Doodle Jump for Kinect (Video Game Review)

D3 Publisher has just released Doodle Jump for Kinect onto Xbox 360 and you don't have to like the original to enjoy this new title. Fans will notice that the levels are now broken up to work easier with the Xbox 360's Kinect features and takes the game to a whole new level. Actually, Doodle Jump makes more sense on the Kinect than any other platform. The game is easy to learn and consists of a few basic moves which range from moving side to side to navigate your character while he automatically jumps. The difficulty increases as you progress with less platforms, additional enemies and so forth. For only $5, Doodle Jump for Kinect is extremely entertaining and worth the price tag.

Doodle Jump was a very popular title for mobile devices, and the new game for XBLA stays true to some of the same aspects, but also manages to switch things up enough that the gameplay remains fresh. The new level based gameplay adds a great deal of depth to the new title and each level can take anywhere from a minute to ten minutes to complete depending on your skill level. Doodle Jump is one of those titles that remains fun in short bursts and serves the purpose of killing some time when you are bored. If you enjoyed Doodle Jump for those reasons for mobile, then you can still get that same kind of enjoyment on the Kinect. The Kinect adds a lot more tedious obstacles to the gameplay, such as having to wave your hand over an object for so many seconds before selecting it and so forth. The Kinect controls aren't exactly accurate either which tacks on more difficulty for the game too. However, if you can look past these problems and enjoy Doodle Jump for what it is, then it can still be a pretty fun game.



The Xbox 360 Kinect utilizes the player's entire body as the Doodler, and so it is recommended that you have a large space to play in. Doodle Jump now has various checkpoints, with a wide array of collectibles and power-ups along each level to increase your score. The controls work by moving your body parts, such as raising your arm will shoot off snot rockets, flapping movements help you fly, raising both arms uses the jetpack, and so forth. When you come to the end of each level, then you can get the Doodler to land in the middle of the trampoline for more points. These scores are posted to the online leaderboards were you can compete against other players around the world to get the highest score. Every stage has 3 stars you can earn and requires almost flawless gameplay to get them all. Players can add a great deal of replayability to these levels by trying to get all three stars on each one. Boss battles have also been added to the mix, and after unlocking and venturing through so many levels, you will encounter a boss fight at the end of each world which can sometimes be an extremely infuriating and difficult experience.

Doodle Jump features around 30 levels through three intricately designed worlds. You use your body to navigate across platforms, collect blue coins, kill baddies and try to rack up enough points to get all three stars at the end of each level. The difficulty curve for Doodle Jump is steep and will take a lot of practice to master. The fact that your Doodler is always bouncing around platforms makes shooting that much harder. There are power-ups that can give you short bursts of immunity to take out enemies, but this doesn't help with falling to your death for standing on a platform too long. You need fast reflexes to play Doodle Jump for Kinect and it can be quite the workout.

Doodle Jump is not a flawless game, but for only $5, you can't expect a perfect masterpiece. We would have liked to seen a online multiplayer feature for the game or even the option to not use Kinect if you so desired. The biggest downfall for some players will be the Kinect controls for Doodle Jump since some people just don't like using it. Alternatively, we found Doodle Jump for Kinect to be a perfect combination and think it should have been done sooner. On the other hand, the game would have appealed to more players, if the option to use the controller instead of Kinect had been added. However, in the end, Doodle Jump for Kinect is incredibly fun and is something straight out of a child's imagination with its colorful graphics drawn on paper and cheerful music. If you are looking for a cheap game that offers up a few hours of entertainment, then Doodle Jump provides just that with its light-hearted and addicting gameplay.

Doodle Jump for Kinect is now available for purchase on Xbox 360 for 400 Microsoft Points. To learn more, visit Doodle Jump for Kinect on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Game Features:

Single Player

Online Leaderboards

Trophy/Achievement Support

Game Information:
Developer: Smoking Gun Interactive / Lima Sky
Publisher:  D3Publisher of America
Rated: E for Everyone
Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed)
Release Date: June 28, 2013

Score: 6 out of 10