Ever since 2009, Ubisoft’s Simply Dance collection has been a type of gaming juggernauts that’s by no means stopped shifting. Each single yr since its Nintendo Wii debut has introduced a brand new installment, spanning generations of consoles. The chilly fact, although, is that the collection was at all times at its greatest on the Wii. It was constructed across the console’s peculiar movement controls, so it’s by no means felt like a clear match for many consoles its come to since. That’s why it’s so shocking that it took this lengthy to get Simply Dance VR.
Whereas consoles are getting a typical 2025 version, headsets like the brand new Meta Quest 3S are getting a lighter model constructed across the tech. Unsurprisingly, Simply Dance is a pure match for VR, performing as one other nice health choice for many who use their headsets to get some gentle cardio in. It’s doubtless one of the best ways to play the collection since its Wiimote days, but it surely comes with a severe caveat: You’ll most likely wish to flip your residence right into a bounce fortress if you wish to play it safely.
Dancing in VR
I didn’t have to placed on my Quest 3S to know the way properly Ubisoft’s hit rhythm recreation would translate to VR, however one sweaty morning with it confirmed my hunch. Once I open it up, I’m given a menu filled with songs I can select from. It’s a slim listing in comparison with its console counterparts; it solely accommodates 25 songs in comparison with the 40 in Simply Dance Dance 2025 Version. It’s a reasonably dated collection of songs too, as if its meant to be a fast best hits assortment from the franchise’s historical past. Songs like Name Me Possibly, Born This Mannerand Ellie Goulding’s Lights actually date the venture. It’s a little bit puzzling that it doesn’t share any fashionable hits with the 2025 Version, like Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso.
Whereas that’s unusual, the core dancing system simply is smart in VR, even when it takes a minute to grasp precisely what I’m imagined to do. Once I choose my first track (I began with Carly Rae Jepsen, in fact), I’m taken off guard as dance prompts fly by on the display. Arrows inform me methods to transfer my limbs, however and not using a thorough tutorial to ease me in, I miss numerous nuances. It takes me a number of songs to grasp that I’m supposed to maintain shifting even when prompts aren’t on the display or to maneuver my physique slowly into some positions relatively than snapping to them. The unclear UI may do a greater job at speaking that, however I’m capable of finding my footing once I as an alternative give attention to the onscreen dancer modeling every transfer.
As soon as I gave in to the absurdity of all of it, I discovered myself actually getting in to the goofy enjoyable of all of it. I used to be again within the Wii period, however with the Quest’s Contact Plus controllers as an alternative of the Wiimote. I flung my arms round wildly and labored up a professional sweat within the course of. Experiences like this are partly what I come to VR for. I in the end wish to transfer my physique once I throw a headset on, getting a small health expertise that Metaphor: Refanazio actually isn’t going to offer me. Simply Dance VR obtained the job completed, as soon as once more dialing in on the well being advantages of the collection on a platform that’s good for it.
Effectively … virtually good.
I used to be lastly reducing unfastened after a number of songs once I obtained a impolite — and painful — awakening. As I pumped my arms to Blinding LightsI managed to punch a bookshelf. Look, I by no means stated I used to be sleek, and a Brooklyn residence is simply by no means the perfect place to check VR, however there’s nonetheless a lesson to be realized right here. Irrespective of how acutely aware you might be of your physique if you end up in VR or how huge your play area is, the fact is you can’t see the place you might be at any given time. Once I was totally immersed in Simply Dance VR‘s neon colours, it was simple to lose observe of the place I used to be even with the Quest’s boundary sensors.
This isn’t only a Simply Dance challenge; it’s one thing I’ve butted up in opposition to in loads of VR video games through the years. It’s only a extra pronounced hurdle for a recreation that usually asks you to spin your fingers round or unfold your arms as extensive as potential. The benefit of taking part in on console is that you just’re totally conscious of your environment and might keep away from bumping right into a wall. That luxurious disappears in a headset. I might by no means in one million years depart a toddler with a recreation like this in an costly headset until I used to be searching for a simple technique to gather insurance coverage.
How do you clear up for an issue like that when it’s so basically baked into the tech itself? I feel there’s a simple repair and it’s thankfully prepared now. Fashionable VR headsets are getting significantly better at offering clear passthrough expertise. The Meta Quest 3S is very an awesome step in that course, providing a transparent have a look at my environment when turned on. The best model of Simply Dance in VR makes use of that tech, relying extra on blended actuality to place the dancing prompts in the true world. I’ve to think about that Ubisoft’s subsequent stab at this can determine that out and higher understand the potential right here. Simply Dance VR is one of the best ways to play the collection, however that doesn’t imply there isn’t a greater method.
Simply Dance VR launches on October 15 for Meta Quest headsets.
