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Xbox 360 Review: Country Dance All Stars

By
Diana Scott
– May 14, 2012Posted in: Kinect, Reviews, Xbox 360

Let me preface this review with the fact that I am NOT a gamer. I have no idea how to use a controller with more than an A and B button, and I have almost no desire to learn. This is probably why I really enjoy the Kinect; I never have to touch a controller I can just move a around and the machine does what I want – most of the time. While I have played a variety of Kinect games with my kids I enjoy the dancing games the most. Mostly because they are easy enough for me to master and it is fun to dance around like fool with my family and friends. This brings me to the latest dance release: Country Dance All Stars.

This game was a lot of fun to play; with a variety of country hits from traditional to current popular songs there is something for everyone who enjoy country music in the slightest. Additionally, the game includes the lyrics at the bottom of the screen karaoke style, allowing for additional fun for those who enjoy sing-a-longs (The Honkytonk Badonkadonk had us in stitches). The dance moves also range from simple to complex allowing for a even the least talented dancers to have a moderate degree of success. While the game was entertaining and I had an excellent time dancing around the living room, the graphics and ease of use leave something to be desired.

When you begin playing the game it jumps right into the song menu and you can immediately begin playing, you have to access a separate menu to practice the moves included in each dance. While this seems like it might be fun it is actually a bit frustrating; having to go to a separate menu to get practice moves encourages you to skip that part so the first go round of every song is a disaster. Other dance titles have practice built into the game play and that set-up makes for much more fluid play.  There is traditional dance mode and a freeze dance mode which is interesting; the player dances along until the freeze icon appears then you need to be still or the game will deduct points from you score. We could not figure out how to master this mode but it did add an element of variety to the game.

In addition to the weird set up the controls and background graphics also present some problems. To operate the menu you have to grab an imaginary dot and move your arm up and down which as a little confusing for my children. Also once you begin operating the menu screen you cannot switch out players because it will not read the new players – imagine trying to walk a four-year old through the menu screen so she can play when she cannot read, it was frustrating to say the least.  Then there are the graphics, which are distracting, at best and downright irritating at worst. It is difficult to describe but the patterns on the clothes the dancers are wearing appear to be stationary with the outline of the dancers moving across them – it is very tough on the eyes. However, these complaints aside I would recommend this game to country music fans. If you are looking for a party game to share with friends for a fun night in, Country Dance All Stars will do the trick – if you can master the controls and get past the strange graphics.

Pros

  • Excellent song list
  • Family friendly fun
  • Karaoke sing-along

Cons

  • Cumbersome interface issues
  • Practice modes are tiresome to access
  • Awkward graphical choices

3 / 5

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Kids Corner Xbox 360 Review: Kinect Star Wars

By
Chris Scott
– April 9, 2012Posted in: Kids Corner, Kinect, Reviews, Xbox 360

There are few franchises that generate more passion than Star Wars. That passion has enabled the series to become successful over multiple mediums, with the series, rooted in film, having toys, books, comics, clothing apparel, television cartoons, radio dramas and of course video games. Of course that passion also has the unwanted effect of laying expectations for these endeavors and for a very vocal contingent of fans to speak out when those expectations are not met. Kinect Star Wars probably will not meet the expectations of most of those fans, unless they are six years old, or me.

Adult Review

Kinect Star Wars has a few modes of play but the primary one is a character action game, complete with a familiar storyline, where players are tasked with performing simplistic platforming actions, and battling in close quarter situations using the motion control features of the Kinect. Due to the limitations of the device, the game is a fairly straightforward on-rails experience, reminiscent of light gun games like Time Crisis, but with a melee focus instead of ranged combat. Everything is very much timing based and enemies will give very distinct tells to how they plan to attack making combat for experienced gamers a cinch, when it works.

The Kinect device works best with overly exaggerated movements but sword fighting is a subtle art and trying to reconcile the two can be somewhat frustrating. Combined with some nasty input lag, battles against more complex opponents can be somewhat tedious. However, despite being very simplistic and occasionally frustrating, there is something inherently satisfying about performing the familiar Jedi motions and getting a tangible result on the screen.

