The heavier and more varied your punches the higher your score. 5 out of 5.

Mitts – Here, you can work on different kinds of punches. Your trainer will hold color-coded mitts up and shout out instructions to throw a left or right uppercut, hook, jab, or cross. You need to punch accordingly. As you get good, you won’t need to wait for the instruction, you’ll just recognize the position of your trainer’s glove and do the right punches. 5 out of 5.

Mitts Combos – Same idea here as Mitts, except the trainer will hold up two gloves in different positions and you have to throw the right combination of punches. 5 out of 5.

Punching Pad – As I played through all of these, I started to realize that most of them seem pretty similar. Punching pad has your trainer in the ring holding up a pad and having you hit targets on it. You need to hit them accurately and with force. The twist here is that your trainer will move to the right or left, so you have to keep up with him. 5 out of 5.

Sparring – This one brings all your boxing training to practice. You’re sparring against your trainer. Targets will appear all over his body which you have to hit with force, and you need to dodge his punches. I wouldn’t say this is as strong as The Fight: Lights Out, but it does the job. 4.5 of 5.

Cardio and Aerobic games

I won’t go through each of these games, as they’re all pretty similar. You do a pretty standard cardio exercises, such as jump squats, jumping jacks, lunges, or twists. Red and blue targets will appear on the screen, which you’ll be expected to pass your hand through as you do the exercise.

I’ll say upfront that for these it’s fairly easy to “cheat” by not doing the complete exercise, but of course since the goal of this game is to get a great workout, that’d be a rather silly thing for someone to do.

Overall, it’s never fun to do a lot of these exercises, but “gamifying” the exercises really does make them a little easier to get through. There’s just something about going into “overdrive mode” that helps motivate you to try a little harder and faster, despite how tired you are.

Here are the exercises. Most are self explanatory, but you can watch the video to see them in action.

Circling Arms
Cross Punching
Jump Squats
Jump Squats Switch
Jumping Jacks
Lunges
Punch Up
Shoulder Press
Triange
Twists

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All in all, if Playstation Move Fitness represents the denouement of Playstation Fitness games (and in many ways, this blog), I’d say it’s a good one to end with. It finally brings the worlds of virtual reality, motion controls, and exercise together in a really compelling way. It’s just a shame that the gaming industry doesn’t see fit to really market this category anymore, especially given the epidemic of obesity in the United States and throughout the Western world.

The good news, of course, is that the PS4 will continue to support the Move, and hopefully game developers will continue to push the envelope in developing virtual reality titles that really force you to jump, kick, dodge, lunge, punch, and dance your way to victory and fitness. And don’t worry, I’ll be there covering it 🙂

If you’re interesting in buying Playstation Move Fitness, it’s not available in stores; you can only get it at the Playstation Store on the Playstation Network. In order to buy it, you can purchase a Sony Playstation Network Card at Amazon, and then input the code into the Playstation Store. The game is only $9.99, much less than the $59.99 one might expect if the game were launched in physical form. It’s not the end-all, be-all video game, but what it does, it does very, very well, and easily gets 5 out of 5 stars from me.

The Playstation Move and the Xbox Kinect were both launched with tremendous fanfare. Both motion-control mechanisms were supposed to revolutionize high-end gaming, bringing the active gaming, motion control experience the Wii pioneered to high resolution games. It would usher in a whole new world of virtual reality gaming.

Both Sony and Microsoft took very different approaches to motion gaming. Microsoft opted for motion sensors that detected the whole body’s movements from head to toe, touting a controller-free experience. Sony, on the other hand, basically mimicked the Wii’s use of a handheld controller, offering much more precision than the Wii could deliver.

As someone who’s reviewed a lot of games on both this site and its sister site XboxFitness.Org, I can say that the results on both systems have been largely disappointing. The Kinect has some impressive technology, but developers seem unable or unwilling to create much of anything but lumbering, sluggish games that require way too much playing space.

On the other hand, early games such as The Fight: Lights Out and the original Sports Champions for the Playstation Move were nothing short of extraordinary. High resolution graphics combined with highly accurate motion controls helped you really feel like you were boxing, or playing ping pong, or fighting with swords.

That was in 2010. Now, more than two years later, there haven’t been very many games that seem to really take full advantage of the Move. most game developers that use the Move seem to include it almost as either a gimmick or as an afterthought.

Sports Champions 2 is the first Playstation Move game in a while that’s been worthy of a five-star rating. Just like its predecessor, the developers showcase the Move’s full capabilities. It’s really a shame that other developers can’t follow suit.

