Friday, September 10, 2010

Video game number two hundred and sixty two: Family Party: 30 Great Games.

Video game review number two hundred and sixty two in my 365 Games in 365 Days project is "Family Party: 30 Great Games"

I'm a fan of "mini-game" games, so when Gamefly recommended that I rent this one, I obliged. 30 Great games? I figured I'd enjoy at least a few of them. Plus...maybe I could count each one individually and be like a month ahead in my challenge!!

Kidding of course.

First of all, I must warn you...there are not 30 great games on this disk. I played the first five and only one of them was any fun.

The first game (15 Tier Jump) is a confusing and annoying. The computer beat me every time I tried it.

Next came the Balance Bridge. This game involves balancing your Wiimote (surprising) and running by hitting a couple of buttons back and forth. It was ok...

The Jump Hang was confusing, but on my second try I figured it out. It was ok....nothing that constitutes a "Great" game though.

The wall? Awful.

The barrel ride? Even worse.

That's 5/30 games, and I only liked one. Just...like mind you. it's not great. So right off the bat, the box art on this game totally lies.

Onto the next group.

The Bombardment Bridge: Here, you cross a bridge as people shoot at you, and you have to block their shots. Once you make it, you turn into a shooter. Nice concept, I could see how it might be fun with 3 people. With the computer? Not so much.

The Double Flag: you're supposed to use a combination of button presses and Wiimote swings in a game of Simon Says with flags. It's incredibly hard to control and horrible.

The Cushion: Balance yourself on top of a stack of pillows...except it's fucking hard.

The Fly Catch: Use your Wiimote to point at targets where fly balls will be headed on a baseball field, then catch them. I actually won this one, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck.

The Sky Swing: Be a trapeze artist. I died a LOT.

Ok folks at Tamsoft. Let me explain to you how mini-games are supposed to work:

1. They are supposed to be easy to pick up and play. Yours are not.
2. They are supposed to be fun. Yours are not.
3. They are supposed to inspire the player to want to try again until they master them. yours did not.

Overall Score? 2/1o. I played 30% of the mini-games in this crappy compilation, and that was enough to know I wouldn't wish this game on someone I hated. It's absolute horse shit, and if there is a Wii in hell, this is likely the only game they'll have there. The only redeeming factor? It has bright colors and happy noises, so if you want to babysit a toddler, you can probably hand them the controller and let them go nuts for awhile.

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