Dance Central Spotlight is a 2014 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One Kinect. It is the sequel to Dance Central 3 (2012) and the fourth installment in the Dance Central series. It is also the final Dance Central game to be released for an Xbox console, and the final first-party game overall to require the Kinect sensor. The game provides a stripped-down experience in comparison to previous Dance Central titles, maintaining the core gameplay of the series, but with a focus on providing more routines per-song, the regular release of recent songs as downloadable content, and leverage of improvements to the motion detection capabilities of the Kinect for Xbox One. It was released on September 2, 2014.
Gameplay Similarly to previous installments in the franchise, players must mirror the dance routine of an on-screen dancer, as instructed by "flash cards" indicating specific moves in the routine. Players are judged and scored on the accuracy of their performance. Each song includes up to eight routines, including four difficulty levels of the standard routine, along with two fitness-oriented routines and two "alternate" routines. Additional routines and difficulty levels are unlocked for songs by collecting flash cards by getting "Flawless" ratings on individual moves.
Spotlight includes songs from artists like Rihanna, Lorde and Pharrell Williams. It focuses primarily on the core gameplay of the franchise, with a simplified offering of standard and fitness modes, and no story mode or other minigames like past versions. The practice mode was overhauled to use a dynamic, "on-demand" approach, rather than the "regimented" approach used by previous Dance Central games: players can now jump to training mode in-game by using a voice or controller command. Once activated, the player can practice the relevant portion, slow down the routine, and go to different parts of the song. When the player exits practice, the song continues from where it was left off.
The following ten songs are bundled with the game: Song Artist Year "#thatPOWER" Justin Bieber ft. will.i.am 2013 "Counting Stars" OneRepublic 2013 "Diamonds" Rihanna 2012 "Happy" Pharrell Williams 2013 "I Wish" Cher Lloyd 2013 "Royals" Lorde 2013 "Show Me" Chris Brown ft. Kid Ink 2013 "Talk Dirty" Jason Derulo & 2 Chainz 2013 "Titanium" David Guetta ft. Sia 2011 "Wake Me Up" Avicii 2013
Development and release Dance Central Spotlight was unveiled at E3 2014. The overall gameplay of the Dance Central franchise was enhanced by the increased capabilities of the Xbox One Kinect sensor, which has a higher resolution camera and better gesture recognition than the Xbox 360 iteration. In total, the game can recognize 7,000 different dance moves. Harmonix director Matthew Nordhaus also teased the presence of tougher alternate routines for individual songs, aimed particularly at expert players. Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos felt that Microsoft's introduction of lower-cost Xbox One bundles excluding Kinect wasn't a "shock" and the bundling of Kinect with Xbox One on launch did not influence the development of Spotlight in any way.
Unlike previous installments in the franchise, Spotlight places a heavy emphasis on downloadable content and the ability for players to purchase songs on an À la carte basis; Nordhaus noted that due to improvements in motion capture technology and the need to perform fewer QA tests because of the improved Kinect accuracy (specifically noting the need to do large levels of tuning for hand detection on the Xbox 360 version), Harmonix staff could produce new routines for the game in just "days" rather than months. Emphasizing that players wanted to have quicker in-game access to current hit music, Nordhaus stated that Harmonix would now be able to release new songs as DLC while they are still charting.
Dance Central Spotlight was officially released on September 2, 2014; unlike other installments in the series, the game is only available via digital means. The base game includes 10 songs; new songs for the game were released on a near-weekly basis for a "substantial" period of time. A pre-paid code to download Spotlight is also included with standalone Kinect for Xbox One units, which were released on October 7, 2014.
On March 8, 2015, Nisha and Claptrap (despite his lack of legs and using a wheel) from the Borderlands franchise were added as bonus characters via cheat codes; Harmonix had partnered with 2K in animating a titular sequence of the "moon dance break" trailer for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!, (which was being re-released for Xbox One later that month alongside a port of Borderlands 2, as part of Borderlands: The Handsome Collection).
Legacy downloadable content All DLC from previous Dance Central games were ported to Spotlight—they were re-released progressively in batches following the game's release. The ported DLC include their standard routines from the original version (with additional moves not seen in the original version for Dance Central 1 songs), along with four alternate routines, as with Spotlight-specific songs. Songs that were previously purchased on the Xbox 360 versions of Dance Central can be re-downloaded on Spotlight at no extra charge.