The idea behind Sports Champions 2 is simple: think of it as Wii Sports for the Playstation. In fact, four of the sports (Tennis, Bowling, Boxing and Golf) were literally in Wii Sports and were most likely left off of the original Sports Champions because the developers wanted to avoid comparisons or accusations of them being derivative (which they were of course). In addition, they’ve brought back archery (which was also in the original Sports Champions), and added skiing.

You start out by calibrating one or two Move controllers by pointing them at the Playstation Eye one by one and pressing the Move and trigger buttons.

You can jump into playing the sports right away using “Free Play”, or you can select “Cup Mode” to play matches against progressively harder opponents and earn Bronze, Silver, or Gold prizes for completing a certain number of matches (including challenges and “boss matches”) and collecting points for achieving objectives along the way. Finally, you can select “Party Play” to play as a group.

As with the original Sports Champions, after you finish playing you have the option of taking a “victory photo” of you holding an augmented reality piece of sports equipment. They also added the ability for your to save your photo or post to Facebook.

Bowling is pretty much the same as the Wii Sports game, of course with much higher resolution graphics. The one big difference is when setting up your shot, instead of using arrow keys to position your player, you can press and hold the Move button and actually walk to your left or your right. Other than that, it’s just a matter of holding down the trigger button, making a bowling motion with your arm, and releasing it at the right moment. You can also make the ball spin by twisting your wrists.

Obviously, there’s not much of a workout in this, and in all honesty other than the improved graphics it really doesn’t feel much different than what we were playing on the Wii years ago.

Boxing, on the other hand, is obviously much improved over the “fling your arms wildly” boxing games you find on the Wii and even the Kinect. It uses two Move controllers to let you control both your hands.

The obvious comparison is going to be to The Fight: Lights Out. The graphics in both games are excellent; while The Fight: Lights Out presents a gritty street brawl-type environment, the environment here is more like traditional boxing. Also unlike The Fight, there’s no blood or guts in this one, it’s very family friendly.

Like The Fight, you have pretty precise control over your fighter. You can punch to the head and to the body with jabs, uppercuts, hooks, or quick combinations. You can block punches to your head and to your body by holding the Move controller over either, and you can dodge by using the trigger buttons on either hand. The harder you punch in real life, the harder you punch in the game. As you increase in difficulty, you do need to employ a certain level of strategy, such as being able to anticipate what combinations your opponent will be using, tiring out aggressive opponents with good defense, or even faking out opponents by having them block fake punches before you counter with real ones.

This sport is by far the best fitness activity on the entire disc. You’ll get a pretty good aerobic workout each time and build some pretty good arm muscles.

Archery is pretty much the same sport as in the first Sports Champions; as in that game, you hold two Move controllers, one being the bow and the other being the arrow; you simulate an archer’s shot by “reaching into your quiver of arrows” with your arrow arm and then line up your shot as if loading your arrow and drawing it back on the bow (you can use the Move button to zoom into your target). As with the former game, controls and game play are excellent and very precise.

Sports Champions 2 adds an interesting twist to the game by allowing two people (or one person and the computer) to play on the same field and shoot for the same targets, which doesn’t just include regular targets but also things like balloons. You compete for the highest score.

Again, I wouldn’t exactly call this the most intense fitness activity, but after a few minutes of playing you do end up moving quite a bit. Add some hand weights to your Move controllers and you’ll actually be getting a pretty good arm workout.

Skiing is an interesting new game. You hold your Move controllers like ski poles, but unlike real skiing you don’t move your body to turn, but your Move controllers. To move faster, you sweep your Move controllers as if they were ski poles. To jump, you lift up the Move controllers and make sure they’re angled properly for a smooth landing (you can even do a couple flips if you have some good hang time).

The result is actually a much more realistic experience than I thought it’d be. It certainly doesn’t have the same workout intensity that skiing on Kinect Sports has, where you have to twist and turn and jump with your whole body, but it definitely has much, much more precision than the Xbox; when skiing on the Xbox I never really feel like I’m in control, while with the PS3 the turning and jumping are incredibly precise. Again, not a very intense workout, but a fun game nonetheless.

Golf, again, is much more precise than on other systems in many ways. It’s not necessarily going to help you with your golf swing (whether you use a technically correct swing or just wave your arms, the system will treat the shot the same). But what the game lacks in realism of mechanics, it makes up for in terms of precision and accuracy of your swing; a bar on the screen will show you the strength of your swing from 0% to 100% and your target strength given the ball location and your club, and you need to swing the club with precisely the right force.

