Dance Central Spotlight review: body talk

At $9.99, Spotlight is more of a one-off, quick-play game for Xbox One than a full title. Gone are the wacky plotlines and creative mini-games of Dance Central 3 — as is the expansive tracklist. Spotlight slices away the extra content to focus on two modes and 10 songs.

Variety isn't the spice of Spotlight. It's repetition — practicing and slowly mastering dances over time. Dance Central Spotlight perfectly engineers the experience that makes movement-based rhythm games fun: learning how to flail around your living room with style.

Dance Central Spotlight is neatly split into two halves, the first of which focuses on working out. In fitness mode, I was able to set my weight and height, select a routine of varying difficulty and choose a duration ranging from 10 to 90 minutes. Each track puts emphasis on a different type of exercise, such as cardio or strength. I wasn't able to build a workout based on my playlist preferences, but cycling through unknown songs kept me alert and engaged.

Spotlight's fitness sessions were surprisingly tiring, even in small doses. As I danced, the Kinect tracked how many calories I burned based on my movements. I can't vouch for how effective my routines would be over a long period of time, but in the moment I felt as though I were getting a full workout — and days later, my muscles still felt sore.

The game's real allure, however, is in dancing. The tracks are recent (and popular) enough — ranging from Pharrell Williams' "Happy" to "Royals" by Lorde to "Titanium" by David Guetta — that the small selection still feels worthwhile. It's also possible to expand the game's tracklist by downloading additional songs for $1.99 each. If — like me — you care more about dancing to a few good songs you really love, DLC additions are a reasonable way to juice up a $10 game. But for players lusting after a wider variety or even every DLC song, it's a sizable hit on your wallet.