The graphics and art style are certainly sweet, but they can’t redeem gameplay that gets progressively worse.We just got done with a game of Leedmees, and boy, are our arms tired.
Other than that tired feeling, though, the game’s not very memorable. Carrying, throwing, and cradling a group of little white Leedmees through 2D environments sounds fun in theory, but with levels ranging from bland to mildly frustrating, it’s hard to recommend. Working your on-screen avatar by waving your arms around in front of your Kinect works well enough, making it easy — if somewhat boring — to form a bridge with your limbs so the cute little guys can run across. In later levels, though, spikes and ghostly enemies mean that any imprecision spells death for your minions and mission failed. Forget about getting those optional floating stars; now it’s simply a struggle to meet the minimum requirements.
Co-op — where two players hold hands to form longer arm bridges or toss Leedmees back and forth — is surprisingly clunky, and only makes matters worse. With only a dozen levels, it’s quite short, thankfully.
Charming visuals aside, Leedmees does little to distinguish itself, and less to justify its $10 price.
PUBLISHER: Konami • DEVELOPER: Konami • ESRB: Everyone • MULTIPLAYER: 2 in local co-op • ACHIEVEMENTS: Conventional • COST: 800 Microsoft Points ($10)
+ Unique visuals; Kinect works well enough for the earlier levels...
-...but when the game adds obstacles, it quickly becomes frustrating.
– Adding a second player makes gameplay super-clunky.
? Where are all those little guys going?
