Viva Piñata: Party Animals is a veritable party in a clamshell case, from the antic-filled races to the dozens of different mini-game challenges.
Published October 26, 2007
With last year's simultaneous launch of the Viva Piñata™ game and the 4Kids TV animated series, both Xbox 360® gamers and families at large were introduced to the vibrant, joyful, and, most importantly, entertaining new world of Piñata Island, with its unpredictable adventures and outlandish characters.
Piñatas hitting piñatas. The world's gone mad!
This one-two punch of Piñata-themed entertainment marked just the beginning of this colorful franchise, and with the release of Viva Piñata®: Party Animals, we get to see a whole new side of life on Piñata Island.
It's Party Time! While the likes of Bunnycombs, Fudgehogs, Doenuts, Squazzils, and other piñatas busy themselves in preparation for their anticipated release from the Piñata Factory and onto the delightful cries of a children's party, we now find that they enjoy a bit of their own light relief as well.
Whether it's your baby sister or your grandma, anyone can pick up Party Animals and within a few short seconds, grasp how to play.
With Viva Piñata: Party Animals, you can participate in these festivities by taking hold of your favorite character and joining the friendly party-time competition. Here's how it works:
The Foundation: Each piñata party involves four players competing in a mixture of high-speed foot races along with a pre-set number of randomly selected mini-game challenges. The goal, of course, is to place as highly as you can in every event to gain the most total points by the time every race and mini-game challenge is completed.
Racing Advantage: Matches usually consist of more challenges than races, but each race sets the tone for the mini-games that follow. Depending on how well you place during the race, extra points are earned for competing in the challenges. Win a race but only finish third in a challenge? Not to worry, your race bonus will cover most of your losses.
Race Mechanics: The gleefully chaotic and vibrant races take place on foot, but there are similarities to arcade kart-racers. Speed boost platforms, high-flying ramps, daring shortcuts, and tricky obstacles are all present. Collect, use, and swap powerups found throughout the race, such as rockets to slow down opponents or even give you a boost, honey pots that leave great, gooey trails to impede your fellow racers, and even smoke bombs that obscure your opponent's sight.
Race to the finish!
Challenge Time! After each race comes a number of mini-game challenges selected randomly from dozens of different events. It's here that Viva Piñata: Party Animals demonstrates its remarkable variety, as well as the series' trademark humor. Some of the mini-games include:
Messy Mayhem: Now you can control the always mischievous Ruffians. Your goal? Shatter the pumpkins rolling about, and scoop up all the candy. Of course, bap your opponents along the way, as the mood strikes you.
Dangerous Dinghy: Chug some soda, and let loose with your belching power to keep the dinghy from reaching you.
Bounding Bounty: Collect the bits and pieces of candy scattered across the board while avoiding the swinging bar, which gains more momentum as the mini-game goes on. If you suffer the misfortune of being smacked, you'll fly off the board.
Swing for the Stars: In a bit of friendly role reversal for our piñata animals, they're granted their own piñata stick and asked to hit a series of hovering rubber balls into their respective star-shaped piñata. The more hits, the better.
Tail Time: This variation on Pin the Tail on the Donkey highlights a spinning carousel of tail-less Zumbugs. Shoot the tails onto their rightful place as the Zumbugs spin round and round. Watch for how they are positioned though, lest you accidentally plant a tail in their forehead.
Wonder who won …
Online and Custom While Viva Piñata: Party Animals can and certainly will be played and enjoyed in the single-player mode, it is a party game after all, and as such, is best enjoyed with friends, family and gamers at large. Of course, you can turn on four controllers and have a Piñata-blast in your living room offline, but, thankfully, you can also connect via Xbox LIVE® for some four-player Party Animals antics.
Even better, you can adjust the ratio of races to challenges. Enjoy the mini-games more than the races? Jack up the number of mini-game challenges to suit your own style, or pump up the races if you prefer those. It's all up to you.
Viva Piñata: Party Animals is a natural extension of the Viva Piñata franchise. It's still a load of fun, and it maintains the series' focus on intuitive, family-oriented gameplay. Whether it's your baby sister or your grandma, anyone can pick up Party Animals and within a few short seconds, grasp how to play. It's a game like this that allows game time to be family time. See you on Piñata Island!
