Kinectimals is the best launch title for Kinect, period

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In my opinion, the range of motion-enabled Kinect titles fall into five distinct categories:

Fitness — these are great and there are several to choose from between initial releases and upcoming titles. Most do body sensing, provide a trainer silhouette to take you through rigorous training programs, etc.

Dance — not really my speed, but again, there are several. Of course, I am not much of a Rock Band/Guitar Hero player either.

Hybrid titles — where a majority of the game is a typical Xbox 360 adventure, with some aspects or mini-games or voice-control added to take advantage of the Kinect. These extensions range of genuine enhancements to what appears to be a marketing guy’s attempt to cash in on the hype of Kinect and get their game case a purple logo.

Gimmicky — every launch platform needs its simple cartoonish titles to help customers learn the new tools from the Wii Sports games that came with that platform to Kinect Adventures. Its good for what it is, but doesn’t really have long-term playability.

Good games that happen to use the new controller method — for those special games that truly take advantage of the new platform and make it not just work, but really rock.

 

Kinectimals is that kind of game — a genuinely immersive game with a good premise and diverse activity that really gets and gives the most of out the Kinect.

The physical aspects of the challenges (especially the obstacle courses) are a refreshing bit of exercise that will get your heart rate moving, as well as the rest of you — especially if you are obsessive and want to earn a gold medal on each one. My kids also really got into the ball games, where you’ll play catch with your cub or some other device, being able to return balls from one of six positions on the screen — kicking (down) or hitting (up) from the left, center or right sides of the screen. Frankly, I found myself more often playing the physical challenges of Kinectimals than the pure ‘exercise’ games.

Kinectimals_obstaclecourse

Graphically, the venues are colorful and very engaging — and the range of beautifully rendered cubs is amazing. For the obsessive collector, you will want to collect them all, from those found in the game to those scanned in. Scanned in? Yes, as an interesting though admittedly sparse execution, Microsoft is selling a line of stuffed toys with scanning tags. Put the tag in front of your Kinect, and that animal is imported into your game — similar to the widespread success of Webkins. The stuffed toys are just one of the nice twists for younger players.

My kids really enjoyed the petting and caring for the animals, where Kinect will digitize your hands and you can see your fingers running through the animals fur, scratching behind the ears, etc. As you walk to the side, your will ‘walk’ around your cub, and are able to scratch, pet, brush the rest of the cub for cleaning or play. While a reasonably healthy and somewhat coordinated adult will be challenged to master the challenges and gain the complete gamerscore, your kids will enjoy the interaction with the cubs and the discovery of a great adventure. And as a parent, you’ll appreciate your kids obsessively playing a game with their whole bodies and not just sitting on the couch and working their thumbs.

If you haven’t gotten Kinectimals yet — Go get it!  If you have already, then you know why I like it so much.

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November 15, 2010 · Jason · No Comments
Tags: , , , ,  Â· Posted in: Game Reviews, Games for Kids

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