Twister Makes a Comeback on XBOX 360 Kinect

by Lori Cunningham

Merry Christmas, everyone!  We wish all of you a wonderful Holiday and a prosperous New Year!  

When I heard Twister Mania was coming to the XBOX 360 Kinect, I knew right away I’d just HAVE to try it out.  I remember loving Twister as a child.  As an adult, well, it’s fun, but I just can’t seem to twist into those strange contortions the way I used to!  It hurts now.  Nonetheless, I was anxious to see how the game works.

Game Choices

To my surprise, the new game of Twister Mania*  throws a whole new twist in the way the game is played.  Gone is the colorful dotted floor mat.  Twister Mania has four game choices:

1.  Shape Frenzy: A shape is presented on the screen and you must mimic the shape with your body.  The better you fill the shape’s silhouette, the more points you earn.

2.  Twist & Fit:  moving cutouts as a part of a wall will come towards you – squeeze through them while avoiding hitting the wall.  Lose points for hitting the wall.

3.  Break It Down:  a bunch of colored various shaped blocks are bunched up together.  Help to crumble the wall by filling your body into one shape at a time.  Get two or more like-colored shapes together to blast for additional points.

4.  Spot On:  Challenge other players to try to mimic the shapes you, or you and your partners, create.  Afterwards, you need to mimic their shapes.

I’m not sure which is more fun, playing Twister Mania or watching others play it.  It is sure to bring smiles to all in the room.  Twister Mania is great to play with the family or friends.  I have found that our friends tend to prefer the uniqueness and zaniness over the dance party games because it is way less intimidating.  They don’t need to have a beat to move to Twister as they do with the dance games.  The results of playing Twister Mania are hilarious, and Kinect is sure to serve up some pictures after playing with some very funny poses of each of the players.

Believe it or not, up to eight players can play Twister Mania, however, only two players can play at the same time.  Because of twisting to various configurations, you really need the floor space to move to the various shapes without seriously injuring someone else.

Gameplay Modes

Twister Mania has three gameplay modes:

Party Play – we use this one the most – it’s the easiest way to jump into an assortment of all the games and play with a bunch of people.  It’s a GREAT way to get people off the couch!

Play It All – this is campaign based, meaning you go all the way though all the games from the beginning to the end.

Quick Play – got a favorite game mode?  Jump right to it with Quick Play.  Great if you’re feeling rusty on a particular game and you want to impress your friends the next time you play with them.

Twister Mania just launched last month and sells at Amazon for $29.99 with free super saver shipping.  It is only available on the XBOX 360 Kinect.

* I was sent a copy of XBOX 360  Kinect Twister Mania in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.