Very few of the motion-based games included at a console’s debut are ever better than just plain tolerable. The lone exception is Nintendo’s “Wii Sports,” which brought together all types of gamers. Now there’s another title to add to the list: “Kinect Adventures.”
The minigames do a fantastic job of introducing the Kinect’s controls, while still keeping everything lighthearted and fun. While a few of the challenges could get a bit stale after repetitive play, most players will continue to come back to this title time and again.
“Kinect Adventures” sports five minigames — 20,000 Leaks (plugging cracks in an underwater glass tube), River Rush (racing down zany rapids), Rally Ball (like handball), Reflex Ridge (dodging obstacles while riding a wooden roller coaster), and Space Pop (breaking balloons in a low-gravity environment).
While playing all these, the system will snap your photos, which can later be posted online or sent to friends — but don’t expect any of these photos to actually look good.
| ‘Kinect Adventures’ |
| » System: Xbox 360 |
| » Price: Comes with Kinect ($149.99) |
| » Rating: 3 out of 5 stars |
Kinect tracks movement incredibly well, though it will feel a bit strange to move around so much. The other systems either track the controller or require some sort of pad to stand on, but with Kinect you can move almost anywhere as long as the camera can still see you.
The one flaw with Kinect is the amount of space needed to play. Most gamers have chairs or sofas that take up a bunch of space. These will have to be shoved out of the way to make enough room — if you have a smaller home, you may just be out of luck. Also, make sure there is enough head room, as many of the games require jumping and swinging your arms.
Of the games available at the Kinect’s launch, “Adventures” stands near the top of the list with “Kinect Sports” and “Dance Central.” Though hopefully some truly quality games will make use of the platform soon.
