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3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I expected, October 27, 2011
= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars?
This review is from: Kinect Sports Season Two (Video Game)
I've played this game for a total of 10 hours now, and I've looked at just about every facet of the game. The game is not nearly what I expected, both in good ways and in bad. Here's a rundown of the different sports:
American Football: This is probably the most disappointing of the sports. It was the one I was looking forward to the most, and perhaps that is why I would consider it last. To start, you only get to play offense. The game begins with the kickoff where you wait for the ball to come to you and then run in place and try to dodge tackles. Then you take over on offense. The game only lets you pick between 6 passing plays. These get very repetitive after a while, and I noticed myself constantly calling for the deep pass every time because it's the easiest to run. When you score a touchdown/field goal or punt, the screen switches to a summary mode to show you what the opponent did. You never get to play defense or even see the other team score. It simply tells you whether they did or not. Then the whole process repeats until the game ends. As far as motions go, the sensor read my movements fairly accurately, but the running in place part did have some glitches. Don't expect to go through the motions just like a real quarterback, though. The motions are a bit dumbed-down. Overall I give this a 1/5.
Baseball: This was a bit better, but still disappointing. The batting part is pretty fun, as is running/sliding to first base if you don't hit the ball into the outfield. The pitching and defensive part of the game is a little boring. The pitching motions can be interesting, but the sensor didn't always read my movements correctly. I never once got a strikeout. I never even threw a ball (as opposed to a strike) for that matter. When the opponent hits the ball, you have a couple seconds to play to outfielder and get your hand in the right part of the screen to catch. This game tends to be much more fun when playing multiplayer though, as it gets to be more challenging that way. I give this sport a 2/5.
Darts: When I bought the game, I never thought I would play darts much at all. It seemed like another random sport they just decided to throw in there. However, after playing it a couple times, it has come to be one of my favorites. The computer difficulty levels are well programmed, as the Rookie level is not good at all, and the Champion level requires you to be on your A game. The sensor detects even the slightest movements of your arm as you aim. When you pull back for the throw, a target locks on to a part of the board where you started to pull back and your throwing movement determines how accurately the dart hits. You can change your throwing motion ever so slightly to get the dart to go higher or lower or left or right of where it locked on. You can even distract your opponent when its his/her turn to make them less accurate. I thought that was a bit clever. Overall I give this sport a 5/5.
Golf: I was somewhat pleased with this game, but unfortunately the motions for this are not as complex as I would have liked. When swinging, there is very little difference between trying to whack the heck out of the ball or gently moving your arms. The ball will go almost the same distance. The best way to change the distance your shot goes is by changing the club, not by changing how hard you swing. The holes are pretty fun, but ultimately the Kinect falls short of the Wii on this sports. I give this a 2.5/5.
Skiing: I was pleasantly surprised by the way this sport was put together. The motions used in this make it feel more like the real thing than the other sports. This is also the only sport that requires you to jump, which is one thing it has over Wii Fit (in which you can't actually jump off of the board). There isn't much else to say about this sport, but I give it a 3.5/5.
Tennis: This sport is probably my favorite. While the motions are pretty simple, it is more strategy oriented than the other sports. The Champion difficultly level is actually quite challenging. I noticed that after playing it so many times my shoulder and arm started to ache, but in a good way. Once again, there isn't much more I can say. The game is pretty simple, but it's still quite fun. The best part, though, is definitely multiplayer/Xbox Live gameplay. I give this sport a 4.5/5.
One of the features I also like about this game overall is the calorie counter. After every game you play, it estimates the number of calories burned and totals the number of calories burned from the entire playing session. This is a great motivator and makes the game more fun and exciting when trying to reach a calorie goal for the day.
I give the game as a whole a 3/5, about on par with the first Kinect Sports.
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4.0 out of 5 stars A surprisingly mediocre follow up to an all-time classic, October 27, 2011
= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars?