Putting is also the closest I’ve felt to the real game on any system, from lining up the shot to using the precise right force to get the ball in the hole.

Finally, tennis is probably the most realistic tennis game I’ve played on any system. Some parts of it are amazingly realistic. Just like with ping pong in the original Sports Champions, when you can move your hand in any direction, tilt it, or twist it, the on-screen racquet will respond with uncanny precision.

This precision carries over to the gameplay as well; unlike Wii Sports or tennis on the Kinect, playing tennis is not just a matter of flicking your wrist wildly with the right timing. The position, angle, and velocity of your swing all matter. What’s more, you can apply things like top spins and lobs very similar to real life.

Granted, when you first start the game it’s not all that realistic, as a trail of your opponent’s returns are displayed to you visually so that you know where it’s going. Plus, shots will tend to land magically within the lines. But as you progress deeper into the game, some of the aids you get early on the in game start to disappear and the game starts to feel more and more like real tennis.

I can’t say you get too much exercise in this one, as you’re really just moving your arm (you can move your body left and right when setting up your serve by pressing the Move button and walking to the left or right, but otherwise the running is done for you automatically). But if “get into the game” by doing a little footwork as you’re playing, you might be surprised at how good a workout you get.

You’ve probably seen a few recurring themes through this review. Every sport is definitely a lot of fun and makes great use of the Move controller to simulate playing the actual sport. I wouldn’t go so far as to call them real simulations or virtual reality experiences, but they definitely are polished games and give you a nice feel for the real thing.

As far as workouts go, I’d say the only real one is the boxing. Tennis and skiing may give you a bit of a workout if while you’re playing the game you’re also moving your feet. As for the rest of the sports, if you use Weighted Training Gloves you can get a pretty decent workout from even those.

It’s tough for me to review this one. From a pure gameplay point of view, it’s easily a 5, one of the best games yet for the Playstation Move. But if I were reviewing it strictly from a fitness perspective, I’d probably give it less. Still, given that it’s one of the only decent motion games to be released for the Playstation Move in the past year or so, I’d say it’s a worthwhile purchase and a good choice to supplement your aging PS3 fitness games.

It’s been a while since I posted a new PS3 fitness game review. It’s certainly not been for want of trying; I’ve been checking the new game release schedule pretty closely for the past few months, but it seems that there are only two Move games that involve any kind of physical exertion this season. The first is Sports Champions 2, which I’ll be reviewing shortly, and the second is Just Dance 4, which I’ll be reviewing now.

Just Dance 4, of course, started on the Wii and continues to be the most popular dance franchise on that platform. For the Xbox 360, Dance Central 3 reigns supreme. For the Playstation 3, last year Sony released Everybody Dance, which I thought was a pretty good game, if the weakest of the three as a showcase for the platform. The fact that there is no 2012 edition leads me to believe that perhaps sales of Everybody Dance weren’t necessarily phenomenal. It’s clear that PS3 developers are focusing more on hardcore games and less on motion control or fitness games. Still, if you are a household who happens to own a PS3, there is still a lot of good exergaming to be done, and the game we’re going to review today is a shining example.

With Just Dance 4, Ubisoft made the good choice of developing it to be virtually identical between platforms. You can learn the moves on a PS3, take those same moves to a friend’s house with an Xbox, and the kids can use what they learned in gym class on a Wii.

When you start the game you’re asked if you want to create a Uplay account. In all honesty, between my Playstation Account and NIntendo account and my Microsoft account and my gazillion other accounts I wasn’t all that enthusiastic of signing up for yet another one. But since it seems that this will be the main way that Ubisoft allows users to access downloadable content, and there might be some interesting bonus content in the future, I figured I’d go ahead and sign up.

The opening menu of Just Dance 4 should be familiar to everyone by now; it consists of two options: Just Dance and Just Sweat. Selecting menu options is a pleasure on the PS3 with the extra big buttons and the precision of the Playstation Move controller. Reports are that the Xbox version suffers greatly because its menus are almost impossible to navigate using the Kinect.

Selecting “Just Dance” lets you go right away to selecting songs. One unique thing about Just Dance 4 is that depending on the song, you’ll get choreography for one, two, or four players. Four player choreography is especially fun if you’re playing with a group of people; each player gets a different and unique part to dance to, and the results are amazing if all four of you do it well and amazingly hilarious if you don’t (which will be the more common occurrence). Here’s a duet of my wife and me dancing to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” (spoiler alert: she wins).

