Kinect Sports Rivals game review

Reviewer's rating: 5/10

Xbox One

G, $69.95

There have been many imitators, yet even Nintendo has struggled to replicate the lightning in a bottle that was Wii Sports – a hugely enjoyable collection of mini-games controlled by flailing around the lounge room rather than wiggling a joystick.

Microsoft has had another crack with Kinect Sports Rivals, and has the advantage of the new Kinect sensor’s improved accuracy. But while Kinect does a good job recognising your body movements (if you have the lounge room space to accommodate) the six sports in this package aren't much fun and have no lasting appeal.

Tenpin bowling makes an encore and still doesn't improve on Wii Sports – you must perform exaggerated movements to spin the ball.

Tennis also returns serve and can be enjoyable enough, although the timing required for shots doesn't feel natural. There's an unnerving delay between off and on-screen action.

It's a mystery why soccer was included again. It's still an abstract interpretation, requiring players to perform a series of kicks before shooting at goal. All defenders can do is try to guide the goalkeepers hands.

Of the new pursuits, Microsoft obviously felt jet-ski racing was the standout, as you are forced to play it first and suffer a ponderous tutorial. Fortunately, the controls are excellent, enabling you to steer your craft intuitively and perform basic tricks.

Rock climbing works well against a friend, but is too simple to entertain for long. Target shooting is similarly underwhelming – just moving your hand around to line up crosshairs quickly gets dull.

A pointless and irritating story, grating characters and naff dialogue are made worse by the preceding lengthy loading times.

Kinect can scan your face, and my resulting character bore a reasonable cartoon likeness. But it's hard to care whether he becomes a digital champion when the sports are so dreary.