This review is from: Kinect Sports Season Two (Video Game)
It really pains me to write this review, because I was a hugely vocal fan of the original Kinect Sports. In fact, it was the game that convinced me to buy an Xbox 360. In many ways it was the perfect showcase for the Kinect's potential for virtual reality and video game exercise.
The best analogy I can come up with for Kinect Sports Season Two is that Kinect Sports Season Two is to the original as the movie The Matrix Reloaded is to The Matrix. On its own merits it's not a horrible game, but when compared to the iconic original there's just something really lacking.
Much of the feel of Kinect Sports Season Two is carried over the original, for better and worse. The graphics are still cartoony and your Kinect avatar is still there. There's still a loud and exuberant announcer with a quasi-European accent. After gameplay, you're still treated to videos of yourself looking silly.
There are some interesting improvements. For all the sports you have the option of competing as a single player against the Xbox, head-to-head against another human, or online through Xbox Live. There's also a mini-game associated with each sport.
What's completely different, of course, is that there are six new sports. Some of them are excellent, others not so much so. I'll provide my take on each.
1) FOOTBALL: This is a "simulation" of American football. I put the word simulation in quotation marks because this isn't exactly John Madden Football.
You start out by receiving an opening kick. There's no challenge in this, you just raise your hand when you're ready to receive it. Then you run in place as opponents try to tackle you. Oddly, there's no way to break nor block tackles--you just keep running in place as fast as you can until someone takes you down (In fact, I found just flailing my arms was good enough).
Whoever designed the game either didn't understand or decided to take liberties with the rules of football. In real football, you try to advance 10 yards in four downs by rushing or passing. In this game, there's no rushing, only passing. And you have to move down the whole field in four downs and score a touchdown or a field goal.
In order to pass, you need to choose a play from a "playbook" (or have the coach call it). The "plays" are all simple patterns that all end up with one receiver to your left, one in front of you, and one to your right.
To start play, you're brought to a screen where you're the quarterback in back of your offensive line. You need to crouch down and then jump up (or say "Ready, Hike") to receive the snap. When a little green icon appears over one of the three receivers' heads, you need to make a passing motion with your arm in that receiver's direction. Time it right, and you make a completion. Once that happens, you run in place at breakneck speed again to try to gain more yardage.
Once you score or if there's a turnover on "downs", the system will simulate your opponent's drive (you don't play defense). The opponent will either score or punt, and then it's your turn again. Score more than your opponent and you win the game.
All and all, I thought the game was fun enough, and all that running in place was certainly good exercise. But there was just so much potential lost. At the end of the day, this was a game that really didn't use the Kinect's capabilities as well as it could have to come close to simulating the real sport, whether it was letting you catch a football, evade a tackle, run a pattern, or throw a football in something other than three general directions. I give the football portion 3.5 of 5 stars for fun, but it could easily have been more.
2) BASEBALL: In this game, you play offense and defense in a quick baseball game.
To bat, you stand with your side to the TV, and assume a batting stance. A ball is pitched toward you, and you swing an imaginary bat. If you make contact and hit a single you have to run in place as fast as you can (but strangely, this isn't needed if you hit a double, triple, or home run). Worse, whether you run fast or slow it doesn't seem to affect the speed of the on-screen player. In another case where the game developer clearly didn't understand the rules of baseball, you have to slide into first base (this doesn't happen in real baseball).
To pitch, you make a throwing action towards the TV. There are two types of pitches, a fastball (where you make a throwing action to the TV) and a curveball (where you make a throwing action across your chest. You can control the speed of the pitch by how fast your arm movement is. There's no defense or fielding, except in the case where a batter hits a fly ball directly to one of your players, in which case the player reaches his left arm out and catches the ball (seemingly in the same place each time, again not much of a challenge).
