Latest Reviews
Review: Dance Central 2 (Xbox 360)
Step out of the ordinary
If history has taught us anything it’s that dancing games will eventually go the way of the Guitar Heroes and the Rock Bands before them – although we anticipate the grave will be filled with less plastic instruments. Like any trend, what goes up must eventually come tumbling down but if Harmonix’s dance-em-up sequel is anything to go by, disco fever may only just be.. Continue Reading »
Review: Nicktoons MLB (Xbox 360)
Not quite a home run
With the real MLB season coming to a close, the sport is rapidly approaching its Toy Story moment: when no one is around to see, what happens to all the players? They're recruited by Nickelodeon, apparently, for a simplistic and, despite its best efforts, charming take on America's pastime. Nicktoons MLB falls under the same umbrella as NBA Jam on Wii and to a lesser extent.. Continue Reading »
Review: Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (Xbox 360)
"C" is for "charming"
It’s every child’s dream to be able to play with their favourite TV characters. To them, they’re not pretend; they’re just as much a part of their reality as anything else. The talented folks at Double Fine have teamed up with Sesame Workshop to give kids the chance to play with their favourite Sesame Street monsters in a way that is not only nothing short of magic to.. Continue Reading »
Review: Forza Motorsport 4 (Xbox 360)
Leader of the pack
We've seen a handful of games call themselves "Better with Kinect" — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I and Virtua Tennis 4 are two of the more high-profile titles, but neither managed to use the sensor for more than mildly entertaining side games. Arguably, Forza Motorsport 4 is the first game to show the sensor can be integrated into core gameplay and.. Continue Reading »
Review: Just Dance 3 (Xbox 360)
Hands in the air like you just don’t care
With a whopping ten dance titles shuffling towards store shelves in time for the holidays, you’d be forgiven for writing off every single one as being just another dancing game. Whilst that’s arguably the case, the Just Dance series hasn’t earned its millions by just being another dancing game. Unlike Kinect best-seller Dance Central, which pushes.. Continue Reading »
Review: PowerUp Heroes (Xbox 360)
Here to save the world?
After last year's disastrous Fighters Uncaged we thought we'd never want to touch a Ubisoft fighting game for Kinect again, but then along came PowerUp Heroes to change our mind. It's easy to see the big difference here: whereas Uncaged was set in the dirty world of street-fighting, PowerUp transports you to a world of malevolent beings and heroes in super-powered suits.. Continue Reading »
Review: Kinect Fun Labs: Mutation Station (Xbox Live Arcade)
Malformed
We all imagined that Kinect Fun Labs was Microsoft's way of providing engaging, free content to Kinect fans, but with the third paid add-on it's clear the emphasis has shifted towards a microtransaction model. Does Kinect Fun Labs: Mutation Station offer enough to justify the adoption of this new sales strategy? While Kinect Sparkler introduced finger-tracking, there's no such big.. Continue Reading »
Review: The Penguins of Madagascar: Dr. Blowhole Returns Again! (Xbox 360)
The legacy of Reel 2 Real lives on
Dreamworks’ Madagascar films are notable for two things: Resurrecting Reel 2 Real’s 1994 jam I Like to Move It and spawning a zoo filled with a team of goofy penguins. Said penguins proved popular enough to get their own spin-off show on Nickelodeon, which then went on to birth TV specials, DVD collections and video games like the one you’re now reading.. Continue Reading »
Review: Burnout CRASH! (Xbox Live Arcade)
A crashing disaster or a wheelie good success?
When it was first announced, Burnout CRASH! was dismissed as a cash-in on a very popular video game series. Nothing like the titles before it, nothing to do with racing and what seemed like boringly simple controls portrayed this game as one that'd head straight to the scrapyard. But those first impressions couldn’t have been more wrong. Burnout.. Continue Reading »
Review: The Gunstringer (Xbox 360)
A fistful of crazy
You'd be hard-pressed to find a development studio with more spring in their step than Twisted Pixel or a game with such joie de vivre as The Gunstringer. Where a lesser studio may have slapped some skeletal cowboy puppets into a Kinect-enabled rail shooter and called it a day, Twisted Pixel snatches the western marionette theme and runs with it for miles, all the while cackling.. Continue Reading »
Review: Rise of Nightmares (Xbox 360)
Shocking?
