More Game Party (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

More Game Party is the sequel to the high selling Game Party. Developed by FarSight Studios and published by Midway, the premise is simple: to provide a collection of small games that are easy to play for anyone, from newcomers to old hands, and to provide great fun and entertainment for the whole family. This ethos sat well with Midway as it led the first title to sell well so it should be the same with this title. But whether it sells well or not tells us not whether it's a good game. So let us see whether this continuing pandering to the casual is any good.

Gameplay

Like the first Game Party, More Game Party follows the same formula of offering a set number of mini-games for you to take on. Each one uses the Wii-mote in a specific way, with several in this title being played very similarly. The sequel possesses more mini-games than the sequel, although some of them are carry-forwards from the original. All in all there are 10 mini-games for gamers to get their hands on. These range from pub classic darts to more obscure mini-games such as beanbag toss and ping cup. The range of activities to undertake isn't a fantastic selection and many of them are played out in virtually the same way and feel exactly the same just with a different skin covering them. Each of the mini-games have a couple of variations but these merely fall down to different scores which you have to get through playing the same activity and while it would have added longevity to the title if they did vary the gameplay, they just seem like a meaningless inclusion here. Each game has a high score list which, if playing with friends, will egg you on to try and best them. However, if you are playing it as a solitary figure, then you'll become quickly bored after the initial play through and opt not to bother trying to improve your scores.

Another inclusion is that each player can create a profile for themselves so when playing in either single player or in multiplayer, which can support up to 4 players, you can differentiate between each other. These profiles take the form of caricatures which can be made and customised from a wide variety of hair and face styles and clothing.

This is one game that is best enjoyed in the company of others. In single player, the lack of variety and the lacklustre games will put you off of ever playing it again on your own. However, get 3 friends over and you can have a good laugh as you each battle it out to get the best score. This is ultimately what the gameplay boils down to: a scoring game and it seems primitive in comparison to other mini-game compendiums.

Controls

Much like the original, the idea with this sequel is to provide accessible fun for everyone and so the control scheme is very simple. The only button used purposefully throughout the mini-games is the A button and everything else is done with gestures. For the likes of darts, you hold the Wii-mote like a dart, hold the A button and throw letting go of the A button at the end of the throw to have the game replicate the motion on the screen. The controls in some of the mini-games work better than other but overall, they are very poor and not very well implemented. As they've simplified the controls to allow for accessibility, they've made them imprecise so a perfect set up for scoring a hoop or landing a horse shoe will easily go way off of target. This may well sit fine with casual gamers, but for the more 'hardcore' gamer looking for a bit of fun with his or her friends it'll quickly become an irritation. As a sequel, any control issues coming off of the original should really have been attended to and sorted but this does not seem to be the case.

Graphics

Mini-game compendiums are not known for pushing the graphical capabilities of the Wii but what is present here is adequate for the job. Environments within which the activities take place are detailed enough and have some decent texture work, but this simply falls down to the use of simplistic colour choices so as not to bring out these problems and to appeal to the non-gamer. There is an excessive use of primary colours and it can become a bit of an eyesore as a result but the graphical work isn't bad. Character models are well animated in the body department. When it comes to the face, however, they are really let down. The faces are merely 2d skins placed onto the 3d models and looks pixellated and just generally awful. The same can be said about the hair which in particular case looked like it wouldn't have been out of place in a horror title as it looked like the character's brain was showing. Why go to the bother of making decent quality character models and then ruining it with terrible facial and follicle features? But then casual gamers, the main party who the title is aimed at, will take no notice of this and as such the game does a good job.

Sound

The sound quality in the title isn't of the highest quality and merely consists of some cheering sound effects and a few small tunes that are played at low level in the background which is completely unnoticeable. Obviously, as a title that is about getting everyone involved, things like music and sound will take a backseat and this is a prime example of this happening. While there isn't much they could have added to the game to further the experience, they could have done better to provide at least some noticeable music to play along to and for it to have been of a higher quality.

Final comments

As a sequel to a mini-game compendium, it's not great. The selection of activities is very poor with none of them providing any stand out moments of play. Graphically, the game provides just enough for what it is doing and the music and sound are unnoticeable. There are better mini-game collections out there that show great use of the Wii-mote compared to the simplistic touch they've gone with here that makes you feel almost idiotic. Yet, given all of these flaws the title is sure to sell hundreds of copies as non-gamers and casual gamers will see it and buy it because it is more of the same and will provide a decent enough laugh when in the company of others and kudos to Midway for spotting this, like many other companies releasing games on the Wii. But really, even if you've got nothing else to do when in the company of others I wouldn't recommend this over the likes of WarioWare or even the Rayman Raving Rabbids games.

Pro: A good laugh when in the company of others
Con: Controls are overly simplistic and don't work too well, selection of activities is awful
Final score: 4.5

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