Common Sense Media Review
By Chad Sapieha
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cartoonish party game for Kinect is crude but amusing.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Rabbids: Alive & Kicking
What's It About?
Much like the Raving Rabbids games that have appeared on Wii over the last few years, RABBIDS: ALIVE & KICKING for Xbox 360 Kinect provides players with dozens of goofy motion-based mini-games for one or more players. Players can expect to play air guitar, squirt carrot juice into the diving masks of swimming rabbids, play whack-a-mole with rabbids popping out of holes on their living room floors, and make funny poses -- the success of which is determined by the votes of other players. Up to 16 players can compete in three different party modes, with pairs taking turns in front of the screen. An extra augmented reality mode sees players interacting with a rabbid in their living room using virtual items unlocked while playing in other modes.
Is It Any Good?
Rabbids: Alive & Kicking isn’t as good as it could have been. The games are often fun and inventive -- we particularly liked one that involved moving to different areas of our play space and calling out for a blind rabbid to walk towards us, luring him into stepping on tacks, slipping on an oil slack, and walking into a live wire -- but there are a few that are just plain confusing and left us scratching our heads.
A bigger problem is that the mini-games aren’t arranged very well. A trio of fun modes exists for groups of three or more players, making it a great game to pull out at parties. However, single players and groups of two haven’t anything similar. They can play games at random or select them individually. There isn’t any sort of driving story or overarching objective to provide a reason to keep playing. That keeps Rabbids: Alive & Kicking from providing as much value as its predecessors.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about keeping active while playing games. Were you physically tired after playing this game? Which games gave you the best workout?
Families can also discuss social gaming. Do you like playing games in groups? If so, do you prefer competitive or cooperative experiences? If you don’t like playing with other people, why is that?
Game Details
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