Viva Pinata: Party Animals
Smashing the party.
Tags: Viva Pinata: Party ANimals Categories: Reviews, Xbox 360 Reviews
Posted by Tracy Erickson on Dec 31st, 2007
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Viva Pinata: Party ANimals (title page) | 4 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Party | No | ||
Viva Pinata: Party Animals represents the latest step into a burgeoning mass market by Microsoft Game Studios. Building on the under-appreciated Viva Pinata, this party game offshoot succeeds in reviving the paper-mache cast of characters in a new game geared toward kids. While it has a bunch of blatant flaws, the party doesn’t stop for children in Party Animals. A charming presentation and loads of mini-games counter a general lack of fun. Adults will quickly bore of this lackluster assortment of party games, but it’s just the thing for kids.
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Party Animals pairs racing and mini-games for competitions up to four players. Games consists of series of challenge events sandwiched by races. Winning means accumulating more candies than any other player, accomplished by placing well in races and taking challenge events. Candies aren’t doled out for winning a race, rather players are given a bonus upon completing a challenge event based on their standing in the last completed race. It’s possible to beat out the competition without taking first in any race, but the bonus offered makes it much easier to amass enough candy to win.
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Not offering prizes for races is a letdown since they’re enormously fun. Party Animals follows the Mario Kart formula, chucking gads of items onto each track and letting players duke it out to the finish line. Capturing pole position is as much about speed as it is besting opponents with an arsenals of items. An immense amount of creativity went into generating unique power-ups like flutterscotch wings that give players the ability to fly over obstacles and buzzlegum honey slicks which deposit a trail of honey to slow competitors down. Basic items also appear such as super-charged peppermint candies that grant a temporary boost to speed and fiesta missiles capable of honing in on an opponent.
There are a ridiculous number of item pickups littering each track to ensure that players are constantly using power-ups. The glut of power-ups are intended to keep races competitive, although it’s overkill. Never does a moment pass during a race when players have an item in stock, mashing the X button to use a power-up. Fewer item pickups would have done much to encourage judicious use and a bit more mid-race tactics; instead, races boil down to shooting off as many power-ups as possible in order to reach the finish line first.
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Where Party Animals falls apart is its assortment of challenge events, which are essentially a collection of bland mini-games. Ranging from simple contests to collect pieces of candy to button-mashing rhythm games to reflex-based challenges, there’s a veritable cornucopia of events. Sadly, none of them are too exciting. Unlike the creative mix of mini-games offered in other party games like Mario Party or Fusion Frenzy, Party Animals comes up short in the fun department. Most of the mini-games last a few seconds longer than wanted and nearly all lack a compelling quality. For instance, “Spotlight Mania” has players rushing to collect candies while remaining in a moving spotlight–simultaneously boring and uninventive! Another, “Tap ‘N Tickle Time,” requires pressing the button shown on the screen the moment it passes a set line–also boring. To be certain some are better than others, but even the cream of the crop fail to engender any true fun.
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The real issue with Party Animals is that it offers only one mode of play. Races and challenge events must be played together. Options allow players to set the number of races and events in a session, but there isn’t a mode for just racing or competing with only mini-games. Even if players were to take a fancy to the assembled mini-games, they’d have to slog through game sessions just to play them. It shouldn’t have been difficult to include a separate mode for playing mini-games, especially since they’re the focal point of Party Animals. Arranging mini-games into a mode of their own would also have been great for multiplayer matches, something the game encourages.
While the player is certainly free to party it up solo, getting others to play along in local or online sessions is preferred. Both local and online games support up to four players and it’s possible to have any combination of local players in an online match. Arranging a game over Xbox Live is problematic, however, since there are so few players venturing online. Unless you have buddies with whom you can link up with online, local matches are really the only option.
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For all that’s flawed in Party Animals, it does two things right. First, the gorgeous presentation perfectly matches the look and feel of the first Viva Pinata game. Never is there a problem with the performance and it’s generally pleasant to look at. Second, Party Animals hones in smashingly on its target audience. While it possesses plenty of annoying ticks for adults, kids are unlikely to find frustration with these issues. Genuinely amusing moments overshadow a great deal of shortcomings and even uninspired mini-games from a child’s perspective. Taking Party Animals for what it is–a kid’s party game–makes playing it much more enjoyable. It’s difficult to overlook the flaws, but that doesn’t prevent it from getting the job done.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Great visual style + Races are entertaining |
7.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Most mini-games lack fun - No option to play just mini-games |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Party Animals gets a little out of control with its shortcomings, but that doesn't keep it from being entertaining for the little ones. A great presentation and some quirky moments make it charming for children. | |
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Tags: Viva Pinata: Party ANimals
Posted by Tracy Erickson on Dec 31st, 2007 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox 360 Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
