ABBA: You Can Dance

ABBA: You Can Dance
European box art
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Paris Ubisoft Bucharest
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Series	Just Dance
Platform(s)	Wii
Release	NA: November 15, 2011 AU: November 24, 2011 EU: November 25, 2011
Genre(s)	Music, rhythm
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

ABBA: You Can Dance is a dance and music rhythm game for the Wii, developed by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Bucharest and published by Ubisoft. It released in November 2011 in all territories, and is a spin-off of the Just Dance series, featuring 26 songs by the Swedish pop group ABBA. The game tasks up to four players with matching the movements of ABBA members by dancing with the Wii Remote motion controller in hand, with accuracy being the goal. It includes a multiplayer "Karaoke Mode", allowing two players to sing using USB microphones while two other players can dance.

The development team was reportedly excited to work on an ABBA game, putting in effort to ensure that they accurately represented the group by examining a variety of ABBA content. For original content, they tried to be distinct while in keeping with ABBA. The game was met with mixed reception, with criticism directed at the lack of available songs; however, the lower price and the idea of an ABBA video game were recognized as positive traits of the game, and the choreography was well received.

ABBA: You Can Dance is a music and rhythm game based on Ubisoft's franchise, Just Dance.^[1] In the main mode of play, up to four players^[2] must match the movements of members of the Swedish pop group ABBA by dancing with the Wii Remote motion controller in hand. The players' score is determined by how accurate their movements are. A karaoke mode is included, where two players can sing along together to the lyrics using USB microphones while two other players can dance during a song.^[3] In addition to the lyrics, the songs display the rhythm of the singing.^[4] This is unlike past Just Dance and titles connected to Just Dance, which only let players sing along for fun. The game features a story mode called the "Mini Musical Mode" that features select songs from the main mode of play, and shows the original ABBA music videos.^[3][4] The game features 26 songs from ABBA.^[5]

Development of ABBA: You Can Dance was handled by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Bucharest, divisions of Ubisoft that have worked on other entries in the Just Dance series. The decision to make a dancing game based on ABBA was, according to the development team, due to ABBA and Just Dance having similar philosophies about uniting people through music. They stated that they were excited to work on an ABBA game when given the opportunity. The team chose the band's most popular songs, such as "Mamma Mia", "Dancing Queen", and "Take a Chance on Me", but wanted to reflect the variety of moods and aesthetics ABBA songs represent. To design the dance scenes, they hired professional choreographers, who worked with their level designers. Certain songs, such as ballads and slower songs, were harder to choreograph for. The team reviewed various footage of performances, including music videos, anecdotes, backstage photos, live footage, and TV shows. The backgrounds were designed with the intent to convey certain elements from ABBA's work. Some costumes were taken from the music videos, While others were new to this game, but designed to get as close to the spirit of the original costumes.^[6]

ABBA: You Can Dance was dated for a Q4 2011 release, intended to be a budget release.^[7] It was released on November 15, 2011, in North America,^[8] later releasing on November 24 in Australia^[9] and November 25 in Europe.^[2]

ABBA: You Can Dance has received mixed reception, with Metacritic identifying its reviews as "mixed or average."^[10] Prior to its release, GamesRadar+ writer Andrew Hayward worried that the song selection was too slim, though being relatively cheaper than typical Wii games helped assuage his worries.^[1] Its low price point was also appreciated by The Guardian writer Sarah Ditum, who was disappointed by the lack of content.^[11] The game was considered a good fit for fans of the band by Multiplayer.it writer Fabio Palmisano and Cubed3 writer Adam Riley, although Jeuxvideo.com writer Anagund found it boring despite being a fan.^[12][3][13] Palmisano agreed with Hayward that its content was light, but felt what was there was good. The choreography was also praised by Ditum and Palmisano, the latter commenting that it inherited both good and bad qualities from Just Dance.^[12][11] Anagund, meanwhile, felt that the choreography was accessible, but also considered it unoriginal and repetitive.^[13] PCMag writer Jeffrey L. Wilson included it in his list of the top 10 Wii games of 2011, exclaiming his enjoyment for its different modes of play.^[14] Wired and Club Nintendo staff both felt like it had wide appeal, with the latter recognizing it as having nostalgic value.^[15][4] As of 2014, ABBA: You Can Dance has sold 720,000 copies.^[16]