Game Party In Motion

And for my next trip, watch me make a game disappear. That may be a bit unfair after having played one game, but we'll see when we get to the end of this review.

I was talking to a friend at work and his friend was looking for a game that let you play various bar games. I found this one and told him I'd let him know how it was. With family here for Christmas, I pulled the game out, played two games of Ski-ball (or as they call it, Skill Ball), ejected the game, and sealed it up to go back to GameFly.

I forgot to take it into to work to mail and after some retrospect, I figured I'd review the game and check out all of the mini-games. Your first choice is to select a category of games: Action, Outdoor, or Precision. The menu's are much faster in this game and too sensitive. There also is not any icon to show what you're doing. Subsequently, I had poor control over the menu system. Furthermore, as I sit here writing this, the dogs are playing and as they jump, the menu selection changes.

ACTION
Your gaming choices are: Hoop Shoot, Root Beer Tapper, Skill Ball, Smack-A-Troll, Table Hockey, Tic-Tac-Toe Faceoff, and Double Raquets.


Hoop Shoot - Basically, this is the same as what you'd see in an arcade or a bar. The exception is in an arcade, the ball doesn't sometimes stick to your hand. I also cannot see whether I've picked up a ball or not. Scored 35.

(Note - What you gain in speedier menus, you lose in having more stupid menus and mandatory photo shoots.)


Root Beer Tapper - Just like the game, you have to move from bar to bar and slide a root beer down to a customer who wants it. This one is kind of cool except for when the game doesn't register that you've pushed a beer down to a customer. Scored 246. Scored 349 playing a second time unintentionally...stupid game.

(Note - It is such a pain in the ass to hit the next/checkmark button. You have to bring your right hand forward, but if it's too high or too low, it stops. It's like this shit wasn't play-tested.)


Skill Ball
As far as I know, this is a popular Jersey game at the boardwalk. I've grownup with it my whole life. I know how to play. I know the sweet spots. This was not carried over.

In Skill Ball, you roll a wooden ball up a ramp and try to hit it in the rings valued from 100 to 10. When I played this versus my Dad the other day, I had several throws where the ball did not leave my hand, although it's likely I wasn't even holding a ball. The game requires very little skill and should be called Luck Ball. I scored 650 which was more than double what I did in versus mode (260).

(Note - As I play, I am getting used to the menus a bit and I have a bit better control over them,)


Whack-A-Troll
Everyone knows what Whack-a-mole is, but Whack-A-Troll is a tiny bit different because you use your feet. This one has a bit of promise, but I felt like a blind Jerry Lee Lewis trying to play a piano that someone keeps pulling away from the. My score was 613.


Table Hockey
Blah, blah, blah, after two scores, I was ready to quit. Table Hockey (Air Hockey) is not the kind of game that handles lag very well. Terrible game, although kids may like it. Actually, I think kids under ten would really like the game so far. I lost 7-2 and hated every second of this one.


Tic-Tac-Toe Face Off
I never thought I'd see a worse Face Off than the movie starring Nic Kage and John Travilkta, but here it is. Wow, this is awful. Two players stand on a 4x4 grid. The boxes will light yellow, then blue, then red. When it turns red, you step on it to claim it. It's way too hard to be precise on this one as the camera angle is behind you and high. I also kept inadvertently pausing the game as I stepped forward to claim a square. I lost and never knew how many squares I had even grabbed.


Double Racquets
This is racquetball and you have a racquets in each hand. There is a wall between you and your opponent and the room is pointy in front of you. There are 2-3 balls going at once and you can't let them past you nor can you allow the ball to bounce five times before it gets to your opponent. This one isn't too bad, but it's be cramped to play versus another person. I won, played a second game by mistake and lost.


OUTDOOR

Your choices for Outdoor games are: QB in Motion, Horsehoe Hysteria, Bocce Ball, and Bag Toss Corn Hole.

QB in Motion
This is like the old Quarterback Challenge, only you get rushed and sacked and you throw like Tim Tebow in the 1st quarter. You step left and right to avoid tackles and throw overhand to throw the football. It tends to go whenever it wants. Fail. I scored 100 points.


Horseshoe Hysteria
This is essentially horse shoes except points don't cancel each other out and you throw both your shoes before the other player. Almost every time I step forward, the game pauses and I have some decent room. Kinect Sports does not act this way. SO I didn't step forward and my throws were too short. There doesn't appear to be any challenge aiming left or right, it's just distance. I won 15-10 coming back from being down 8-4.


Bocce Ball
Throw your colored balls at the tiny white ball and score pointers for being closer. This one isn't bad, but it's frustrating that the accuracy seems to be off. I can swing my arm diagonally and it still goes straight. I throw it hard and it goes shorted than expected. i lost 17-6.


Corn Hole
This is not Jamo's corn hole. Points do not cancel each other out and I'm pretty sure the bags are filled with beans, not corn. Overall, not a bad game, but I need to work out how to throw. Some bags went short while others went long and I barely made any change to my throw. I won 23-20.


PRECISION
Based on game play so far, I'm thinking precision is not one of their strong points. Games you can choose from are: Darts (301, Darts), Shoveboard (shuffleboard), Pool Hall Party, Puck Bowling, Ping Cup, and Beer Pong.

Darts - 301
Wow... this is incredibly bad. For anyone who has any complaints about Kinect Sports, rent this game and see how bad it can be. So, to aim, you move your body left, right, forward or backward. Then you lock in your aim and then throw. You have to figure out how hard or soft to throw. You have to aim after every throw-- that made me decide to end this game early, but I decided to continue a bit further. I score 6 on my first set of throws. Luckily you don't have to watch the computer throw. I scored 101 points after five rounds and quit this atrocity.

Darts - Darts
Same set-up, but you get five rounds, three darts per rounds, and the object is to score as high as possible. I scored 163 because I had a lucky bulls-eye and two luck bull-rings.


Shove Board aka Shuffleboard
This is your basic game of shuffleboard. It's not too bad either, you just need to work on your touch. I won 15-9 after being down 9-4.


Pool Hall Party
This is a game of eight-ball. It could be a decent game, but there's so much setup required for each shot. It's kinda like darts in that respect, just not as bad. You swipe your hand left or right to aim at a ball. You move your body left or right to aim. Then you lock that in and hit the ball in a ball billiard striking motion. This game requires precision and I can't read what's going on well enough to be precise. I quite after striking the ball twice-- the first an impossible shot where I fir the cue ball through a two inch gap, missed my target ball, and scratched.


Puck Bowling
This is a combination os shuffleboard and bowling. You slide the shuffle puck down the boards and hit pins. This one was kinda fun, maybe because it's relatively easy. I shuffle-pucked a 166.


Beer Pong
OH MY GAWD! It's basic Beer Pong, but I've thrown about 30 balls and have yet to get one in. Basically, when you get one in, you remove one cup. When you bounce one in, you remove two cups. I've yet to do either and luckily I have no opponent. Eventually, I bounced four in a row in, then went on a dry spell for awhile. After another 20 balls or so, I started aiming for the cup and got one in. It's odd how it's easier to bounce them in AND you get more points.


OTHER
There is also a tournament mode, but I didn't get into that as I've spent too much time on this game already.


BOTTOM LINE
The developer is really ambitious. They give you a lot of games (seventeen here) but it's awkward and not consistent. Some games, like Darts and Billiards, are just a pain in the ass to play. Others are good fun, like Bocce Ball & Shuffleboard.

If you can find it for under $15, it'd be a fun game for kids under 12. Some of the games are enjoyable, but the precision needed for many games is just not there. Kinect Sports really does it right.

This has been a three hour review. I suffered so you didn't have to.