As part of Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade promotion, game developer Halfbrick is out with the Xbox version of its addictive mobile game. Fruit Ninja Kinect, a fruit slicing motion-control game has been released exclusively for Xbox 360 enthusiasts. It was earlier revealed at the E3 2011.
Adding more than the mobile version, this game is now visually attractive with new gameplay modes and unlockable content. The objective of the game is to slice fruits with a blade controlled by the gamer’s hand. As the fruit is thrown onto the screen, the player makes a slicing gesture, attempting to slice the fruit in half. Extra points are awarded for slicing multiple fruits with one swipe. Players must slice all the fruits; if three pieces of fruits are missed the game ends, but upon reaching certain scores the player will gain an extra life. Bombs are occasionally thrown onto the screen, and will also end the game if the player slices them.
“Fruit Ninja Kinect is perfect for the Kinect system,” mentioned Phil Larsen, marketing director of Halfbrick. “Not only is the game intuitive, challenging and fun, it’s even a bit of a workout. With the added bonuses of being able to play side-by-side another player and compare scores on the XBLA leaderboards, we’re really taking the Fruit Ninja experience to a whole new level.”
The game offers three single player modes. In the Classic Mode, players have to slice for the highest score while avoiding bombs, while in the Zen Mode they have to calmly slice for 90 seconds. Players can slice in pursuit of blades, backgrounds, avatar shadows in the Arcade Mode. They also gain high scores if they are able to slice the mysterious pomegranate, which is a rare fruit that they have to attack quickly.
Fruit Ninja Kinect was showcased at the E3 2011. It will be out later this summer for gaming enthusiasts.