Kinect Joy Ride

by Microsoft

Product Features

• Full body stunts
• Have some fun behind the wheel
• Go Faster, Higher and Wilder

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002I0JC72
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 4, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #2 in Video Games > Xbox 360 > Racing
  • #77 in Video Games > Xbox 360 > All Games

Product Description

Amazon.com

Kinect Joy Ride 3... 2... 1... Go! “Kinect Joy Ride,” the first controller-free racing game, will take you and your friends on the ride of your lives — no driver's license required. “Kinect Joy Ride” combines wild kart racing excitement with the effortless fun of full-body gaming possible only with Kinect for Xbox 360. “Kinect Joy Ride” reinvents driving and kart racing by adding massive jumps and full-body stunts to the classic kart racing action. With a host of cool features and game modes you can find your inner Andretti by going solo, pick up a co-pilot, or team up with your friends and family to take on the world. “Kinect Joy Ride” takes the thrilling driving experience off the track and into your living room as you bend, twist and move your body to hug the curves, jump through obstacles and show off your acrobatic skills — when you get your whole body into it, you are the car! Details No steering wheel or controller required. Feel the wind in your hair, show off your high-flying stunts and tricks, or blast and smash through a destruction arena. Lean to drift, and use your hands to fire rockets. Flip, twist or spin your car in the air with full-body motion and chain tricks together for even better scores. Racing action meets friendly competition. When the road gets lonely, “Kintect Joy Ride” is the perfect collaborative experience for friends and family. With racing competition or co-pilot cooperative play in the same living room, or head-to-head competitive play for up to eight players on Xbox LIVE,* getting into the game is now easier than ever. Take it to the street and around the world. Stunning landscapes provide the backdrop for unique driving adventures in three far-flung worlds with six hyperactive courses and a multitude of environments that are exciting to everyone from amateurs to the most skilled. * Xbox LIVE Gold membership required for online multiplayer gameplay.

Product Description

Kinect Joy Ride combines the fun of classic karting with the controller-free gameplay of Kinect. Enjoy five different game modes as you race through three unique worlds with stunning landscapes. Navigate obstacles, drift through corners and fly off jumps to wow your opponents with mid-air acrobatics. Then earn boosts, power-ups and other items to turn up the competition and the fun. It's racing action, Kinect style.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Having Fun With Joy Ride, November 19, 2010

By 

Ryan DeJonghe "Kinect Reviews and Interviews" (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Kinect Joy Ride (Video Game)

Don't judge this one by thinking it is just a racing game. Sure, it is not a hard core racing title. I wouldn't even compare it to Mario Kart. Sure, it has the mode that has missles and freezing, but it doesn't make or break the race. There is even an achievement for winning a battle race without using an item (which I got with not too much effort).

Just last night, I put in this game, thinking I would just go through a race and grind out an achievement. However, as soon as I got my first boost and jump, it didn't feel like grinding at all. I was having so much fun that I kept playing. It is nice because the more you play, the more you unlock.

A lot of people see this as just a racing title. It is much more than that. If it was just racing, it would probably get dull. However, the other modes make it a lot more fun. There is the dash mode, where you go as fast as you can with boosts, etc. There is the crash mode, where you knock out statues and crash into stuff. there is the jump mode, where you are doing stunts and gaining huge air time. There is the pose mode, where you fly in the air and have to match poses.

Overall, this is fun. It supports two players in the same room and has online play for the racing and battle modes. Don't expect a Mario Kart sim or a detailed racing game. This is just a fun, casual, racing game that uses your body to race.

One last note on the conrols. For me, for the most part, they work just fine. I was holding my hands close together at first and the car would make bigger moves. However, if I hold my hands slightly further apart (about as far apart as a normal steering wheel) then I have much more control. If I find I'm going out of control, then I stop and look at how I'm holding my hands and I see that I'm all goofy looking (arms twisted, etc.) The more you play, the more you'll see these controls DO work.

103 of 119 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Should be a $15 XBLA Game, November 4, 2010

By 

T. R. Kirschner (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kinect Joy Ride (Video Game)

Some of you may recall that Kinect Joy Ride was originally supposed to premiere as a free game for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers; however, that changed when it got pulled into the Kinect lineup. While they have expanded the game beyond what was originally intended, it is still hard to justify the $50.00 price tag for what is offered on the disc.

The controls for Joy Ride require that you stand up for the duration of the game and they hold onto an imaginary steering wheel to control. Flips and other stunts are accomplished by twisting and turning your body off of jumps. While fun for a while, soon I was left wanting to sit back down and relax. However, as far as interactive entertainment racing goes, this is quite fun. Add in your friends or family and it is more enjoyable. Additionally, a nice touch is that Joy Ride offers (along with Kinect Sports & Adventures) is the use of KinectShare.com to share photos of you failing your arms about on Facebook.

I didn't really notice any lag while driving, but overall I would still say that steering an imaginary vehicle is hard to accomplish, but that may just take for time. It's hard to understand why Joy Ride doesn't offer speed control over the vehicles when the E3 promo video for Kinect had shown the player placing a leg forward or backwards to speed up or slow down. Maybe that is not possible since they reduced the quality of the Kinect Sensor camera to get production costs down, but I really have no clue.

The weirdest thing about JoyRide is that the entire game is only 1.5 GB in size. Given that some Xbox LIVE Arcade titles (i.e. Lara Croft: GoL) far exceed that size, I do not know why this simply could not have been a $15 arcade title (and it probably should have been). There is only a small selection of cars and tracks, but being Microsoft, I wouldn't be surprised to see some DLC come down the pipes for this. Ideally, I would really like to see Xbox partner with Hot Wheels to provide digital scans of the cars into the game. (The box states that it has the capacity for object scanning, but Microsoft has yet to reveal how that is to be used, if at all.)

Overall, I would recommend this game to anyone who bought a Kinect. It is fun, but whether it is worthy of the price remains to be seen. Ultimately I figure I will have enough enjoyment out of it to justify buying it and I think a lot of people are going to like this game.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Much fun, December 19, 2010

By 

Bill Murray - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kinect Joy Ride (Video Game)

My Wife and I are both overweight and bought the kinect for our X-Box 360 in the hope we would move more. Joy Ride is so much fun that we will play until our knees give out and we have to sit down. After a rest break we're at it again. I can't recommend this game more highly.