Kinect Sports

It's easy to dismiss Kinect Sports as cheerful and easy going party game, that tries to steal a bit of Wii Sports thunder. And if you read on the back of the box is even more clear who Microsoft and Rare are going after. You are presented with six events, and the words "YOU are the controller". And the list of events comes across as a rather expected collection of uninspired, but decent party games.

The back of the box isn't very inspired and the sense of this being something that just fills a spot in the launch line up is growing. What Rare and Microsoft forgot to mention on the back of the box that Kinect Sports eclipses what inspired it, and that several of the events can be played in special party modes with new rules. And this is where Kinect Sports really delivers, but more on that later.

Naturally you can play with your avatar, and if you stand in front of the Kinect finds the correct one by itself. Once the excitement of the new "controller free" experience has passed, the question remains how well it works. And if you put the spacial demands aside, especially when you are boxing, the answer is - extremely well.

To shoot a penalty, bowl, or play table tennis is as much fun and as precise as the competition. But there is one great difference - without a physical controller that has to shift hands the experience is much better as a party game than that of say Sports Champions, that requires a calibration between each event, or Wii Sports, that require lots of plastic. And while Sports Champions comes with realistic environments, and Wii Sports has been family friendly but rather understated Mii world, Kinect Sports lands somewhere in the middle.

But it's the new party mode that puts Kinect Sports well ahead of its competition, at least if you plan on playing the game with your friends.

Party mode comes with new and fun rules. How about toppling as many pins as possible in the space of one minute, with an unlimited supply of bowling balls? Or how about using both hands in bowling and table tennis? Or have about a dodgeball version of volleyball where you have to avoid getting hit by the ball?

You can as I mentioned play Kinect Sports with your avatar, but in party the two teams (or four if you play online) get a mascot each instead. These range from colourful spacemen to fierce sharks, just what you would expect from your typical American sports mascots.

It's also a lot of fun to see the short films Kinect records of the players, something that can be shared on Kinectshare.com. Simply put, Kinect Sports is polished to such a degree that you have to be a real bore not to get carried away by the excitement. And the music is also something that helps lift the mode, as it is firmly grounded in the Microsoft's catalogue of Lips tracks.

The single player experience is somewhat limited, and there is not a lot to motivate the player apart from the obvious benefits of exercise. You may want to go record hunting, but that's about it. Kinect Sports is however, highly recommended to anyone looking for a fun party game, that doesn't require vocal skills plastic guitars.