There is also something exhilarating about jumping on a speeder bike with Yoda on your back and driving at high speeds through the forests of Kashyyk. Sure I would have preferred it to be on Endor, with Princess Leia holding on as I chased down stormtroopers but even so, the sequence made me feel like a five year old again.

In addition to Destiny of the Jedi, there are a few other modes of play that may or may not make one cringe. While stuff like podracing and lightsaber dueling will more than likely get passes for being “true” Star Wars activities, the ire of many a fan will be unfairly directed at Rancor Rampage and Galactic Dancing. Sure they may seem like stupid modes to have in a Star Wars game but they are also full of stupid fun. Picking up troopers and swallowing them whole is a ton of fun, as is dancing with Han, Lando and Leia to “popular” songs reworked with Star Wars themed lyrics. Come on, who does not want to do the “Trash Compactor” move

Gaming as an art form is expanding and moving forward. Kinect Star Wars does not do anything to push the genre forward but just like in film, music and literature, gaming needs products that are just for fun and bring a smile to the player’s face. Kinect Star Wars does this. Yes, the game has problems but its ability to tangibly deliver on my inner five year old’s desire to be a Jedi and ride a speeder bike, while also providing a bucketful of laughs is all that I needed out of this game. Hopefully other gamers will be able to remember that feeling and jump in their Falcon with a Wookie at their side too.

3 / 5

Kid’s Review

My six year old son loves Star Wars, so he eagerly jumped at the opportunity to help out with this Kids Corner review. I popped the disc in the tray and away he went. When playing other games, I need to navigate the menus for him and give him guidance on how to play, however Kinect Star Wars was designed in such a way that he was easily able to coordinate the menus with no problems. While there are certainly criticisms that can be levied at the Kinect and Kinect Star Wars in particular, interfacing is not one of them.

The majority of his play time was spent in the campaign mode as he enjoyed adventuring as a Padawan. While I found the character action portion to be rudimentary and on rails, he found it to be engaging and challenging, and as a result, he has played the game enraptured for hours on end.  In fact while talking to him about his experience I found out that he was confronting battles in a completely different way than I was. Where I would take enemies head on, memorizing attack patterns and timing my attacks accordingly, my son would utilize the environment allowing The Force to do much of the hard work for him. His favorite aspect of the entire game was being able to use his innate Force abilities.

As much as he enjoyed the campaign mode, the rest of the game was a bit hit or miss with him. He found the podracing to be fun but too hard for him to actually do well at it. Rancor Rampage on the other hand was something he really liked. He was even persuaded to allow his older sister to play with him and the two wreaked havoc as a pair of snarling rancors. The dancing was something he showed very little interest in and while he enjoyed the dueling mode, he seemed to find it a bit more challenging than he would have liked.

The campaign and Rancor Rampage are enough to make him happy for quite some time and there are few things that are as amusing to watch as a very passionate six year old Star Wars fan living out his dreams.

4 / 5

Microsoft came out in front of Kinect Star Wars making claims that the game was not for all gamers. I understand the sentiment but then again there are hardly any games that are for all gamers. Kinect Star Wars is for people who are looking for a game to play on their Kinect. It is also for fans of the series that do not mind that it sometimes pokes fun of itself and are just looking to have a good time, acting like a fool in front of their television. And most importantly, it is for six year old boys (and girls) that have not yet become the bitter sarlacc pits that many Star Wars fans have become.

Pros

  • Tangibly realizes the dreams of our six year old selves
  • Highly entertaining for the young’uns
  • Does not take itself seriously

Cons

  • Noticeable input lag
  • Actual gameplay is overly simplistic for anyone over the age of six

3 / 5

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Review: Cabela’s Adventure Camp

By
Don Parsons
– December 6, 2011Posted in: Kinect, Nintendo Wii, PS3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Mini-game collections are abundant this time of year. With the holidays coming up, and motion controls of various forms coming into more and more households, it’s easy to see why. You’ve been treated to a carnival-themed collection, now behold Cabela’s take on mini-game action with Cabela’s Adventure Camp. Replacing hunting with various camping activities, you’ll compete for the top spot amongst either the AI or your friends.