Kinect has been on the market for a less than a year, and in that time has amassed no fewer than six dancing games, five fitness titles and an alarming number of minigame compilations, but where are the more mature titles for single players after a story? Rise of Nightmares may not completely fill the gap, but it'll do in a pinch. The first 18/Mature-rated game for Kinect, Rise of.. Continue Reading »
Review: Champion Jockey (Xbox 360)
Cracking the whip
Admit it. The concept of a horse riding simulator isn’t instantly appealing. When you consider that the medium of video gaming allows us to explore unlikely fantasies and pretend to be characters we could scarcely dream of becoming in real life, it makes you wonder who in their right mind would want to step into the grass-soiled clothing of a professional jockey? As ridiculous.. Continue Reading »
Review: Leedmees (Xbox Live Arcade)
Follow that body
Leedmees can be compared in many ways to the classic puzzle game Lemmings. Your objective is to transport miniature beings from an entrance on one side of the map to an exit on the other. While Lemmings relied on clever positioning of ladders and digging in appropriate places, Leedmees is discernibly more unique: it grabs the gameplay mechanics of a strategic puzzle game like.. Continue Reading »
Review: Kinect Fun Labs: Air Band (Xbox Live Arcade)
A musical joke?
After Kinect Sparkler turned out to be rather dim, the second paid addition to Kinect Fun Labs is here in the much more pleasing form of Air Band, which lets you become a musical ensemble with just your bare hands. You and a friend can jump in to one of five musical styles — disco, rock, pop, latin and country — and mime playing a keyboard, guitar or drum kit. A neon instrument.. Continue Reading »
Review: Hole in the Wall (Xbox Live Arcade)
Bring on the wall!
Hole in the Wall is as simple as a game title can get; a wall with a hole in it comes hurtling towards your Avatar. As the player, you must use your body to fit through these holes and avoid being knocked into a pool of water behind you. There are two main modes of play on show; Quick Survival and Show. Quick Survival mode fires an unlimited quantity of walls towards your.. Continue Reading »
Review: Fruit Ninja Kinect (Xbox Live Arcade)
Juiced up
In an age where smartphone advocates are gloomily predicting the End of Days for dedicated home consoles, it’s incredibly ironic that one of the best-selling iPhone and Android titles of all time (over 20 million downloads, and rising) is made even more compelling by its fusion with Microsoft’s home console-based Kinect peripheral. Although many doubted just how well the touch-screen.. Continue Reading »
Review: Avatar Superstar (Xbox Live Arcade)
Lacks the X factor
It feels unfair being overly critical of an Xbox Live Indie game. For a measly 80 Microsoft Points you know you're not going to get an experience on-par with the best games out there, but we must still be truthful in our critique of Avatar Superstar. The screenshots and branding suggest that this is a karaoke experience, whereas the reality is slightly different. Although your.. Continue Reading »
Review: Kinect Fun Labs: Kinect Sparkler (Xbox Live Arcade)
Fizzles out
Kinect Fun Labs is a set of interesting toys, tools and gadgets designed to show off what Kinect can do, and while the service started off free, it's now embracing paid add-on content with Kinect Sparkler. While the price is a measly 240 Microsoft Points, however, it's still expensive for the content. Kinect Sparkler is a doodle pad, essentially. You take two snaps of your living room.. Continue Reading »
Review: Wipeout In the Zone (Xbox 360)
Good grief
Few things in life are as satisfying as some good ol’ schadenfreude, and the producers of hit ABC show Wipeout know that more than anyone: it’s like an obstacle course interpretation of home-movie clip shows where everyone gets knocked in the balls — fitting, as the most iconic obstacle is a set of huge red balls. There's a difference, though, between getting smacked upside the.. Continue Reading »
Review: Let's Dance with Mel B (Xbox 360)
Zig-a-zig arrggh
Every Kinect sold comes with a demo of Dance Central tucked away on the Kinect Adventures disc, meaning everyone has a chance to play the sensor's best dancing game by far. Now you have the chance to play one of its worst, Let's Dance with Mel B. We've always had a nagging feeling that developer Lightning Fish Studio overachieved with Get Fit with Mel B, and that feeling makes.. Continue Reading »
