Buzz! Junior Jungle Party

By Angus Deacon

Junior Jungle Party kept little kids entertained, not to mention palms tenderized, on the PS2 when it first came out over a year ago. Now the Buzz! game has been made available as a download via the online PlayStation Network for the PS3.

Like the original PS2 version, Buzz! Junior Jungle Party utilises the Buzz! controllers, but due to its younger target market, the gameplay relies more on skill and speed rather than quizzes. Essentially it is a great game to pull out at a kids party, filled with wacky and amusing mini-games designed to be as frantic and exciting as possible.

Unlike Buzz! Quiz TV, the junior titles in the series don’t have the usual Buzz as the host and don’t follow the game-show type format. Instead up to four players take the form of funny little coloured monkeys, each one the colour of a button on your controller. The setting is a lush jungle complete with Orang-utan drummers, tropical rivers and a bongo drum soundtrack to match.

Naturally, all 40 of the mini-games are themed to match as well. For example, "Monkey Bomb" gives one monkey a lit bomb. If they hold it for too long, the bomb explodes so players must chuck the bomb to another monkey by hitting the corresponding colored button. Sounds simple, but it does require some fast reflexes. Also it can lead to some nasty rivalry as essentially others can gang up on a particular player if they want to, resulting in one poor monkey constantly being thrown the bomb. Possibly not a great idea for a family who have recently had an argument.

Another mini-game, "Bubble Bath", is one of the more unusual ones where each player shares a bath with a giant sleeping gorilla. The point of this game is to hold the big red button to... er, pass gas without having the gorilla find out who it was... Well, we did say this game was for kids – and what kid doesn’t enjoy the idea of little monkeys and flatulence? If the angry gorilla wakes up and sees you doing the deed, he’ll smack you one (just like in real life really) and that player will lose points.

Pretty much all of the games revolve around similar concepts, requiring either quick reflexes, a good sense of timing and sometimes some basic strategy. It will grow quickly repetitive for many older players, but is sure to keep kids entertained for hours. Despite this game being pretty old now, it is still great to see Sony offering PS2 titles for download to extend your collection of PS3 games. Jungle Party is the first of many, with Buzz! Junior: RoboJam and Buzz! Junior: Monster Rumble planned to become available soon.

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