Fruit Ninja debuts this week for Microsoft’s Xbox Live — using the Kinect motion sensor to let gamers slice through bananas, pineapples and other varieties of fruit on screen. Yes, it’s a pretty basic concept, but as anyone who has played the 99-cent iPhone app knows, it’s also addictive and fun.

And so far, at least, the Xbox Live version is getting some pretty rave reviews. That’s good news for Microsoft, which needs game developers to keep coming up with more hits for Kinect to continue its momentum.

“Its premise is as barbaric and unsophisticated as premises come, and yet its so chock-full of clever ideas and satisfyingly tight controls that it very nearly circles back around to pure genius,” writes Griffin McElroy on Joystiq today. “It doesn’t just set a high bar for the flock of touch-based apps which will almost certainly follow in its footsteps to the Kinect platform — it sets a pretty intimidating precedent for the platform altogether.”

Winda Benedetti of msnbc.com echoes that sentiment: “Move over ‘Dance Central,’ there’s a new ‘best Kinect game ever’ in town,” she writes — calling Fruit Ninja “tight, absorbing and instantly fun.”

The game, developed by Halfbrick Studios, debuts Wednesday in the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft points, the equivalent of $10.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.