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Viva Piñata: Party Animals
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Krome Studios
Genre: Party
Release: October 30, 2007
Platform: Xbox 360
Reviewer: Eric
Rare has been having a rough start on the Xbox 360 so far.
Perfect Dark Zero wasn’t nearly as good as we expected, Kameo:
Elements of Power felt like a 3-D Zelda game without any of its
good components and Viva Piñata didn’t become that next big game
they were hoping. All their games have cult followings and are
enjoyable to play, especially Viva Piñata, both young and older people
get a kick out of this game. So instead of making an expansion,
playing it safe, Rare has decided to jump into the part game
genre and great Viva Piñata: Part Animals.
Viva Piñata: Party Animals is a non violent party game that has
eight characters. Half of the characters are males while the
other is females. Once you pick your favorite Piñata you are
ready to start having some fun, right? Not really, Party Animals
is a fun game but the fun factor starts to wear thin after an
hour or so, just like all of the Mario Party games Hudson has
released in the past God knows how many years.
Up to four players can play Party Animals. There are three
sets of tournaments with a mixture of races and mini games.
Party Animals only has six different kinds of mini games that
have several variations. You would think Rare would have though
of more mini games, with only six different types you can see
right though this game.
 It
is a real shame that when you pick either tournament style the
game automatically picks which games you are going to play. It
is all up to the luck of the draw if you get to play the fun
bowling game or the
absolutely horrendous flying hula hoop game.
In order to play these games out of the tournament mode you need
to unlock them first and the easiest way to do so is to pick the
long tournament. This way you can play more mini games, giving
you a greater chance to unlock more mini games to play in the
practice mode.
In-between mini games you have to play some racing stages. These
stages are real fun but you only get to face on a one lap
circuit with one short cut per stage. All these stages have a
Mario Kart feel to them; you can collection quite a few
different items to throw at your opponents. The stages, again,
don’t last too long and most of the time, the last two racing
stages, and your computer opponents seem to get ahead of you at
the last second. Make sure you keep a missile with you at the
end, I’m not kidding when I say that the computer will come out
of no where.
The games graphics are just like the first Viva Piñata. All the
backgrounds are just as good too, there is no denying that. Each
of the characters and announcers have good voice actors too,
fans of the television show will feel right at home with Party
Animals. Some of the strongest points in this game deal with the
games
dialogue and graphics, the cut scenes, all five or six of
them, are entertaining to watch.
Party Animals is amusing online, that is if anybody is playing.
When I was able to get into some games I had a great time. You
can play the game either on or offline with up to four players,
a friend of yours can even join you on
Xbox Live too. There is
no lag at all when you play this game either. You can’t pause
the game online too and once the mini games are done loading you
have to start them so you better read the instructions fast!
Final Verdict
Viva Piñata: Party Animals might not be the game we are
wanting from Rare, but it will do for now. Party Animals is
mainly meant for children, teenagers and young adults will most
likely get sick of the game play here after an hour or so. You
can easily finish this game within two hours and that is
including the achievement points if you are good enough. For now
I would
rent this game, buy Viva
Piñata and save the extra money for when Party Animals becomes
cheaper.
Rating
5 out of 10
Viva Piñata: Party Animals Trailer
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