K-pop choreography is often as iconic as the idols themselves, with popular moves such as Blackpink's "DDU-DU DDU-DU" finger guns and Oh My Girl's "Dolphin" hands recognised even outside fandom. It's common in K-pop for songs to have official dance routines, performances which fans quickly become familiar with and sometimes even learn to dance themselves.
kpop dance game wii
As such, K-pop seems like a perfect match for Just Dance, Ubisoft's popular rhythm game series. In Just Dance, players mirror an onscreen guide as they dance to various songs, while the game tracks their moves and awards them points according to how accurate they are. It's a fun way to get moving while enjoying some of your favourite songs, particularly if jogging isn't your thing.
"We tried to use iconic dance moves, but we're not always allowed to replicate the whole choreography," said Ubisoft Asia managing director Steve Miller, speaking to UnGeek(Opens in a new tab) about Just Dance's K-pop routines.
Fortunately, Just Dance doesn't completely rechoreograph every K-pop song it includes, and is sometimes able to use segments of the original dances even if it can't use it all. Still, some Just Dance K-pop routines are better than others, whether because they adhere more closely to the official choreography, follow the spirit of the dance, look impressive, or are just plain fun.
The mind-numbingly simple moves and planned pratfalls in this Just Dance routine would best suit very young children, particularly as they're repeated ad infinitum. Even so, I hesitate to recommend it since the dance also requires players to collide with each other. This may work when you're wearing a large plush gumball costume, but could quickly end in tears for unpadded kids playing at home.
Yet Just Dance finds a way. The game does get the arm positioning right, as well as the crablike arms-up movement that immediately follows. Yet rather than a playful hip swing, Just Dance's guide thrusts his pelvis forward like a creepy little sex goblin, and it is horrible to behold.
Just Dance's choreography of Twice's "Fancy"(Opens in a new tab) was widely derided(Opens in a new tab) by K-pop fans when first revealed, and with good reason. Though the beginning is vaguely promising, with finger twirls reminiscent of the official dance, it quickly devolves into a dull routine that is closer to striking a series of embarrassing poses than actually dancing.
Like "Fancy," Just Dance's "Feel Special" routine isn't terribly inspired and will definitely make you feel like a big dork. Still, its higher energy gives it an edge over Twice's previous 2019 single. The more glaring issue weighing "Feel Special" down is just how hard Just Dance's choreography only works the right side of your body. Even if you're having fun, following this dance will inevitably leave you feeling lopsided.
I've typically found Just Dance's Extreme Versions to be more in line with K-pop songs' original dances than the game's standard versions. This is not the case for 2NE1's "I Am The Best."(Opens in a new tab)
Fortunately, though Just Dance loses the assertive sass of Hyuna's classic 2011 performance, the bouncy tween entertainer vibe the game utilises instead still works in its own way. It may not have the iconic original "Bubble Pop!" choreography, but it's fun and keeps the energy up.
Ubisoft's "Ice Cream" choreography feels fairly average, though it livens up considerably during the dance break. Fortunately "Ice Cream" isn't Blackpink's most iconic nor recognisable performance, so this video game interpretation doesn't suffer from missing famous signature moves. Blackpink itself hasn't even performed "Ice Cream" on stage, and the group's official choreography video(Opens in a new tab) uses animated Zepeto avatars.
It isn't really fair to judge the Sweat Version of "Gentleman" (Opens in a new tab)against other Just Dance songs. This routine's primary aim is to get people exercising, so of course it will deviate from the original K-pop choreography. Comparing it to other routines would be like comparing an aerobics class to a dance class.
Just Dance's "Gentleman" involves a lot of big, punchy, energetic choreography that will likely tire you out quickly, but is pretty fun to do. The only element of the original routine it adopts is Psy's pensive, wide-stanced hip swing, so it loses marks for overall inaccuracy. Even so, the one move the game kept is also the only move that really matters. The key points of Psy's "Gentleman" performance are a rowdy atmosphere and an iconic hip swing, and Just Dance's Sweat Version delivers both.
Just Dance's version of "Daddy" by Psy feat. CL of 2NE1(Opens in a new tab) was released on Just Dance 2017 alongside the Father and Son Version, with both currently only available in that game. It doesn't seem worth hunting down a copy.
In particular, Just Dance's use of feminine choreography for the side dancers and masculine choreography for Psy's stand in seems unnecessary, particularly considering the original used similar energetic moves for all dancers regardless of gender. I'm also not a fan of Just Dance routines that make you pick a "leader" from your friend group, which just creates unnecessary social divides. All my friend groups are egalitarian.
