We admit it. We were those kids that insisted on reading the manual completely through before firing up a new gadget or game. Except sometime in adulthood, we got impatient and started jumping in blind.

You’ll want to read the 29-page manual and be prepared to think like your elementary-school self before rolling around in Kinectimals, the furriest and fuzziest of the Kinect launch titles. If you play with the same expectations as you would gunning through Halo: Reach or exploring Albion in Fable III, the game’s simplistic, formulaic pacing and one-note storyline will leave you dissatisfied. This title will only win your heart if you can appreciate what it offers: an adorable pirate-themed narrative that includes a cast of different feline cubs and the hunt for treasure; bright, cheery, colorful environments; and a lot of interaction with your cat buddy. A lot.

In fact, Kinectimals is strongest when you’re doing something with your cub, be it throwing a disc for it to catch or spraying it in the face with a water hose. We found that the more hands-on the activity, the less we noticed the slow crawl of having to earn the next mini-game; we enjoyed ourselves more when we were getting our bobcat cub to do flips or wrestling with it over a treat. Best of all are the obstacle-course mini-games, which involve full-body motion and increase in difficulty as the game progresses; when your frenetic running, ducking, and clawing at air gets your cat to zip around the track with ease, you’ll feel a strange but satisfying sense of teamwork.

Kinectimals does have its subtle but irksome foibles: activities or mini-games where your cub serves as nothing more than window-dressing, a sometimes-imperfect aiming system for throwing and directing objects, a flat ending to the story (with a heavy-handed hook thrown in as a hint at potential for a sequel), no discernable increase in difficulty as you progress through the map, and a somewhat fussy Scan Stone function (which allows you access to additional items and animals; of our two E3-only cat plushies, only one’s tag successfully scanned in). Still, with its collectible treasure pieces, butterflies, and toys, a plot that puts a fantasy spin on pirates, the ability to hop-in as a challenger during mini-games, and exquisite artistic elements (just look at the map and watch the credits roll), Lemuria is a world you’ll be glad to visit for a little quality time with your younger self.

Kinect

+ Colorful, beautiful world with adorable art.

+ Interactive moments with your pet cub.

- Slow, methodical crawl toward next mini-game, sometimes-imprecise aiming system.

? When they say we're catching butterflies, do they really mean murdering?

8.0