After a brief introduction to camp and the festivities that are about to take place, you can get started with either a Free Play session or the Cabela’s Cup. Free Play lets you pick from the events, but some of them are locked and you have to play a different event first. Events are broken down into two main types; racing and shooting. There’s usually always more than one type of sub-catergory too. For example, there are two  of each race type, and four of the two shooting games each.

While they share the same name, Archery 1 and Archery 4 are very different, mind you. Archery 1 has you shooting at targets (some stationary, some mobile), while Archery 4 mixes it up with cardboard cutouts of deer. You can’t shoot the doe (teaching trophy hunting ethics early!), and wolves can appear and make the targets start moving.  Skeet shooting is clay shooting, with powerups (like shooting a green balloon that makes your crosshairs gigantic for a set amount of time). Both types of shooting control by pointing the Move wand at the screed as the crosshairs, but arrows have drop. Archery was more difficult because of that, and the fact that skeet shooting has a bigger crosshair.

Using a simple trigger pull for arrows seemed a little lacking in the creative department, especially since they were shooting for a camping experience. A modification to make the controls a little more realistic in the motions would have improved the feel of the game considerably. They added a “reload” motion, so you get the gist of drawing a new arrow, though.

Racing events range from kayaking through river rapids, avoiding boulders and trees in the river, to bicycling down a mountain path taking jumps. All racing events have you collecting coins, so you want to collect as many coins you can, and do it quickly because there is a hefty bonus for being fast. All racing events controlled with the wand pointed at the screen, and veering it from left to right while pressing the T button to gain speed. It wasn’t anything strenuous, but it worked, and the events were fun during their short duration.

The only other thing besides those two catagories is fishing. Fishing is tossing a line out (underhand for close, overhand for far), and catching fish; either of a certain color (Fishing 1), or by swapping baits for certain sizes (Fishing 2). It was one of the only event types I had a problem with the motion controls, as I couldn’t get the overhand throw right. I tried to avoid these events after failing multiple times. Perhaps it was just my Move setup (though every other game I played during that sitting worked fine).

You don’t gain much from Free Play, but can play mutiplayer. I only have one controller, so I couldn’t do the “grieving your opponent” that is a highlight on the back of the case. Also, while it says “hotseat” multiplayer (which tells me only one controller is needed), you can’t play by passing the controller, you have to have at least 2 controllers. Free Play is also a great place to earn the awesomely easy trophies.

Cabela’s Cup first has you selecting a character; though there is no importance outside of what you look like (I played as a girl, as there is a trophy for completing all events as a girl. A gold trophy. Remember, Girlz Rule!). The first of seven events is always Bear, Hunter, Ninja. Think Rock, Paper, Scissors. I won’t go into detail, but it seemed silly as you gained no points towards the cup, and didn’t loose anything either. But my seven-year old loved it, so he obviously got what I didn’t.

You can choose to pick the next five events, or have them chosen randomly. You get points and medals for the events based on your score, and a running score for the cup. Event seven is a whack-a-mole style game that takes cues from Simon Says. Four groundhogs take turn singing notes in a particular order, you have to follow the pattern. After this event ends, the cup is given to the winner, and a stylish postcard is written by the winners avatar. End.

The events are fun and I personally enjoyed the whole game. I’d like more content, which is pretty much the only drawback. Yes, there are multiple variations of games, but I played through them all in a few hours. I loved the theme and the games, and I could see myself breaking this out for various get-togethers if I had more Move controllers. My son, seven, loved the opening  game and all of the racing games, and he was quite good at them, but he hated the archery. I must add, it was also fun cleaning up trophies in the game after I finished. So while Adventure Camp was fun, like real summer camp, it goes by a little too fast.