While the PS3 often gets third world status when compared to the popularity of the Wii or the full body motion detection of the Kinect, in this case the PS3 shines in that you get the best of both: because the PS3 Move controller’s motions can be detected both by light trails on the Playstation Eye, as well as through radio signals similar to the traditional Wii controller, players don’t necessarily need to be in camera range to be detected. This means that unlike the Xbox version where four players would have to squeeze to fit inside the camera view of the Kinect camera, on the PS3 version all four players can play, providing all have a PS3 Move controller.

The playlist for Just Dance 4 consists of a surprising number of licensed tracks from some of the hottest pop stars. There’s also a good selection of oldies and songs from multiple genres, so there’s a good chance that everyone in your group playing will find a song that appeals to him or her:

Asereje (The Ketchup Song) – Las Ketchup – Duo – 1 of 3
Beauty and a Beat – Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj – Solo – 3 of 3
Beware Of The Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke) – Panjabi MC – Quartet – 2 of 3
Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen – Solo – 1 of 3
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Boys Town Gang – Duo – 1 of 3
Crazy Little Thing – Anja – Solo – 3 of 3
Crucified – Army of Lovers – Quartet – 3 of 3
Disturbia – Rihanna – Solo – 3 of 3
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love – Dancing Bros. – Duo – 2 of 3
Good Feeling – Flo Rida – Solo – 2 of 3
Good Girl – Carrie Underwood – Solo – 1 of 3
Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” – Blu Cantrell – Solo – 1 of 3
Hot For Me – A.K.A – Solo – 2 of 3
I Like It – The Blackout Allstars – Duo – 3 of 3
(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life – Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes – Duet – 3 of 3
Istanbul – They Might Be Giants – Quartet – 1 of 3
Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley – Quartet – 1 of 3
Livin’ la Vida Loca” – Ricky Martin – Solo – 3 of 3
Love You Like A Love Song – Selena Gomez and the Scene – Solo – 1 of 3
Make The Party (Don’t Stop) – Bunny Beatz – Solo – 2 of 3
Maneater – Nelly Furtado – Solo – 2 of 3
Mas Que Nada – Sergio Mendes featuring The Black Eyed Peas – Solo – 1 of 3
Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera – Solo – 2 of 3
Mr. Saxobeat – Alexandra Stan – Solo – 1 of 3
Oh No! – Marina and The Diamonds – Solo – 3 of 3
On The Floor – Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull – 1 of 3
Oops!… I Did It Again” – The Girly Team – Quartet – 2 of 3
Rock N’Roll (Will Take You To The Mountain) – Skrillex – Solo – 2 of 3
Rock Lobster – The B-52′s – Duo – 2 of 3
Run The Show – Kat DeLuna featuring Busta Rhymes – Duo – 3 of 3
So What – Pink – Solo – 1 of 3
Some Catchin’ Up To Do- Sammy – Solo – 1 of 3
Super Bass – Nicki Minaj – Solo – 3 of 3
Superstition – Stevie Wonder – Solo – 1 of 3
The Final Countdown – Europe – Duo – 3 of 3
Time Warp” – Halloween Thrills – Quartet – 3 of 3
Tribal Dance – 2 Unlimited – Duo – 3 of 3
Umbrella – Rihanna featuring Jay-Z – Solo – 1 of 3
We No Speak Americano – Hit The Electro Beat – Solo – 2 of 3
What Makes You Beautiful – One Direction – Quartet – 1 of 3
Wild Wild West – Will Smith – Quartet – 3 of 3
You’re The First, The Last, My Everything” – Barry White – Quartet – 1 of 3

Gameplay is pretty much the same as always: you dance by mirroring the moves of an on-screen counterpart. The more precise your dance is, the more points  and stars you’ll get and the more positive on-screen feedback you’ll get. Pictographs will scroll along the bottom of the screen to cue you on upcoming moves. Unlike the Kinect, the Wii and Ps3 versions of the game only detect your right hand, which is holding the controller. In a sense, you’re on the “honor system” to move the rest of your body the right way, but after a lot of experimentation I found that to get the highest scores it’s a lot easier just to dance the correct moves with your whole body than to try to figure out how to game the system by moving your right hand in the right way.

Something new to Just Dance 4 is “Battle Mode”, where you can play against another player (or against the computer). You start by choosing a character that corresponds to a song. Then, you basically compete in a dance-off. It’s an interesting twist on fighting games like Street Fighter, where the player that dances the most precise dance steps will score “hits” on the other. Whoever has the most life left at the end of a round wins that round and their song will be imposed on the next round.

Overall, Just Dance 4 is by far the best dance game for the Playstation 3, and among the best fitness games of any kind. Highly recommended.