The main gameplay of the franchise (main series, Japanese series, Kids series, Disney Party series and Experience series) is to try to copy what the on-screen dancer is dancing, with a Wii Remote, PS Move Remote, Joy-Con (Nintendo Switch Controller), Smartphone, Kinect Camera or PlayStation Camera judging the player on their performance. With the Wii Remote, PS Move Remote, Joy-Con Controller or a Smartphone, it has to be held in the player's right hand for proper scoring. While gameplay has almost been the same in all games, some new features have been added to the series. (Duets, Trios, Dance Crews, etc.)
Not including spinoffs, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj are the most prolific artists, respectively having 14 and 10 songs in the Just Dance series. They are the only artists to make more than 10 appearances.
Katy Perry has at least one song in every game of the main series, with the exception of Just Dance 2017 and Just Dance 2019 (unless Swish Swish’s VIPMADE is counted as a Just Dance 2019 routine).
Dancers have either a glove (short, long, or without fingers) on their left hand, a wristband on their left arm, or having something on their left arm being a different color than the other arm (except for the first game in the series) to instruct the players that they have to hold the required controller on their right hand (for controller-based platforms) and to serve as a reference point (for camera based platforms).
The Just Dance series holds the Guinness World Record for being the best-selling third party Wii game.
Just Dance 2 is the best-selling third party Wii game.
The highest score that can be reached from Just Dance 2 onward is 13333.
All of the main games, with the exception of the NTSC version of Just Dance 2019 (which was rated E), have been rated E10+ by the ESRB, and 3 by PEGI.
The game covers in the PAL regions are very different from their NTSC counterparts.
According to Alkis Arkgyriagis, the developer for Just Dance, the concept for the game was derived from the Shake It TV mini game on Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party.[1]
On October 25, 2016, Ubisoft released a playlist with 18 songs which appeared in the Just Dance series. It is available on various music platforms, such as iTunes, Spotify and Deezer.
Some of the songs were edited, had some uncensored words or cut out other featuring artists completely.
Just Dance Now played a role in The Emoji Movie. In the movie, Akiko Glitter, (played by Christina Aguilera), has Gene and Jailbreak dance to Feel This Moment to progress out of the app.