Minute to Win It Review (Xbox 360)

Another day, another Kinect mini-game collection themed around a reasonably popular TV game show. This time out it's NBC's Minute to Win It, in which Food Network chef Guy Fieri takes a break from introducing the nation to diners, drive-ins and dives across the country to give contestants a chance at the big bucks through 60-second challenges.

Honestly, Fieri should stick to what he's good at because his talents deserve more acclaim than getting dragged through the Minute Kinect mud. Apart from his Avatar and a reproduction of the show's stage, there is zero to make this stand out from all the other mini-game compilations vying for your attention and overall falls flat in the fun factor.

There are four episodes to work through, each made up of ten minigames pulled from a pool of 20, plus skippable commercial break shenanigans that take you off the stage and, like, running errands for the studio. Yes, it's a game and concepts don't have to make sense, but when Guy Fieri tells you to go to the supermarket to pick up supplies in order for the show to be able to finish you can't help but look at the box and realise Fieri is not expressing joy but schadenfreude.

Episodes move at a much quicker pace than the show itself as it cuts out all of the contestant drama to focus entirely on how fast you can rip tissues out of the box or roll marbles at a target. You start off with a stock of three lives and losing a challenge takes one away — reaching a safe "bank" level nets you an extra life — and in order to advance you must win the round.

The problem is that the challenges, well, kind of suck. Their quality swings hard from one to the next and a few are so mindless that they stretch the definition of the word "game." Others just refuse to cooperate with your body, like that time we tried to fling shoes onto designated platforms but instead watched our on-screen foot just stand there while we swear we heard some demons sniggering at us.

A seemingly Kinect-mandatory video plays after each activity at an accelerated speed and slows down to show you looking inevitably stupid. That was somewhat amusing.