it seems I have the same kind of sensor that the reviewers had.
I havent read too much about the game, but after going through the trouble of doing a proper setup of my own to try it and play it,
I will seriously doubt any review where they say things like you say:
Wish my parents had saved their money. I dunno how anyone can praise it. The events are largely terrible, the voice commands barely work (listen, listen, listen, listen, listen , oh fuck this * grabs pad*) The controls are unresponsive and the input lag is terrible. The sensor also sucks at tracking players and is constantly pulling back to that continue screen.
controls are freakin' responsive and accurate.
and about the screen that you are saying, I can guess that it probably happened in hiking when you are somehow jumping with your hands up in the air and so they go out of sensor area. or in a similar condition.
I have a strong opinion on this, because I DID test it thoroughly.
first time I tried the game, I did not bother making an <<atmosphere>> for kinect.
I mean it would say "I cant see the floor/feet", and I would just think to my self "well, I only want to test jetski now so fuck you and move on!"
well, jetski would work, but after 5 minutes I wasnt happy with the fidelity that kinect interpreted my moves, and in one particular instance, it would kind of like "lock" to a slightly right turn status.
I thought "meh, kinect as usual" and switched games.
second time though, I did prepare the space and took the time to make sure the sensor got what it wanted, and the experience was 100% different.
VERY responsive, no missed moves, everything I tried felt satisfactory enough. (much much more than expected)
so, either you have a broken sensor, or you are trying like I did the first time. no third way about it.