Viva Piñata: Party Animals

8.5
Great

Gameplay	8.5	"More fun than you can whack a Pinata with a stick at."
Graphics	8.0
Sound	8.0
Value	9.0

By Reuben Ellett

The life of a Pinata is a great one. They get to go to parties, eat candy, and in general have loads of fun. And fun is definitely what Viva Pinata: Party Animals focuses on. The Viva Pinata series started out as the video game made for the Xbox 360 around November last year and was then quickly followed up with a brand new show for American children. The show has been a huge hit in the U.S. and has generated a huge following for the cute candy-filled creatures. With the backing of Microsoft, Viva Pinata has had a follow-up in the gaming industry but this time your objective is not to look after and breed Pinatas – it is to play as one.

Viva Pinata: Party Animals is a fantastic collection of challenging mini-games and races ranging from eating an apple to pinning the tail on the "Horstachio" (a Pinata version of a horse). The basic set-up for games starts out with how many races you want to do, then how many challenges must be completed between races. For example, you might have three races and four challenges between each race – that would give you a total of fifteen races and challenges to complete for one round. The scoring for the game is essentially a championship system – players earn points depending on what place they come in the races and challenges. It is no big worry if one participant cannot race too good since they can make up for it with the challenges.

Viva Pinata: Party Animals is essentially a game for when the little ones have friends around. If a parent has four controllers and a copy of Viva Pinata: Party Animals then the kids will not bother anyone for the entirety of their stay. The game is very engaging for kids and adults alike as the variety of mini-games keeps refreshing the playability and longevity of the game. When it does come time for the little ones to head off home they can keep playing together via Xbox Live, providing Mum and Dad do not want to watch the rugby. Whether it is a party or a sleep-over kids and parents alike will love this game – especially since it is so user-friendly.

The controls for the game are the main things that grasp you – they are just so simple and natural. For the races in the game the layout is exclusively the basics. Steering, braking, accelerating – a three year-old could play this with no hassles or tears. For the challenges between races the controls are simple once again. Before each mini-game begins there is a brief explanation of the buttons you need to push and your objective. For example: "Snowball Dodgeball – use the left analogue stick to move and the B button to shove – You must dodge the snowball and try to pick up the most amount of candy". Any man, woman, or child could understand what to do and how to do it, which is the beauty of Viva Pinata: Party Animals.

The game has no storyline or true additions to the Viva Pinata universe, but you must keep in mind – it is a solid party game. If all you are after is a title to keep the young ones zoned out without hearing the complaints of "I WANNA TURN!" then you must take a peak at Viva Pinata: Party Animals. Four-player competitions on one console or over Xbox Live do not get any better for the Xbox 360, so saddle up on your favorite Pinata and get ready to launch out of a "Cannonata". Viva Pinata: Party Animals is here and it's filled with fun!

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