Sadly, I found playing baseball in this game to be a bit tedious and contrived. In some ways, the game shows the limitations of the Kinect; while the Kinect excels in games that require full body motion detection such as dancing games, it's at a bit of a disadvantage to systems like the Wii and PS3 for games that simulate holding an object like a sword or a bat (where the game needs to detect things like speed, angle and torque). The Kinect is certainly capable of this (all a developer needs to do is have the player hold a stick), but unfortunately we don't see it in Kinect Sports Season Two.
Overall, baseball gets an unfortunate 2 of 5 stars from me, although again the running in place gives some decent exercise.
3) DARTS: This is where things start to turn around a bit. You start out by telling the Xbox where your TV is--above your head, at face level, or below.
From there, you're treated to a pretty realistic game of darts. To play, you hold your hand up as if you're holding a dart. A "cross hair" will appear on screen corresponding to your hand (and it's extremely sensitive). You "aim" your dart by moving your hand back, and you release it by moving your hand forward. The ensuing action feels much like genuine darts.
The rules are traditional. You start with 501 points and need to get down to exactly zero by scoring points on the dart board, which are subtracted from your point total. Some parts of the dartboard are worth more than others. In you find this a bit confusing don't worry--the program tells you exactly which part of the board you should be aiming for.
I'd say the overall feel of this game is excellent and really feels like real darts at times. Although I won't lie--there were some times when I'd be thrusting my hand forward and the system didn't even recognize me, or worse, causing my shot to go awry. I never really felt in 100% control of the dart as I would be in real life. Still, this one is 4 out of 5 for fun for being a realistic simulation.
4) GOLF: Here you can choose a 9 hole, 3 hole, or 1 hole competition. You choose different courses. To play, you stand with your side to the TV. Aiming your shot is extremely non-intuitive--you need to step forward or back to pivot your character's aim. And you really have no context with which to swing.
As for the swing, as long as you pull back and swing with one fluid motion, the game will let it fly, even if your actual technique is horrible or non-existent. Overall, I think the same gripe with golf that I have about baseball (and which I'll have later about tennis). Since you're not holding a controller, the Xbox will just interpret any wild swing you make with your hands as a swing. Sadly, I didn't find golf very realistic; in fact, if you're not careful it had the potential to ruin a real golf swing. The golf game here may appeal to very casual players who have never picked up a golf ball, but otherwise is forgettable. 2 of 5 stars.
5) SKIING: This one was a bright spot. The only other video game skiing I've done has been in games like Wii Fit Plus and We Ski which use the Wii Balance Board. In all those games, the balance board was just too sensitive and inaccurate to simulate skiing. With Kinect Sports Season Two, your body is the controller. To pass through gates, you lean to the side. To build speed, you crouch and lean forward. When you see a green zone, you jump to earn points.
Overall, this was a game that truly showed what the Kinect is capable of. 5 of 5 stars.
6) TENNIS: Finally, we come to Tennis. Again, with the Kinect's potential, you'd think that a tennis game would allow you a lot of great simulation--the ability to serve and volley, the ability to chase down shots, and so on.
But sadly, your range of actions is again extremely limited to serving, basic backhand, basic forehand, and no running or volleying. Even your swing speed doesn't seem to make a difference. About the most complex it gets is hitting a slice (or as they describe it "slowing the ball down") by swinging your arms from high to low. And as I said, there's something "missing" when playing without a controller or at least a prop in your hand so the system could detect racquet angle, type of shot, etc. Without these things, I'd give Tennis 3 of 5 stars.
To sum up, I'd give Kinect Sports Season Two a solid 3.5 stars (which on Amazon I'll round up to 4). It has some very bright spots and carries over much of what made its predecessor successful. But there just seems to be a lot of missed opportunity as far as innovation and pushing the platform and the series forward goes.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great follow-up to Kinect Sports, December 14, 2011
= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars?
This review is from: Kinect Sports Season Two (Video Game)
I'll preface this review by saying that I was a huge fan of Kinect Sports. Kinect Sports should be a part of every Kinect gamer's library.
