New games, new sports, new season.
A new year brings a new round of casually-oriented Kinect gaming options. You've got a slew of new dance games and… a brand new dashboard… coming soon. You know, there aren't too many new Kinect options for us, are there? Of the few, Kinect Sports Season 2 is here to test your limbs and endurance in six new sports.
Replacing last year's Soccer, Volleyball, Track & Field, Bowling, Table Tennis, and Boxing, Season 2 features Tennis, Golf, American Football, Baseball, Skiing, and Darts, all of which requires a mishmash of the same activities and motions from the previous game.
You'll find yourself running in place after catching a pass in Football, just like you did in Track & Field. Baseball and Golf mimic last year's Bowling. Tennis and Table Tennis are about as similar as they sound. Regardless, Season 2's target audience isn't the kind of gamer who'd criticize the repetition.
Darts and Baseball suffer the worst from the inaccuracies of the Kinect technology, while Tennis and Football do a fairly good job of putting you in the feet of the virtual athletes on screen. That doesn't mean those sports are perfect. They aren't. The Kinect's camera will track the drastic movements you make in front of your TV screen, but there are occasional hiccups and making pinpoint accurate movements seems to forever be a challenge.
Fortunately, the encouraging nature and interactivity in many of Season 2's sports will melt even the cold, cynical heart of the hardcore gamer in the living room. The game's color and cheer totally belies how shallow the title really is. When your own avatar is smiling and doing a touchdown dance after a successful pass, you just might find yourself dancing too.
Regardless, Kinect Sports Season 2 is really only worth it if you're a brand new Kinect gamer and need something general to justify your purchase. Friends and family will get a kick out of it too, but you won't be compelled to play the game again on your own.
Review copy provided by publisher.
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Everyone roots for the home avatar
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Football
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Tennis
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Darts
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Kinect Technology is inaccurate
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Good for parties and groups
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Shallow solo play
