Pictogram

Pictograms are a type of move in the franchise, and are featured in every Just Dance game. They show players how to execute the next move and come in a wide variety of colors.

Just Dance
In the original game, the pictograms were not very well detailed. They run quickly on an invisible line and disappear quickly on an intermittent triangle. They also have a little triangle under their feet. The arrows that sometimes appear with them are very narrow and monocolor.

Pictograms for Shake Moves have a coloured cloud and various shaded shapes, resembling the arms that are shaking.

Just Dance 2
In the second game, the pictograms received major improvements, but are still not very detailed, and they still disappear quickly on the triangle. The arrows are wider and of different colours. In Duets, they slide on different sides (from the left for P1 and from the right for P2). Some pictograms have now a circle symbol to represent the glove and avoid confusion between the two hands (mostly when they are crossing). A few songs have a symbol to indicate clapping, or a sudden hand movement such as striking the air, and very rarely have short curved lines to indicate shaking. These symbols are used more frequently in later games, including this game's DLC.

Also, since Gold Moves have made their first appearance in this game, the pictogram for one of these moves are golden with a gold outline.

Just Dance 3
In the third game, the pictograms do not receive very big improvements. In most songs, they have a thinner torso and a smaller head. Additionally, the triangle is rounded instead of pointed. On Xbox, they fade when they reach the triangle, but on Wii and PS3, they enlarge a bit and fade out. In Duets, both pictograms come from the right, while in Dance Crews they slide at a faster rate because the triangle is in the middle of the screen. From this game on, the Gold Move pictograms for multiplayer routines are not golden; instead, they keep their normal colours, and have a golden outline.

Just Dance 4
In the fourth game, the pictograms have a bigger head and the triangle is replaced by a white line with an intermittent rectangle; when they reach the rectangle, they fade out while enlarging. Also, the end of the line is not in the middle anymore for Dance Crews.

Just Dance 2014
In the fifth game, the pictograms seem to be smaller and improved.

Just Dance 2015
In the sixth game, the body of the pictograms it's a little bit fatter.

Just Dance 2016
In the seventh game, the head of most of the pictograms have a bolder outline, in contrast with the body, which doesn't seem to have any.

Just Dance 2017
In the eighth game, the pictograms have a thinner head outline than the former game, and the body's white outline is much more noticeable. The colour gradients on the body also seem to be smoother.

Just Dance 2018
In the ninth game. the pictograms slide has a different beat effect with no particles, and they shake to the beat and flash white before fading. They also now have a little shadow behind them.

Just Dance Wii
Just Dance Wii pictograms are based off Just Dance 2 pictograms.

Just Dance Wii 2
Just Dance Wii 2 pictograms are based off Just Dance 4 pictograms.

Just Dance Wii U
Just Dance Wii U pictograms are based off Just Dance 2014 pictograms.

Just Dance 2015 (Chinese Version)
Most of the Just Dance 2015 China pictograms are based off Just Dance 2016 pictograms (except for Dancing Diva, which has Just Dance 2015-styled pictograms).

Yo-kai Watch Dance: Just Dance Special Edition
Yo-kai Watch Dance pictograms are based off Just Dance 2016 pictograms.

Just Dance Now (Chinese Version)
Just Dance Now China pictograms are based off Just Dance 2017 pictograms.

Just Dance Kids
In this game, pictograms are mostly orange with a white orb on the right hand, and a slight 3D effect. They slide towards a triangle, like in the first games of the series; this feature is brought in all other games of the Kids series.

Just Dance Kids 2
Here, pictograms are mostly blue with a much more visible 3D effect. They look shorter and with a bigger head.

Just Dance: Disney Party
In this game, the pictograms are likeJust Dance Kids 2 pictograms, but they have a sort of yellow bracelet on the right arm and they fade.

Just Dance Kids 2014
In this game, pictograms have thicker limbs and a 2D aspect, and their body fade from light blue to teal downwards. The props look different as well, and Duet pictograms slide from different sides.

Just Dance: Disney Party 2
Just Dance: Disney Party 2 pictograms are based off Just Dance 4 pictograms, but they are all purple. Duets pictograms come from different directions as well.

ABBA: You Can Dance/Michael Jackson: The Experience
In both games, the pictogram are contained into a white circle. They appear as black 2D stylized bodies, with the right arm coloured. They slide bottom up, and they disappear with a fading effect.

Dance on Broadway
They look similar to the pictograms in Just Dance, but they're smaller and they are all black. They slide from different sides, like in Just Dance 2 duets.

The Black Eyed Peas Experience
They look similar to Just Dance pictograms; they're all orange with light blue arrows.

The Hip Hop Dance Experience
In this game, pictograms are GIF files. They are a dark blue boy shape, showing the moves under the camera square.

The Smurfs Dance Party
They are all orange with light blue arrows, and they're very small. They have a thick white outline, and they disappear immediately on a motionless white triangle.

Trivia

 * Starting in Just Dance 2, the color scheme of pictograms go like this: the color of the pictogram body is the same color as the main/prominent color on the coach, and the arrows, punch effects, and shake lines are the same color as the glove. For Duets and higher, the arrows, punch effects, and shake lines are the same color as the pictogram. If all the coaches are the same color (as in No Control), the pictogram colors are the same color as the glove.
 * In Just Dance Wii, the pictograms don't disappear on the top of the triangle, but more under.
 * In Just Dance and Just Dance 2, the pictograms were originally going to have a neon outline.
 * In the files of The Power and Soul Bossa Nova, some pictograms that look like those of the former game can be seen.
 * In the Beta version of The Power, they disappeared with fading effect, unlike all other songs in the game.
 * In Dance on Broadway, there are two pictogram slides, one coming from the left and one from the right, even if there is only one person playing.
 * In most songs in Just Dance 3, the pictograms have slightly longer legs then the other Just Dance game pictograms. This is the same with Just Dance: Greatest Hits/Best Of.
 * In Just Dance 3, many songs have pictograms in the style of Just Dance 2 pictograms. A similar fact happens in Just Dance 2015, in which several routines have Just Dance 2016 styled pictograms. In the case of Just Dance 2015, some songs have all of their pictograms in that style but others only have a few.
 * In Just Dance 3, some pictograms in Duets and Dance Crews are occasionally transparent. This mostly happens when one coach is dancing more forward than the others.
 * Mashed Potato Time has the lowest pictogram count in the whole series, with 26 on Just Dance and 20 on Just Dance 3.
 * By contrast, the Extreme version of Scream & Shout has the highest count: 289.
 * Girlfriend has the shortest pictogram sprite in the series, with only 13 pictograms (resulting in a size of 3328 x 256 pixels).
 * The default color for the Just Dance pictograms (from Just Dance 2014 onwards) is Japanese Laurel, which corresponds to a medium shade of green.
 * In pictogram sprites, the pictograms are placed in alphabetical order according to their code names; in pictogram atlases, instead, they are placed in order of creation.