Viva Pinata: Party Animals

Viva Piñata: Party Animals is a sign from Microsoft that they are serious about legitimatizing the Viva Piñata series as one of their landmark children franchises. With two games, one television show, toys at Burger King, and two more titles on their way (one for the DS and a port of the original to the PC) it’s evident that Microsoft is investing a lot in the franchise and its success. One question still remains: is Viva Piñata: Party Animals enough to hold over gamers until Viva Piñata 2 or Viva Pinata DS?

Developed by an outside studio – rather than Rare themselves – Krome Studios took over the helm and guided this project to completion. That’s not to say Rare didn’t have a hand in the project due to the fact they lent Krome Studios all of their assets from the original Viva Piñata and aided them wherever they needed help with the engine. Also, rather than basing the game around the first game, it’s actually based on the television show with characters such as Hudson Horstachio and Franklin Fizzlybear appearing in the cast.

What genre does Viva Piñata: Party Animals fall in? It’s a party game with kart racing mixed in with mini games that appear in between the races. Though, the kart racing is on foot as the piñatas run to the finish line calling up memories of the original Xbox when crazy animals did the same exact thing in Mad Dash Racing. As Microsoft’s second entry into the party genre (Fuzion Frenzy 2 being the first) on the Xbox 360, Viva Pinata: Party Animals is a welcomed addition to the Xbox 360 with so many shooters being released this winter.

What does Viva Piñata: Party Animals do well? First off, the visuals are great with rich environments and tremendous detail spent on the piñatas themselves. While it isn’t as gorgeous as the first Viva Pinata, it is leaps and bounds better than any other party game I have played in the last few years. Krome Studios scattered in various piñatas throughout the environments cheering from the sidelines to add to the element that the players are on an island full of living and breathing piñatas. Krome did a brilliant job with maintaining the charming attitude from television show and excellent visuals of the first game.

Secondly, the game allows for up to four players to jump online with their piñata of choice. Sadly, only eight are available to choose from but let’s not forget this is based on the television show so the options weren’t unlimited. Having a chance to watch the show a few Saturday mornings, I do wish Elle Elephanilla, Les Galagoogoo and Simone Cinnamonkey were a part of the playable piñata cast. Anyways, the online portion ran smooth for the most part to where I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with Viva Pinata: Party Animals’ multiplayer portion.

Now, let’s dig deep and pinpoint where the title goes wrong. The gameplay, like I mentioned earlier, is a mix between racing and mini games, which both suffer without any depth to them. With the racing, I turned off the option that allows for the computer to stay close and make it a competitive race. Does this option work? Nope. Throughout all my races, the computer was only a few feet back even after using all the power-ups and having my partner in crime (girlfriend) try to slow them down. As for the mini games, there are 50 of them broken down into six types. With only having six types, each mini game felt too similar to the last one I encountered. Though, I will praise Krome Studios for the belching contest as that created the most entertainment in my parties with interesting chatter of who could actually belch the loudest.

If I had to pick one over the other – pertaining to kart racing vs. mini games – I’d lean towards having Krome Studios focus more on the mini-games. The races are only one lap and the power-ups found within the level are interesting, but many of them caused problems in controlling my piñata. One in particular sent me flying ahead at high speeds, but it threw me into a wall which in fact got me stuck and lost the race. Also, there are only four courses to race on that become tiring real quick.

Is Viva Pinata: Party Animals the game I hoped it would be? Not precisely; it doesn’t offer a variety of race tracks or piñatas to race with. In addition, the mini games need to be fine tuned to stand alone rather than feeling all too similar to the last. Lastly, in praise of what they accomplished, Krome Studios put together a coherent engine that I believe they could expand upon in a sequel.

Gameplay: 6.1
With the mini games and racing both falling into repetition; the gameplay ultimately suffers from any type of depth. The first few hours of Viva Pinata: Party Animals were pleasant, but once I started to repeat mini games, that was when it became a drag to play.

Graphics: 8.5
Vibrant graphics create a visually enriched experience.

Sound: 8.0
The voice actors of the characters do a great job of conveying a delightful environment to play in. The commentary between the races does become repetitive; in fact I noticed repeated lines within the first 30 minutes of gameplay.

Difficulty: Easy
Aimed at children, I see no difficulties for anyone over the age of 15 playing Viva Pinata: Party Animals.

Concept: 7.8
Kart racing with mini-games or is it mini games with kart racing? Whatever they want to call it, the concept of intertwining the two is brilliant.

Multiplayer: 6.5
Having a party game online is an attracting offer that may entice gamers to buy it this holiday season.

Overall: 6.4
In a bit of an identity crisis, I’m not sure if this better as a kart racer or mini-game collection. While I would pick the mini games over the kart racing, the kart racing only needs to offer a variety of piñatas to choose from and courses to race on to improve. But overall, I think Krome Studios offers enough to entertain the little ones this Christmas, which was what Microsoft presumably wanted from Viva Pinata: Party Animals.