Bite-Sized Fun With New Kinect Arcade Titles

Posted Ocotber 07 2011 by Keadin
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Kinect is a great way to experience all sorts of new games, and there's a whole breed of new Xbox Live Arcade titles that have come out in the last little while that use Kinect in new and interesting ways. I've had a chance to play with a few of them and it's remarkable how unique and fresh these games can feel, developed with Kinect in mind from the ground up.

Hole in the Wall
Based on the hilarious Japanese game show of the same name, players have to contort their bodies to fit through oddly shaped portals in an accelerating wall. It's a challenge to be sure and one that will leave your Avatar soaking wet if you happen to fail squishing into the proper form. What makes this game even more fun is the multiplayer mode that requires players to work in tandem to fit through the holes together. There's no winner unless you all make it through!

Fruit Ninja Kinect
Take the awesome fruit-slicing action of the hit mobile game and add the full-body experience of Kinect. Before you know it you've got a game where players are bouncing off the walls, slashing at kiwis, bananas and more in an effort to assert themselves as the greatest Fruit Ninja of all time. With tons of new modes and features including new Frenzy Bananas there's plenty to love about Fruit Ninja Kinect.

Leedmees
Part Lemmings and, part adorable, Leedmees is a different sort of Kinect game that has players leading a band of adorable little sprites to portals scattered around the maps. What makes it challenging is that the only tools at your disposal are the limbs attached to your body, turning you into an animated bridge for the little creatures to use as they pass by spikes, walls and various other malicious implements. 2-player mode on this one can get a little crazy as the portals travel around each player's body, requiring some delicate maneuvers to get the little Leedmees home.

Burnout Crash!
The Burnout series was always loved for its devil may care attitude towards destruction. Not only did the games provide you with the means to wreak incredible havoc in a busy downtown intersection, but it encouraged you to! That gameplay is back and enhanced with Kinect, letting you guide your aftertouch destruction with the graceful movements of your body. It's like an orchestra of explosions and you're the conductor.

The Gunstringer
This one's not an XBLA game, but I had to mention it because it's so darn good. From the guys at Twisted Pixel who recently brought you Ms. Splosion Man, we've got The Gunstringer. It's a hardboiled story of a recently resurrected Mexican marionette on a revenge quest to do in the posse that turned their back on him. As you drag your bag of bones (did I mention you're a skeleton) through the west, shooting down every varmint that helped put you in a shallow grave, there's an unparalleled sense of style that washes over you and if just feels right.

To top it all off, the game includes a copy of Fruit Ninja Kinect and has a full-motion video DLC called the Wavy Tube Man chronicles that's a retro throwback to arcade classics like Mad Dog McCree. Using the Kinect you get to interact with a Wild West set full of actors and hijinks. It's a fantastic download and it's available free to anyone with The Gunstringer.