Summer of Arcade Review – Fruit Ninja Kinect

DJDATZ

Halfbrick is no stranger to really fun games. They initially dabbled in some Indie Game releases on Xbox Live, before dropping Fruit Ninja on Windows Phone 7 and Raskulls on the Xbox Live Arcade.  If you've played Raskulls, you'll know that Halfbrick just knows how to nail the exact formula for fun.

Fruit Ninja Kinect, to me, was kind of an obvious title, and I had been pondering why they weren't planning on doing it before they announced it. Slicing up fruit was super fun and intense on the phone, but when you magnify that for your TV and you have to use your body for it, well the intensity is definitely amped up a few notches. They've also added the oh-so-necessary leaderboards, a challenge mode and the pomegranate to spice things up even further.

Thryon

For the benefit of those who may have never played Fruit Ninja, your goal is to slice as many fruits as possible while avoiding bombs and/or running out of time (depending on the game mode being played). As a mobile game it’s popular because of the simplistic nature of the gameplay allowing it to be enjoyed in small bursts. Finger swipes across the screen are used to slice up the fruits. Got a spare 5 minutes? Why not slice away at some watermelon and/or apples. The Kinect version of Fruit Ninja loses the benefit of quick gaming sessions with minimal effort as the game replaces the finger swipes with constant arms swings needed to slice up the fruits. So how does the game stack up to the mobile version? Very well actually.

Halfbrick has done an amazing job of translating a touch based game to a touch-less system. The controls in Fruit Ninja Kinect are surprisingly precise. It does take a few rounds to get a feel for the game, but after that initial learning phase the controls start to shine. You can use one or both hands to slice up the various fruitage. In a pinch, you can even use a well-placed kick. You may very well need all your appendages to tackle on the many game modes available in this title. Just as with the mobile version, you can play Classic mode in which the goal is to slice as many fruits as possible before missing 3 fruits or hitting a bomb. Zen mode removes the bombs and provides endless fruit to destroy, but limits your gaming session to just a minute. Finally Arcade mode allows timed gameplay, combined with special power-up for some of the most frenzied Kinect gameplay available in any game to date. Combine this with a new challenge mode and multi-player action and you have a game that will be a hit at any party. A word of caution to would be cough assassins; this game can and will get very physical. The effort required to swing your arms constantly at a high pace is actually quite demanding and you will be feeling beads of sweat forming on your forehead after only a few rounds.

 My living room has just been overtaken by flying fruit! There are fruit guts all over my couch, my recliner, my computer desk... the walls are covered in pomegranate juice! That is how immersive Fruit Ninja Kinect really is. The Kinect sensor is so intuitive, reading every swipe of the arms, no matter how small. The sensor transposes your body into the background from the waist up, but I tried slicing fruit with a few swift ninja kicks, and the Kinect picked it up every time! By the end of my second play session, I was doing Chuck Norris roundhouse kicks to the unsuspecting watermelons. 

Fruit Ninja Kinect has more than enough content to keep you sweating for months to come. Four game modes, leaderboards, and challenges allow you to compete against the scores of those on your friends list. Some of the achievements are very challenging, and most are similar to their Windows Phone 7 counterparts. For only 800 points, this game is a Summer of Arcade steal!

A quick tip: while slicing and dicing, it is best to keep your hands in front of you so that they stay on screen. If you drop your hands while in a game mode, the Kinect will pick it up as a swipe, and you might unwillingly slice a bomb coming up from the bottom.

I first got introduced to Fruit Ninja’s mobile version from a friend at work; and who knew that the simplest game would take up so much of my couple’s time?! My girlfriend and I both got it and were battling it out nightly to get the highest score possible and now, thanks to Fruit Ninja Kinect, we are slicing it up side by side! Things can get pretty crazy in the living room when two people are doing karate chops in mid-air at a frantic pace, but the game registers both people’s moves and it works very well.

What I love about Halfbrick’s addicting game is how easy is just is to start up a game; just slice the fruit of the mode you want to play and you’re off! A simple feature like the leaderboards make this game truly shine. Challenging your friends is what Fruit Ninja Kinect is all about. What is neat about the challenge feature is that once you beat one of your friends score in any mode, you have the option to move on to the next challenge right away. The only issue I had been with the game’s menu. There are a lot of options to choose from the main menu and it makes it quite crowded, and the fact that you have to slice through the menu means that sometimes if you move your hands slightly too quickly, you will go into another section of the game. A little issue like this is absolutely nothing to be worried about when you think about the immense satisfaction that Fruit Ninja Kinect brings when you are able to beat all your friends’ scores and you can brag about it! For the first Kinect arcade game, it truly is a success, and gives the example on how a great portable game can be translated onto consoles.