We got spirit, yes we do! We got spirit, how ‘bout you? Let’s Cheer for Kinect is a controller free game that teaches young cheerleading aficionados all sorts of cheer yells, chants, moves, routines, and dances straight from the football sidelines and other competitions.

The first thing you’ll need to do when starting is pick your squad leader. This is the character on screen who will be showing you the moves. Then pick a team color and you’re ready to start! Choose from a selection of difficulty modes ranging from Local, District, Regional, and National competitions. You can train and practice each set, and when you are ready, jump right in to perform and compete each one. As you play, more cheer yells, dance songs, and other goodies will be unlocked. Two players can team up at the same time, too.

Some of the activities include cheer yells. You’ll need to match your movements and claps in time with the squad leader, and the Kinect microphone can even read when you yell, too, so keep that in mind. Other events included dances to popular cheerleading songs like Celebration and of course, the Hey, Mickey song from the 80’s (you can’t have a cheerleading game without that one).

After a set, the game will rate your performance from 1 to 5 spirit stars. While you play, the Kinect takes your pictures and you can even get your photo on a mock cover of American Cheerleader, a real life magazine. They even counts how many calories you burn as you play, so it doubles as a fitness game, too.

The only problem with this game is they jump into some of the more advanced moves rather quickly. Luckily there are tutorial training modes before you perform, but it still felt rather sudden. But if you have anyone in your family who loves cheerleading at any age, you may want to look into this game if you have a Kinect. It certainly feels authentic and professional.

Kid Factor:

Let’s Cheer is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Lyrics. But the songs are nothing worse than what you hear on the radio. Reading skill is helpful for menu navigation, too. Cheerleading is a major activity from pre-school to college, with competitions and events for all those ages, so there is definitely a market for this kind of game. So if you have anyone in your house who loves this kind of stuff, this game would be good practice and might teach them some new moves, too. It helps if they already know a little bit about cheerleading, though.

Tags: Game Reviews