Kinect: Fighters Uncaged (Xbox 360)

Fighters Uncaged is the first foray into fighting games for the Xbox 360’s Kinect peripheral, and was a launch title for the Kinect.

Fighters Uncaged is played as described, as a full-body fighting game, and arguably the first of its kind since Sega tried the same thing with the Activator and Eternal Champions on the Sega Genesis. Like Punch-Out!! on the Wii, players portray a single character through a series of fights rather than several characters as in a “typical” fighting game such as Street Fighter. Players portray Simon, who is partaking in underground free-fighting tournaments and must work through twelve opponents over more than twenty different areas mostly over urban environments.

The game features several fighting circuits (again, kind of like Punch-Out!!), however unlike Nintendo’s cartoony brawler, here players can upgrade their character while unlocking new techniques. Fighters Uncaged boasts a skill-based fighting system which is intended to use “multi-layered” combos using actual martial arts fighting techniques. This deep combo system can be combined with voice-activated controls to create a unique fighting system.