While Kinect Sports was fairly global in its sports, Kinect Sports is leans more heavily toward American sports. You get football, baseball, golf, tennis, darts, and skiing as your main events. You also have a number of game activities based on the aforementioned sports. It's a solid package and is one of the few Kinect titles that offer online play.
In addition to the game itself, there is a free download (DLC aka downloadable content) for Kinect Sports Season 2 called the Kinect Sports: Season Two - Challenge Pack #1. This DLC adds more game modes and as well as challenges to send to friends. Each sport receives a new experience: Crazy Kicker (Football), Frantic Fielder (Baseball), Cool Ringings (Skiing), Champion Chip (Golf), Rapid Returner (Tennis) and Smart Shot (Darts).
The main football event allows single player, multiplayer, and Xbox Live match play. Single player is you against the computer. Multiplayer is a 2-player game. You can either play against each other (VS) or with each other (CO-OP). Xbox Live match play is where can play against people through the Internet. Xbox Live online play requires an Xbox Live Gold account as the Xbox Live Free account does not allow online multiplayer.
The scope of the football game is fairly limited. There are 3 difficulty levels (rookie, pro, champion). You can return kickoffs and play as the quarterback and wide receiver. There is no defensive play which is a disappointment. As soon as you receive the kickoff, you are to sprint down the field. Your character will handle the juking while you provide the locomotion. The higher you lift your knees, the faster your character will sprint. Once you have been tackled and have become the quarterback, you have 2 options. You can either let the computer pick a play for you to run (called Coach's pick) or you can select playbook and manually choose a play. If you chose to manually choose a play, you have a small selection of plays. You only have 4 downs to go the entire field but don't worry. All the plays can net you a lot of yards. 20-40 yard plays are very commonplace. On fourth down, you can choose to kick the field goal.
You can either play by going through the motions or using voice commands. Both work well but it felt more like football to go through the motions. For example, you crouch to get under the center, and then when you want to hike, you stand up. Or with voice, you would say "ready, hike". As the quarterback, once you hike the ball, your receivers will sprint down the field. When the wide receiver is open, the icon above their head will turn green. So it's a matter of recognizing who is open. You can throw to a receiver when their icon is not green but your chance of completion drops. To throw to the receiver, you just pivot your body and throw. The harder you throw, the more chance you have to have the receiver catch the ball in stride instead of stopping for the ball and then running. Catching the ball in stride increases your chance of running the distance to the end zone. Once you have thrown the ball as the quarterback, you instantly switch to being the receiver. Once you catch the ball, you simply sprint for the end zone, with the computer handling the juking and dodging of defensive players. In case you haven't realized it yet, there is a lot of sprinting in this game!!! Once you score a touchdown, kick the field goal, or turn the ball over on downs, the computer's offense will take over. You then watch whether the computer can score. You do not get to play defense. After that, the ball comes back to you and you keep going back and forth until the time runs out.
Football is a lot of fun. It is very tiring because you have to sprint every few seconds. If you hated the track and field in Kinect Sports 1, you may hate the constant sprinting in football. While the game play is great and fun, it's very limiting. You only 6 plays to choose from and they're all passing plays (though since you have to go the entire field with only 4 downs, you wouldn't want to do running plays). Also, the inability to play defense is disappointing. The football may also be better with single player than multiplayer because in single player, you are playing both the QB and the wide receiver. If you are playing co-op with a friend, you either get to be the QB or get to be the receiver. The QB only has to turn and throw the ball. The wide receiver has to do all the running. However, if you are playing against your friend, both of you have to be QB and receiver. You can use either your voice or your body, and you'll find out you'll like a combination of both. For example, when selecting plays, I just say the play.
