Cute, funny, weird and full of energy. Enough said, this is definitely a kids game with the best pet ever. The kids will love it and it won’t mess up your home, like chew up your slippers or rip up your paper they are supposed to fetch.
This is actually quite fun and engaging, and I am pretty sure that almost every kid in the world between the ages of four and ten would find this game fun – and I’m talking both genders. With sweet ponies and cute kittens appealing to the girls, the dragons and wild ponies will engage the boys. With that said, the animals does have different personalities, so there’s a pet for everyone.
The introduction
You are greeted by a nice female narrator, and she slowly guides you through the tutorial so that everyone, including someone who’ve never played a game before, can play the game. You get to choose a pet and after a while you can customise it – at first you don’t have access to a lot of different styles and colors but putting on butterflywings and antlers from a deer on your pony is something special. I would just have preferred if it didn’t sneeze all the damn time.
Then you get to participate in events – contests if you will – and here you can win rosettes in either bronze, silver or gold. There’s a series of different challenges, like avoiding the bubbles coming from different directions on the screen, making your pet run and then slide or jump and washing your pet the most efficient way. You will be rewarded with a ceremony and fireworks onscreen, and for the people who wants progress and more customisation, there are unlockables up for grabs.
The visuals goes from mediocre to just a tad above it. I would say it is up to par with other Kinect games out there, such as Kinect Sports. When it comes to Kinectimals, which is a very similar game, the graphics doesn’t quite cut it, Kinectimals is prettier and feels more completed when it comes to the visuals. The pets are really cute and cuddly and you have to be pretty heartless not to get the animals to your heart. Animations does all the right things and are fluid throughout the gaming experience. The fact that they are pretty repetitive is a whole other story.
Who is playing?
The game is targeted towards the younger audience, which should be apparent from the name of the title, so it’s a perfect game to purchase for parents or uncles/aunts, who wants to have a different option than the endless flow of television cartoons to entertain the kids.
On top of that the game engages the kid in a way that television does not – and as the ultimate bonus, the kid will also get exercise, which is pretty vital these days as there is so much passive entertainment at hand.
