Goatmoose

The last of my promised gaggle of Kinect launch title reviews is Rare’s take on the multi-sport sim with their lovely game Kinect Sports.  It utilizes the Kinect sensor to put players into six different sports for an excellent party game that offers endless fun and good responses.  It does for the Kinect what Wii Sports did for the Wii, and is what we’ve all wished Wii Sports could have been – a full body, wire-free sports funfest.

As everyone who knows anything about me is aware, I don’t care much for real-life sports at all.  I watch none, I play none.  And I certainly know nothing about any of the sports involved in Kinect Sports.  I point that out to note my review of this game is not swayed by some lifelong love of sports.  The game delivers a good enough experience to keep me playing because it is a well-made game, and a must-have for anyone hoping to use their Kinect for multiplayer purposes.  And I used the word “sports” way too many times in this paragraph.  Read on.

It was obvious that the Kinect would launch with a sports title.  The Wii is the most direct predecessor to the Kinect.  Its most popular title has been the one that came with it – Wii Sports – because of its variety, its fun group play, its approachability and when the hardware was released, its demonstration of the console’s potential.  Kinect Sports is all the same to its hardware companion, and showcases the next stage of motion technology much the same.  It’s also quite fun.

Up front, I’d like to recommend you wear shoes while playing – particularly if you have a house like I do built on a concrete slab foundation, in which there are only hardwood or laminate floors with no additional padding but an area rug.  Play a game like this too long in that situation with bare or socked feet and you’ll be drowning in ouchies.

Let’s take a look at the components one by one, rapid style:

Boxing - My least favorite.  Mainly because I don’t comprehend boxing.  And because it’s the least interesting.  You hit, they hit, someone falls first.  I found my character mis-punching a few times, making Boxing the culprit of my only real motion-sensing troubles with the whole title.

Bowling - Always a player favorite, bowling is awesome.  It takes some practice, for sure.  The angle with which you bring the ball back and release it matters, the direction your arm moves matters for spin, the quickness of your toss matters… it’s all very well-done.  My high score so far is 278.  Suck it.

Track and Field – This is really awesome and consists of a sprint, javelin, long jump, discus and hurdles.  Each takes its own practice to master and each use the Kinect camera brilliantly.  Lift your legs higher to run.  Hold the javelin back as you jog to get more oomph.  This is a very unique part of the sports package that really delivers.

Table Tennis – Another accurate and fun game.  What’s there to say about it?  You know how table tennis works.  And it works like that in Kinect Sports.

Football (Soccer) – The game calls it soccer.  The achievements refer to it as football.  Isn’t that cute?  I find this to be surprisingly fun, and I don’t like real soccer in the least.  It is fairly simple, getting in the way of your opponent’s passes and directionally-kicking your legs to pass to your other teammates on the field as the journey moves towards the opposing net.  There you kick or head the ball in the net and writhe with joy.

Beach Volleyball - One of the more complex games.  The way you hit the ball impacts a lot in this game.  Your timing, the direction, the placement… it all comes into play.  Get it?  Into play?  Terrible.  Shame on me.

The game also boasts an awesome soundtrack of clips that play when you do something awesome – i.e. score a strike in bowling or pound a smash shot in table tennis.  It ranges from Beyonce to Blur to Rihanna to MC Hammer.  MC HAMMER, I tell you!

Other fun little features include putting your arms in the air after winning a sprint to cause the crowd to stand up and cheer louder.  Omnipotence is bliss.  Even more so than seeing my avatar dressed up in track shorts.

The game also has a ton of minigames designed for every sport.  They’re simplistic, like scoring as many goals as you can in a minute, but they offer an added variety and replay value to each of the sports.  They are also designed for excellent quick multiplayer play.  Xbox Live also has some free DLC available for the game that adds more mini-games to the mix, which is bonus rad.

The Kinect sensor definitely plays to the strengths of the sports it is offering.  Rare has figured out ways to interpret the movements of the real sports in believable ways that you can act out in your living room with confined space.  And while you’re experiencing such finely-programmed wonderment, you will experience a pretty powerful workout that will likely leave you sweaty and sore and reaching to turn down the thermostat.

In lieu of typing any more, I suggest that if you have a Kinect, you go out and grab this game.   It’s jolly good fun even if you aren’t a sports fan, and it is required gaming if you plan to have friends over and use your Kinect as a tool to induce jealousy or seduction.

Time for a gin & tonic.  Adieu, friends.  I’ll be back with another Kinect review when I get another Kinect game.  JoyRide will likely be my next investment.  Feel free to buy it for me to expedite the process.