Pros:

  • fun games, fun theme
  • trophies make the replay value
Cons:
  • too short, not enough substance
Score: 3*/5

 

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Kinect Review: Hulk Hogan’s Main Event

By
Chris Scott
– November 1, 2011Posted in: Kinect, Reviews, Xbox 360

As a kid I grew up watching wrestling. The World Wrestling Federation (now the WWE) had a Saturday morning show that was the equivalent of a live action cartoon and like many kids I sat down to watch it every week. Everything was black and white, with the forces of good, led by Hulk Hogan, taking on the evil villain of the week. Hogan was at that point the biggest name in professional wrestling, but wrestling has changed a lot since that time and oddly, despite his best efforts, The Hulkster has largely remained the same. This simple fact is the foundation that Hulk Hogan’s Main Event is built on.

Hulk Hogan’s Main Event is a Kinect game that puts the player into the boots of an up and coming backyard wrestler as he sets out to become the biggest name in professional wrestling, all under the tutelage of Hogan himself. Before stepping into the ring though, one will have to create their wrestling avatar.

The game has a decent set of options for character creation and customization; however, problems arise when attempting to utilize the Kinect to fine tune your creation. I found it easy enough to make a simple character but setting him up the way I actually wanted was more of a challenge as selecting individual menu options that are clumped closely together is not one of Kinect’s strong points. However, the most frustrating part of the character creation ordeal was going through all the trouble of setting him up and completely missing the option to edit his name, leaving him with the awkward title of Caliente.

User error aside, I took Caliente to the ring to get the real game underway. I was somewhat surprised to find that the game is actually a mini-game collection masquerading as a wrestling game. You won’t find yourself “wrestling” an entire match in Hulk Hogan’s Main Event, but rather participating in key moments in a match. These key moments are considered stunts by the game and players will start out by posing in various positions as their avatar walks to the ring.

Every match starts out this same way with the game throwing more and more poses to be performed at the player as well as the task of having to avoid flying obstacles from disgruntled fans. Performing an entrance to the ring makes quite a bit of sense being as so much time is spent on it in actual wrestling, the rest of the stunts however are a hodgepodge of wrestling related actions that don’t really blend well with the pacing of an actual wrestling match. Taken out of the context of the career mode and done individually, which can be done, these events can be somewhat fun but having a stunt where you body slam your opponent upwards of 10 times in a row as you progress through a match makes little sense.

Compounding issues is the Kinect functionality itself. I have played quite a few games on the Kinect and there are those that work really well (Dance Central, Kinect Sports) and those that do not (Sonic Free Riders, Motion Sports), sadly Hulk Hogan’s Main Event falls in the latter pool. Motion recognition was all over the place. Sometimes it worked flawlessly but oftentimes it would interpret motions incorrectly making the game somewhat frustrating for me and near impossible for my kids to play.

One of the things Kinect has done really well is bridge the gap between players such as myself and a more casual crowd, like my wife and kids. Unfortunately, Hulk Hogan’s Main Event drops the ball. Many of the stunts require specific movements at very specific times and the game is unforgiving for failing to do these things exactly the right way. Worse yet, failing to successfully complete a stunt results in a failure screen that gives one the option of retrying or quitting and it does this even in multiplayer. When you watch a player fail a stunt for the fourth time in a row, the game starts to get boring for the watcher and one can only guess how frustrated the actual players is.

Surprisingly, the most frustrating aspect of the whole game is not the weird design choice of making a mini-game collection out of a wrestling match or even the shoddy motion detection. No, the most frustrating aspect of the game is that it bears the Hulk Hogan name on it, yet lacks the Hulk Hogan personality. The Hulkster only has a handful of actual vocal lines, you never actually wrestle against him nor do you have him wrestle with you. Simply put, his involvement in the actual game is superfluous.

Not everything is all doom and gloom though; Hulk Hogan’s Main Event does provide a fairly decent workout for those that give it a go as I found myself sweating up a storm just as the Kinect told me I should take a rest. It also has a fun art style that reminded me of my WWF action figures as a kid. But in the grand scheme of things, it is hard to recommend Hulk Hogan’s Main Event to anyone as it does far more wrong than it does right.

2* out of 5