Kinect Sports Rivals falls short of any potential Rare had for making good games for the Kinect. Many critics are saying none of the minigames in this collection are not worth the high asking price for the peripheral and the game
Kinect Sports Rivals
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Kinect Sports Rivals Review Summary
Critic Reviews for Kinect Sports Rivals
Kinect Sports Rivals isn't a knock out, but it does enough well that I'm excited for Kinect's future.
If you're looking for a Kinect title for the entire family, or one that merely shows the benefits of next-gen hardware hold promise for motion controlled gaming, then Kinect Sports Rivals won't disappoint. If you're hoping for a sports simulator that succeeds at every turn, well… you've likely got a lot more waiting to do.
Kinect Sports Rivals is a well-constructed game with an enjoyable structure and smartly integrated multiplayer. But it's already looking dated as it continues to struggle against the limitations of its chosen interface. For all the extra power of Kinect 2.0, and the surrounding artifice of online competition, at its best the game only equals the highs of older, more familiar games - games whose players and makers have moved on.
I admire the effort to build an online infrastructure and career story mode, but the selection of games feels slight
Kinect Sports Rivals is an uneven collection of sports-themed minigames that won't hold your interest for long.
As someone who enjoyed the first two Kinect Sports games, but felt they were held back by the limits of the technology, I'm impressed by how good Kinect Sports Rivals turned out. The responsiveness is much closer to 1:1 now than it was then, and other than the issue with the screen being obscured, everything works quite well.
The controls and detection afforded by the new hardware undoubtedly makes Kinect Sports Rivals a much more technically-accomplished title, with fewer of the niggly irritations gamers almost expect from a motion control game. The events generally work (tennis aside) but, sadly, functionality isn't the basis for an enjoyable game. The emphasis on the story mode and online sharing loses the simple magic of local multiplayer and the silliness of party play. Yes, party games can be a bit grating, but Kinect Sports always managed a good mix where you could play seriously or play for laughs. Rivals does not have this same variety and, while it controls well, there is a definite loss of personality.