No minigames for football come on the disc. You must download the free Kinect Sports: Season Two - Challenge Pack #1 in order to get the Crazy Kicker minigame. Crazy Kicker is great fun and is a football minigame. If you've played the soccer minigames of Kinect Sports 1, you'll feel right at home. In this case, with Crazy Kicker, you are the field goal kicker. The football is placed at different locations around the football field and you have to kick the field goal. So you'll be moving your body to the left or right side of the room to orient your character for the kick. Then you kick the ball. It's a timed even so the faster you kick, the more points you can score. You definitely can't dawdle if you expect to get a good score. In addition to distance and position, there are other factors such as the wind. You are given a number of footballs to begin with. Miss a kick and you lose a football. Lose all your footballs and your game is over. This was a lot of fun. I actually felt like a field goal kicker, keeping in mind angle and the wind speed. I may actually like this minigame than the actual football game.
Baseball is decent. Not bad. Not spectacular. Though I must preface that I was never a baseball fan. You also have single player, multiplayer, and Xbox Live online multiplayer. You have either the fastball or the curve ball. You can change the speed of the ball depending on whether you step forward on your pitch. It's very simplistic baseball. Pitching against the computer is not much fun. It's much more interesting against a human opponent. If you play against the computer, they will give you a scouting report on what pitches your particular opponent is known to have a weakness. For example, they'll say the player is weak on slow curve balls. Now, this just tells the tendency of the player. It does not guarantee that they won't smash your slow curve ball out of the park. It's set up like football in that you are first the batter. Then once you hit the ball, you have to sprint to first base. If your hit is multiple bases or a home run, you do not have to sprint. But if it's a grounder, you have to sprint to beat out the ball. Again, keep your knees high for maximum speed. Batting is definitely more fun than pitching in this game. They don't let you play a full 9 innings though.
The baseball minigame that comes on the disc is Home Run Hero. In this, you take multiple swings of the bat just like a home run derby. It tallies the distance on all the balls rather than just counting home runs. So you are aiming for the great total distance of all your hits. With Kinect Sports: Season Two - Challenge Pack #1, you get the Frantic Fielder minigame. This is very similar to the minigame in beach volleyball of Kinect Sports 1. You have to reach out to catch the baseballs coming at you. Sometimes the ball will bounce out of your mitt so you have a second opportunity to catch any misses. Once you missed a number of baseballs, the game is over. This one is not as fun as the minigame in volleyball of Kinect Sports.
Darts is a surprisingly good time. There is only 1 darts game available called 501. You are competing against either a computer player or a human and you get 3 throws per turn. Both of you start at 501 and you have to count down to exactly 0. So if on the first dart, you hit a triple 20, second dart you have a single 20, and third dart, you hit a 17, then that round, you scored 97 so 97 will be taken off your score. You must end the game on a double in order to win which increases the difficulty. So for example, if you need 20 to win, you cannot simply hit 20 to win. You would do something like hit a 10 and then a double 5. Or 16 and then a double 2. The game is quite accurate and fun. You'll be honing your breathing technique to just hit that triple 20. And when you hit, it feels like you earned it. When you miss, you'll feel like you did pull the dart at the end of your throw. But because the only darts game is 501, you end up not having to aim for the bulleye because a triple 20 is worth more than the bulleye. So you'll be staring at triple 20 an awful lot. Sure you can go for 50 in the bulleye and if you miss, you'll get 25. But go for the triple 20 and if you miss, you'll get 20. Higher risk but higher reward.
The minigame included on the disc is Pop Darts. This is like your carnival game. You have a spinning board with balloons that you have to pop. There is a person attached to the board which you are not supposed to him. It's basically a speed game where you have to be accurate. The other minigame is called Smart Darts and this is a lot of fun (but then again, I'm a geek). Smart Shots is an awesome darts game. If you've played Brain Age or Body and Brain, you'll feel right at home. They'll show a simple math equation that you have to solve, e.g., 2 + 3 = ?. So after you solve the equation, you have to find and then hit that number... Read more??
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