[REVIEW] Cutting to the Core: Fruit Ninja Kinect

I woke up this morning, almost unable to move my arms. My shoulders ached, as if I'd been climbing mountains. It seems hard for me to believe that swinging my arms around, slicing fruit in colourful arcs, could have been so strenuous, though in hindsight, I was puffed after my first round (definitely more a criticism on my physical state then anything else).

Fruit Ninja Kinect is almost nothing like playing it on a phone.



Okay, so that's not entirely true. You're still a Ninja, and you're still slicing Fruit... in the same Game modes, with the same unlockable backgrounds and sword trails. It's literally the same game, ported to the Xbox with Kinect...

And that's what makes an amazing difference. Halfbrick's mobile title was one of the most fun games i've ever played. I'd spend hours swiping my finger across a tiny screen, building combos, dodging bombs, and hunting for secret fruits. If you've never played it on a phone before, I definitely recommend it. Especially before you play it with Kinect. Actually standing there, gracefully slicing (or in my case wildly flailing) your arms to cut evil fruit as it arcs across your screen is one of the most fun, most enjoyable things I have ever done.

You might notice I used 'arms' in that previous sentence... Whereas on the mobile devices you're limited to one finger, here, both arms are tracked, and that makes it a lot more interesting. You can score multiple combos at the same time, but you're constantly tracking two different sets of movements, all the while dodging bombs (in Classic and Arcade modes) which will either end your game, or drop your score, and of course, trying not to look too much like an idiot (the core gameplay mechanism for most Kinect titles, in my opinion).

It's almost impossible not to get into the Ninja aspect of the game, either. When slicing, I often found myself in a fighting stance, with my hands straight out (the traditional 'karate chop'), right foot forward, legs slightly bent. And since I wasn't being watched, I went with it. Needless to say, it improved my score...

FNK brings in a slightly competitive element as well... There are weekly leaderboards,  in which you can best your friend's scores, but much, much more fun than that is the Multiplayer aspect. 2-Player head-to-head or Co-Op games become a furious flailing of fists (alliteration, bitches!), as you desperately try not to hit each other's Fruit (or face), or interfere with their combo. The excellent integration of Kinect's 'jump in' mechanic means that games can be started within seconds of loading up, and will automatically calibrate based on how close you are to the sensor.

FNK, in my opinion, is the best excuse to buy a Kinect if you don't already have one (or the best reason to actually use it if you do!). Gameplay is fun, frantic, enjoyable, and the stealthiest form of exercise I've ever known... Though I might wait a day to play again so my shoulders can recover somewhat.

Fruit Ninja Kinect is out now on XBLA, as part of Xbox's Winter of Arcade, for the sweet (like fruit?) price of 800MSP