Mom's Minute

Source of News:  Mom's  Minute, Ms. H!, August 20, 2011

I am happy to bring to you my video game review of Fruit Ninja that I played on the Xbox 360, using the Kinect platform!  Thanks to my son who set everything up, I played this enjoyable game. 

First,  just some background information.  Fruit Ninja  is a downloadable game and not a game you can buy from a store. You download the game online.  Regarding the physical playing area -- A large space in front of your TV, or console is required to play the game, since you will be moving in concert with the video game screen images.   As with most Kinect games, you will be standing up  and moving around, so it is a must that you have a wide enough space to move around at will. Remember, Safety First!

Sometimes Kinect games require calibration. To my surprise, the game did not have to be calibrated!  In other words, I did not have to make sure the Kinect was reading my movements correctly.  The calibration had already been done.

Now, on with my review!  I thoroughly enjoyed playing  Fruit Ninja!  There were lots of bright colors.  As you may know from my previous game reviews,  bright colors are a plus for me in video games. 

Based on other Kinect games I've played,  I thought initially that in order to start the game, all I had to do was  hold out my hand in front of me, and point  to the "Start Game" circle on the screen.  I did this and nothing happened!  My son then told me  to swipe my hand through the start circle, as if I was slicing something.  So I moved my hand  swiftly down, slicing through the circled start image, which in turn started the game! 

The game comes with various playing choices, which include the classic mode as well as the arcade option.  I chose the classic mode to start.  Once the game started,  colorful fruits rose and dropped,  first one at a time on the screen along with bombs.   The object of the game was to slice through the fruits before they dropped from the screen.  But I had to be careful not to slice through the bombs! 

The game started slow, with a green apple appearing.  I moved my right arm up and down in a sweeping motion and sliced through the apple.  A micro-second or so later, a pineapple appeared, so I sliced it with my left hand.

Next a bomb appeared and I inadvertently sliced through it, and a red  X appeared in the lower part of the screen -- One strike against me!  Next about three different fruits appeared, and I used both arms to slice through them since they were not clumped together, but were spread across the screen.  I recall I missed slicing through one (the banana),  and  another X appeared on the bottom of the screen.  At the same time, the score on the left side of the screen  was changing to match my fruit hits. Later I missed another fruit before it dropped off the screen -- three strikes and it was "Game Over" for me.  Of course I played the game again to get a higher score!

Here is a picture to give you an idea of what the screen looks like when the game play started.  As you can see, the game showed a  shadow of the player on the screen.   Looks like the player of this game was  using both arms at once to slice through the fruits.  The white swipes you see  in the picture mimic the movement of his arms.

I do not believe there was a replay part, that you could play back and see yourself moving around --  as with some of the other Kinect games I played.  In my opinion, having a replay mode would have been a nice addition for this game.

The game also gave bonus points if you swiped a bunch of fruits at once.  Here is a picture of that screen.

I also played the "Zen" mode, and was not as impressed with it as I was  with the classic mode.  WIth the "Zen" option, there were no bombs, just fruits rising and falliing on the screen.  To me, there was no challenge, even though I think there was a 60 second time limit to the game.  WIthout the bombs falling, in my opinion, there was no challenge, unless how well you scored after 60 seconds can be considered a "self-challenge?"

There was no voice acting  or commentators in this game, so I cannot evaluate that for you.  I think there was up-beat type  music in the background.

Overall, I enjoyed playing this game in the classic mode and recommend it for everyone.  The price I would pay for this game?  I think I would pay about $2.99.  I would not pay higher because of the lack of a replay mode, and there were limited game choices.  After playing classic Fruit Ninja for a while, I think I would tire of the game. 

Also the movement of the slicing through the fruits and hearing a "swooshing" noise when doing so seemed to carry a negative message about fruits.  The last I checked, fruits are good for us!

A positive for the game is the exercise and movement needed for the game play.   In addition to moving my arms up and down, I also moved around from side to side as well as back and forth.  I moved in coordination with the dropping of the fruits in order to make a hit, and score points.

I'm still trying to decide on a game system.  If xBox 360  has more games like Fruit Ninja for the Kinect, I could be swayed to this system -- the key word here being "could." Right now I continue to be split between choosing the Xbox 360 or the PS 3.

My minute is up!  Thanks for visiting my website!  It was my pleasure to review this game for you.  I hope you are enjoying my video game news! 

Come back soon!

Bye now.  Until next time,

Ms. H

"Ms. H = Win!"