Ever since 2009, Ubisoft’s Simply Dance sequence has been a kind of gaming juggernauts that’s by no means stopped shifting. Each single 12 months since its Nintendo Wii debut has introduced a brand new installment, spanning generations of consoles. The chilly reality, although, is that the sequence was all the time 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 stunning 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, appearing as one other nice health possibility for many who use their headsets to get some gentle cardio in. It’s doubtless one of the best ways to play the sequence since its Wiimote days, nevertheless it comes with a critical caveat: You’ll in all probability need to flip your condominium right into a bounce fort if you wish to play it safely.
Dancing in VR
I didn’t have to placed on my Quest 3S to know the way nicely 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 record 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 number of songs too, as if its meant to be a fast biggest hits assortment from the franchise’s historical past. Songs like Name Me Possibly, Born This Meansand Ellie Goulding’s Lights actually date the undertaking. It’s a bit puzzling that it doesn’t share any trendy hits with the 2025 Version, like Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso.
Whereas that’s unusual, the core dancing method simply is smart in VR, even when it takes a minute to know precisely what I’m alleged to do. Once I choose my first track (I began with Carly Rae Jepsen, after all), I’m taken off guard as dance prompts fly by on the display. Arrows inform me easy methods to transfer my limbs, however and not using a thorough tutorial to ease me in, I miss lots of nuances. It takes me a number of songs to know that I’m supposed to maintain shifting even when prompts aren’t on the display or to maneuver my physique slowly into some positions quite than snapping to them. The unclear UI might do a greater job at speaking that, however I’m capable of finding my footing after I as a substitute deal with 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 a substitute of the Wiimote. I flung my arms round wildly and labored up a reliable sweat within the course of. Experiences like this are partly what I come to VR for. I finally need to transfer my physique after I throw a headset on, getting a small health expertise that Metaphor: Refanazio definitely isn’t going to present me. Simply Dance VR obtained the job achieved, as soon as once more dialing in on the well being advantages of the sequence on a platform that’s good for it.
Properly … nearly good.
I used to be lastly slicing free after a number of songs after 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 swish, and a Brooklyn condominium is simply by no means the best place to check VR, however there’s nonetheless a lesson to be discovered right here. Regardless of how aware you might be of your physique when you find yourself in VR or how large your play house is, the truth is which you could’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 monitor of the place I used to be even with the Quest’s boundary sensors.
This isn’t only a Simply Dance situation; 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 always asks you to spin your fingers round or unfold your arms as large as doable. 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 1,000,000 years go away a toddler with a recreation like this in an costly headset except I used to be on the lookout for a simple method to gather insurance coverage.
How do you remedy for an issue like that when it’s so essentially baked into the tech itself? I believe there’s a simple repair and it’s happily prepared now. Trendy VR headsets are getting significantly better at offering clear passthrough expertise. The Meta Quest 3S is very a terrific step in that path, providing a transparent have a look at my environment when turned on. The perfect 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 it will determine that out and higher understand the potential right here. Simply Dance VR is one of the best ways to play the sequence, however that doesn’t imply there isn’t a greater method.
Simply Dance VR launches on October 15 for Meta Quest headsets.