Game Review: Fruit Ninja Kinect
Billy O'Keefe - Mclatchy -Tribune News Service
Aug 12, 2011
For: Xbox 360 (via Xbox Live Arcade, Kinect required)
From: Halfbrick Studios
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Price: $10
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It took nine months for Kinect to get Xbox Live Arcade representation, but the first game it gets is, while not overly adventurous, a perfect fit. "Fruit Ninja Kinect" migrates the massively popular mobile game (and somewhat obscure arcade port) to Kinect, and it's exactly what you expect: Instead of swiping your finger across a tiny screen, you're viciously chopping the air to slice fruit as it flies into view all around you.
If that sounds mindless, bite your tongue: There's a science to maximizing your score by slicing three or more fruits in one chop without hitting fatal bombs or letting stray fruit drop, and "FNK's" multiple modes - Classic, a bombs-free Zen mode, an Arcade mode laden with powerups and score multipliers, a Challenge mode that shuffles all three - each utilize that science in maddeningly addictive ways. The short length per game - a minute to 90 seconds, typically - makes it easy to keep replaying for better scores, and all those replays add up to a much better workout than the mobile game can provide.
As with all Kinect games, "FNK" occasionally misreads a motion, but the slip-ups are surprisingly infrequent considering how much chaos can ensue. "FNK's" only online functionality comes via leaderboards, but its two-player local multiplayer options - a co-op arcade mode and a side-by-side battle for the best score - are a riot (and, again, surprisingly proficient with regard to motion detection).
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Copyright 2011 by Mclatchy -Tribune News Service