Song Artist Year Release date on Spotlight Still available for purchase "Airplanes"B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams2010September 2, 2014Yes "Alejandro"Lady Gaga2010September 2, 2014Yes "Because of You"Ne-Yo2007September 2, 2014Yes "Closer"Ne-Yo2008September 2, 2014Yes "Commander"Kelly Rowland ft. David Guetta2011September 2, 2014Yes "D.A.N.C.E."Justice2007September 2, 2014Yes "Don't Touch Me (Throw da Water on 'Em)"Busta Rhymes2008September 2, 2014No "Get Busy"Sean Paul2003September 2, 2014Yes "Get It Shawty"Lloyd2007September 2, 2014Yes "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine, Pt. 1"James Brown1970September 2, 2014Yes "Girls and Boys"Blur1994September 2, 2014No "Heard 'Em All"Amerie2009September 2, 2014Yes "Hello Good Morning"Diddy-Dirty Money ft. T.I.2010September 2, 2014Yes "I Got You Dancing"Lady Sovereign2009September 2, 2014No "La La Land"Demi Lovato2008September 2, 2014Yes "Lapdance"N.E.R.D.2001September 2, 2014Yes "Marry the Night"Lady Gaga2011September 2, 2014Yes "Paparazzi"Lady Gaga2009September 2, 2014Yes "Round & Round"Selena Gomez & the Scene2010September 2, 2014Yes "Say Hey (I Love You)"Michael Franti & Spearhead feat. Cherine Anderson2008September 2, 2014Yes "Temperature"Sean Paul2006September 2, 2014Yes "The Edge Of Glory"Lady Gaga2011September 2, 2014Yes "Turnin Me On"Keri Hilson2008September 2, 2014Yes "Weapon of Choice"Fatboy Slim2001September 2, 2014Yes "Whip It"Nicki Minaj2012September 2, 2014Yes "Don't Cha"The Pussycat Dolls ft. Busta Rhymes2005September 16, 2014Yes "Le Freak"Chic1978September 16, 2014Yes "Planet Rock"Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force1982September 16, 2014No "Say Aah"Trey Songz2010September 16, 2014Yes "Fergalicious"Fergie ft. will.i.am2006September 23, 2014Yes "Hollaback Girl"Gwen Stefani2005September 23, 2014Yes "London Bridge"Fergie2006September 23, 2014Yes "We Run This"Missy Elliott2006September 23, 2014Yes "Control"Janet Jackson1986September 30, 2014Yes "Escapade"Janet Jackson1989September 30, 2014No "Nasty"Janet Jackson1986September 30, 2014Yes "Party Rock Anthem"LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock2011September 30, 2014Yes "Sorry for Party Rocking"LMFAO2012September 30, 2014Yes "All Around the World"Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris2012October 7, 2014Yes "Beauty and a Beat"Justin Bieber ft. Nicki Minaj2012October 7, 2014Yes "Never Say Never"Justin Bieber ft. Jaden Smith2010October 7, 2014Yes "Lights"Ellie Goulding2011October 14, 2014Yes "Let It Roll"Flo Rida2012October 21, 2014Yes "Low"Flo Rida ft. T-Pain2007October 21, 2014Yes "Give Me Everything"Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer2011October 28, 2014Yes "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)"Pitbull ft. T-Pain2010October 28, 2014Yes "International Love"Pitbull ft. Chris Brown2011October 28, 2014Yes "Disturbia"Rihanna2008November 4, 2014Yes "Only Girl (In the World)"Rihanna2010November 4, 2014Yes "S&M"Rihanna2011November 4, 2014Yes "SOS"Rihanna2006November 4, 2014Yes "Umbrella"Rihanna ft. Jay-Z2007November 4, 2014Yes "What's My Name"Rihanna ft. Drake2010November 4, 2014Yes "Gangnam Style"PSY2012December 2, 2014Yes "Yeah 3x"Chris Brown2010December 2, 2014Yes "Euphoria"Usher2012December 16, 2014Yes "Twisted"Usher ft. Pharrell2012December 16, 2014Yes "I Gotta Feeling"The Black Eyed Peas2009December 30, 2014Yes "Call Me Maybe"Carly Rae Jepsen2011January 6, 2015Yes "Forget You"Cee Lo Green2010January 6, 2015Yes "Glad You Came"The Wanted2011January 6, 2015Yes "Take Care"Drake ft. Rihanna2012January 6, 2015Yes "Hot In Herre"Nelly2002January 13, 2015Yes "Promiscuous"Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland2006January 20, 2015Yes "The Way I Are"Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson & D.O.E. & Sebastian2007January 27, 2015Yes "We No Speak Americano"Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP2010February 3, 2015Yes "Scenario"A Tribe Called Quest And Leaders of the New School1992February 10, 2015Yes "Down On Me"Jeremih ft. 50 Cent2010February 17, 2015Yes "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"C+C Music Factory1990February 24, 2015Yes "Word Up"Cameo1986March 3, 2015Yes "Milkshake"Kelis2003March 10, 2015Yes "Let It Rock"Kevin Rudolf ft. Lil Wayne2008March 17, 2015Yes "Lean wit It, Rock wit It"Dem Franchize Boyz2006March 24, 2015Yes "O.P.P."Naughty by Nature1991March 31, 2015Yes "Straight Up"Paula Abdul1988April 7, 2015Yes "Super Freak"Rick James1981April 14, 2015Yes "Whoomp! (There It Is)"Tag Team1993April 28, 2015Yes "Spice Up Your Life (Stent Radio Mix)"Spice Girls1997May 5, 2015Yes "Informer"Snow1993May 12, 2015Yes "Whine Up"Kat DeLuna ft. Elephant Man2007May 19, 2015Yes "Tempted to Touch"Rupee2004May 26, 2015Yes "Break Your Heart"Taio Cruz Ft. Ludacris2010June 2, 2015Yes "Replay"Iyaz2009June 2, 2015Yes
Spotlight downloadable content