Kinect Sports

It’s an unwritten rule: launch a motion-control platform, and you have to release a collection of sports-themed mini-games with it. The Wii started it with its casual-trap pack-in Wii Sports, the PlayStation Move dropped alongside Sports Champions, and now Kinect’s debut is accompanied by that of the creatively-named Kinect Sports.

As a launch game, Kinect Sports is pretty good, being one of the brighter spots on Kinect’s current line-up. It’s predictable and safe, yes, with very few surprises, but it does provide a solid experience bolstered by noteworthy features which mostly make up for its noticeable shortcomings.

The six included sport types offer a fair amount of variety, from the completely obvious (table tennis, boxing, bowling) to the somewhat more interesting (track and field, football, volleyball). What’s included is certainly fun, and additional difficulty modes – some of which can get quite tricky – lend the package good replay value. Some thought was also put into the design of events, as each sport type offers extra, skill-based challenges and mini-games in addition to the normal event type. This definitely helps to keep monotony at bay, even when the gameplay itself might not always be particularly deep.

The multiplayer component is also quite robust, with both offline and online options available. During offline play, it’s possible to divide players into competing teams. Only two people can play at once, but the team option allows for a whole group to actively participate, and is thus a great option for social gatherings. The Kinect-based voice chat can become an issue during online games as the voice volume seems to spontaneously adjust itself at inopportune moments, but this never becomes more than a slight irritation.

What sets Kinect Sports apart from its counterparts on competing consoles is the sheer physicality of it. Like Kinect Adventures, though even more so, this is a very active, physically exerting game. It’s kind of ironic that it’s taken this long for sports games to really provide a workout, but Kinect Sports succeeds wonderfully. Finally you can actually burn some calories while pretending to participate in a sporting event.

As energetic as the gameplay is, it does present some shortcomings which at times perhaps demonstrate some of Kinect’s inherent weaknesses. As expected with a controller-free setup, free movement within the game space is either limited or non-existent. During football and volleyball in particular, you’re not actually controlling the movements of your player characters at all. Instead, your characters are automatically moved to the correct locations and you simply provide the input needed to kick or hit the ball. As physical as these actions still are, they can feel suspiciously similar to quick-time events, making these events feel strangely automated. Furthermore, some noticeable input lag can detract from the experience, and while the controls always work well enough, they don’t exhibit the finesse or accuracy of those of, say, the PS3’s Sports Champions.

Most of the sport types fare a lot better, though. Bowling works wonderfully, offering an experience that is intuitive, responsive and markedly superior to having to fumble with buttons, and table tennis, boxing and track and field all work just fine too. While the afore-mentioned shortcomings are often evident, the enjoyment to be had in most of the game types compensate for them.

The package is neatly fleshed out by a cute presentation making heavy use of the 360’s avatars concept, enhanced by in-game commentary and some licensed popular music. This helps Kinect Sports stand on its own as a full, proper game, sidestepping the trend of games like this feeling like glorified tech demos (*cough* WiiSports *cough*). Kinect Sports is a commendable package, and while it’s by no means Kinect’s killer app, you could do a lot worse than picking up a copy.

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