Fantastic Pets

Loads of customization options paired with the leveling up system means you or your little one will spend plenty of hours toying around with the cuties.

There's just not quite enough variety to hold my (or my son's) interest, and the occasional collision/gesture detection snafu doesn't help matters either.

Fantastic Pets is similar to Kinectimals but allows you to create your own pets by choosing body parts (legs, wings, tails etc.). In addition you can see them running around your room, but these Augmented Reality elements are rather weak as the real world appears very dark on screen. Still I can see a big group of 3-, 5- or 7-year-olds that will enjoy this game. [August 2011, p.73]

Combining the gameplay design of classic pet games, like Nintendogs, EyePet and Kinectimals, THQ's addition to the genre is quite the cocktail! Even if it falls a bit short of the aforementioned games, it still manages to deliver hours of fun to young gamers.

Essentially a mini-game compilation at heart, comparisons to Kinectimals are unjust, and Fantastic Pets is a fun and entertaining experience for the younger generation. Those expecting anything more will be disappointed, but taken for what it is, a cute, light-hearted and easy to play venture, it certainly achieves what it set out to. The kids will love it, and the parents will welcome the distraction! It won't last forever, kids tend to get bored easily, but while it does they'll certainly enjoy grooming their created pets and interacting with them in magical ways. While a little unoriginal and nothing mind blowing, its got more than enough charm to provide hours of childlike fun for any younger gamer out there.

More immersive than Kinectimals, with more freedom - but shabby around the edges. [June 2011, p.101]

For that reason alone, we'd say this game makes a great distraction for younger kids(especially since you can share the mini-game fun with any friend who wants to jump in), but the young at heart will likely need something more. [June 2011, p.85]

Very obviously inferior to the competition in every way. [Issue#72, p.88]

What's there is decent enough for the genre and certainly as technically accomplished as any Kinect title aimed at kids would ever need to be, but without any strong hooks to keep people coming back it could well end up as just another fad - much like the majority of other content for the all-seeing camera.