Viva Pinata: Party Animals

We appreciate that mini-games must be simple and intuitive, but that doesn't mean they can't be imaginative, or hide subtle depths and plenty of replayability, or at least pretend they're doing something exciting. Party Animals does none of these.

For a fun party game - even one aimed at kids, who let's face it are just witless dwarves who'd be impressed by a cardboard box if it had a picture of a monkey on a skateboard on it - Viva Piñata is horribly oversimplistic, repetitive and just plain lacking in oomph.

Single players will be disgusted at the AI and lack of options and variety on offer. There’s zero substance here. Multiplayer gives a short-lived fun experience, with the mini games making players laugh for all the wrong reasons. The mini games lack imagination that we see in other party games such as Mario Party which actually has something to go back for.

Party Animals is one of the worst mini game compilations released in the past few years. The game is a sad moment for the franchise.

There's very little challenge or strategy, and very little imagination has gone into anything besides the visuals, which were done by other people anyway. Xbox 360 wasn't a good system for kids and families before this came out, and nothing's changed. Teach them to play Viva Piñata instead.

Awfully disappointing spin-off that insults on practically every level. The developers at Krome deserve to be punished, just like we were when playing this. [Issue 27, p.95]

Piñatas are good when they contain candy and treats, but these so-called Party Animals only hold the broken dreams of the Public Broadcasting System. They shower the poison of lost opportunities and stink of failed marketing schemes.