OK, I know what some of you are thinking: why in the world do you care about a Kinect game that has you dancing around your living room with furry Sesame Street characters? Yes, "Once Upon A Monster" is a licensed game based on a PBS children's show. Yes, it's primarily geared towards an audience that's likely much younger than you. But here's why you should care: this game is genuinely fun, filled with Double Fine's trademark humor, and is officially a part of an unfortunately diminutive number of games that have me excited about Kinect.
If you think about it, a Sesame Street game really isn't much of a stretch for the Double Fine team. To be fair, when Warner Bros. announced "Once Upon A Monster" back in February, if the "Brutal Legend" developer's name wasn't attached I may not have even given it a second look. Double Fine's games have always been full of lighthearted – yet somehow simultaneously highbrow – humor, and I'm pleased to report their design influence is very apparent in this new Kinect title.
"Once Upon A Monster" is told through six chapters, literally sending you into a Sesame Street story book. There's a different monster attached to each of those chapters, and your goal – as an assorted cast of popular Sesame Street characters – is to assist each monster in moving past their problems. The game doesn't focus on mastering the alphabet or learning your numbers, instead it's all about the environment, dealing with emotions, and physical fitness. What's great about that premise is that as a parent playing the game with your kid, or even just an adult playing for fun, you're able to enjoy the story without the usual monotony of most family titles.
When I played the game's demo at E3, I stepped into the motion-controlled shoes of Cookie Monster. We were trying to help a big, gravely voiced monster named Grrhoof in his quest to befriend a group of forest creatures called Puffalopes.
The first sequence has you imitating Grrhoof's movements, e.g. stomping your feet, waving your arms back and forth. As I flailed my arms above my head, Grrhoof told me to "wave your arms in the air, wave them like you just don't care." It was little moments like that when Double Fine's influence was most apparent, and I was told that Tim Schafer himself had penned a large portion of the game's dialog.
Progressing through the game, you'll also be able to play as Sesame Street standbys Oscar The Grouch and Grover. The action varies, too, occasionally tasking you with performing other activities like running obstacle courses or even using the Kinect's on-board mic to supply your own narration to the story.
As a parent of two small children, "Once Upon A Monster" is looking like a sure bet. While I understand that it may not immediately appeal to some gamers, I realized something important as I stood there in the middle of E3, passersby watching me as I grabbed imaginary lightning bugs out of the empty air. If you're willing to let yourself go every now and then, dropping the modern pretense that every game needs to exude some gritty, adult theme – there's still a whole lot of innocent fun to be had with video games.
Just because a game is designed as a family title, it doesn't mean it has to be played with a kid. Sometimes, it just feels great to remember what it's like to be one.
