Kinect Adventures review

Odds are, the first Kinect game most people play will be Kinect Adventures!, a game that comes included with the Kinect. In many ways, Kinect Adventures! is little more than a sampler that allows you to test out the hardware. The game feature five mini-games: Rallyball, Reflex Ridge, Space Pop, River Rush, and 20,000 Leaks.

Rallyball is a sort of handball on Red Bull. You hit a ball at a target, while deflecting balls that are coming at you. You can use your hands, legs and head, so in that sense it truly utilizes the Kinect’s potential. But only in a limited way. Reflex Ridge puts your avatar on a platform, where you need to react to avoid obstacles. You will duck, jump and dodge your way through a gauntlet to reach the finish line. Space Pop is a gravity-defying game that puts you in a small room filled with bubbles that you need to hit to pop. The game uses depth in an interesting way. River Rush is similar to Reflex Ridge, but you have more control. As you cruise down a series of rapids in a raft, you move left and right to steer, and jump to elevate your transportation while collecting stars along the way. Finally, 20,000 Leaks is perhaps the simplest game of the bunch. Cracks appear in the glass wall that is holding back the ocean, and you need to plug them with your body.

While it is too early to grasp the full potential of the Kinect, Kinect Adventures! barely touches the surface of what the hardware can do. It is hard to even review this as a game, because it feels like a demo for the Kinect, and that is essentially all it is. Despite the inclusion of two players — which does offer a few fun moments — once you play through each mini-game a few times, you will probably toss this game aside and forget all about it. But it is definitely worth the money (because it is free).

Score: 5 out of 10

If you’re interested in the Kinect system then check out our Microsoft Kinect review.

(This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360 on a copy provided by Microsoft Studios)