Aside from the easily identifiable wrist movement on "bam ra-ta-ta-ta-ta", Just Dance's standard "I Am The Best" routine barely follows 2NE1's original choreography. Even so, it definitely matches the spirit of the original more closely than the game's Extreme Version.
Still, Just Dance's "I Am The Best" routine is relatively fun and energetic, and doesn't clash with the song's vibe. If 2NE1 didn't already have official choreography for this dance, this effort would be more passable.
To be fair to Ubisoft, this feels like a tough one. If I had to translate NCT 127's official "Kick It" choreography(Opens in a new tab) into Just Dance(Opens in a new tab) form(Opens in a new tab) I'm not sure where I'd even start. The dance doesn't have many distinct, easily identifiable and repeated moves that the game can lift, frequently focusing on supporting the member who's singing rather than showing itself off. Instead of strict and striking choreography, this performance delivers an overall vibe.
While G-Dragon does have dancers performing around him during "Crayon,"(Opens in a new tab) many of his own movements are less dance and more pure swag. Just Dance therefore takes most of its choreography inspiration from the dancers, albeit at half the speed.
The game replicates the original "Crayon" choreography from part of the chorus pretty closely, and its influence on the rest is apparent. Even so, I just couldn't get over Just Dance's opening moves. The first few lines in "Crayon" translate to "head, shoulders, knees, and toes," with G-Dragon touching each respective body part in time. Yet Just Dance's much slower guide stops at his head and shoulders, before touching his heels on the "swag check." It's incomplete and wrong, and I cannot forgive it.
Just Dance got the chorus choreography for "Bang Bang Bang"(Opens in a new tab) pretty right, however the rest of the routine drags its score down. To be fair, much like in member G-Dragon's "Crayon" performance, a lot of Big Bang's official choreography relies more on their dancers than the group members themselves. This may have made Ubisoft feel a bit more free to experiment.
"Come Back Home"(Opens in a new tab) is more difficult to translate to a Just Dance routine than some other K-pop songs, as much of 2NE1's focus in this performance is on their vocals. The members do still dance, however this is another song where the majority of the choreography during the verses is left to the dancers performing around them.
Just Dance doesn't follow the dancers during the verses, but the moves it substitutes neatly fit in among the original choreography, recreating the atmosphere of the original "Come Back Home" performance.
Ubisoft's "BOOMBAYAH" choreography itself is energetic enough, even if it doesn't follow Blackpink's official dance as closely as it could. The guide dancer includes some easily recognisable moves from the original "BOOMBAYAH" routine , such as the hand-flicking at the bridge and the backward arm wheels during the chorus, but continues to repeat them long after the Blackpink has moved on. This is a common Just Dance tactic to simplify dances, however players probably could have handled the shift to sideways arm wheels at the very least.
Right at the start of the Extreme Version of "Bang Bang Bang,"(Opens in a new tab) the Just Dance guide claps overhead at the same speed as the original choreography, rather than the half speed of the game's standard routine. I found this immensely satisfying, and felt as though a great wrong had finally been set right.
The dance quickly follows up with a nod to the original's steering wheel choreography, which seems to bode well. However, it seems Just Dance used up its chorus accuracy quota on the standard version of "Bang Bang Bang," leaving the most iconic part of the choreography to suffer. The overall influence of the original moves is clear, but Just Dance's end result just looks like a Big Bang routine from a mirror universe.
Unlike many other songs on this list, "DRUM GO DUM" doesn't have a widely recognised routine performed by the artist. Instead its performance video(Opens in a new tab) features dancer Bailey Sok, whose skills are clearly leagues beyond that of the average Just Dance player. In light of this, I didn't expect Just Dance's "DRUM GO DUM" to follow the official dance video at all.
It was thus a pleasant surprise to see a lot of Sok's influence in Just Dance's rendition of the song, and especially in how closely it recreated the chorus. It's a very good effort, particularly considering the difficulty of the dance.
Just Dance's rendition of SuperM's "Jopping"(Opens in a new tab) largely follows the spirit more than the detail of the K-pop supergroup's performance, though it does faithfully recreate important segments such as the chorus. SuperM's enthusiastic dedication to the combination of jumping and popping has clearly inspired the choreography throughout, with Just Dance's solo guide dancer doing his utmost to embody the energy of all seven K-pop idols at once. 2ff7e9595c
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