| Simple Series: The Party Game review |
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The Party Game seems like a great idea. You’d imagine the qualities that make home console versions of party games such as Atsumare!! Made in Wario and the Mario Party series so entertaining would also transfer well to the Nintendo DS. Surely it’s not too much to expect (especially given the handheld’s extra screens and wireless capabilities) that HuneX’s little party game could also imitate the enjoyment of these titles, or perhaps even improve upon them? Sometimes, it is dangerous to presume, especially given the budget price dubiously highlighted on the front of the box. In the case of The Party Game, you get what you pay for, followed by a swift slap across the face for good measure.
Volume 6 of the Simple DS Series (the handheld equivalent to the vibrant The Party Game 2 of the Simple 2000 Series on PS2) contains a plentiful supply of mini games (40 in total), including “penguin hitting” and “goldfish scooping”. All are playable with up to three other players, whereas others aren’t available until a certain number of players have joined the session.
It starts off harmlessly enough: choose the number of matches to play, select your cute animal character and attempt to get the best score over a selection of offensively animated and designed mini-games. It should be noted that the game is all but exclusively devoted to multiplayer action. The inclusion (if it can be called that) of a single-player “free mode” is utterly mystifying: you compete against yourself for no reward whatsoever, other than the pleasure of achieving a new high score (which can be saved onto cartridge), where it will remain and be seen by no-one.
The games themselves, then: terrible? Crude? Close your eyes and delve your hand into the imaginary trilby of evil and pull out a description. None of them are likely to come up with an adjective fitting enough to explain quite how horrendously dull these “games” are. One game involves a sandy area where players must dig up treasure hidden beneath the sand. This might be all well and good were it not for the fact that all it involves is to simply highlight your trowel over a digitally-mapped grid with the D-pad and repeatedly press the A button for a few seconds until something (or nothing) is dug up. Repeat. That’s it. Another involves a test-of-strength game called “The Hammer” (touch the screen when the bell changes to a “GO” symbol) that is so easy it is almost impossible not to reach a perfect score every time.
No matter how hard the game tries to hide it behind its different scenarios, there is little variation in gameplay. Most fall into four categories: swipe with stylus, press button repeatedly, press buttons in sequence or press buttons at a certain time. If you’re lucky, you might get a mixture of the two in one game (an event called “spear throwing” comes to mind where the player swipes the touch screen and then presses a button to release a javelin-like object), but it’s all presented with such little enthusiasm or vibrancy that it’s impossible to enjoy.
This may seem somewhat overly-critical of an obscure title that, when all is said and done, is just a simple (ho-hum) collection of mini-games at a budget price, basically doing what it’s supposed to: quick-fix multiplayer gaming from one solitary cartridge. But “simple” on a handheld doesn’t have to mean “brain-meltingly stupid”, as demonstrated by the marvellous Sawaru Made In Wario, nor do mini-games necessarily have to be ugly and tedious affairs despite their simplicity (Hamtaro Ham-Ham Games for the Game Boy Advance: please take a bow). The Party Game gets it all wrong: it’s simple, yes, but also lazy, cynical, lifeless and doesn’t care whether you are having fun or not. Ultimately, it’s disheartening because of that.
Go and dust off Sawaru Made In Wario again and keep your fingers crossed for a sequel with multiplayer options, or even a Mario Party DS. There's little else to add other than to remind any potential bargain-hunters to steer well clear of Simple DS Series Vol.6: The Party Game, no matter what the cost.
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System: Nintendo DS
Genre: Party
Developer: HuneX
Publisher: D3Publisher
Players: 1-4
Version: Japan
Reviewed: Apr 2006
Writer: Lewis Cave
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Pros:
- 40 mini games…
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Cons:
- …most are terrible
- …rest: boring
- Awful graphics and animation
- Shockingly basic and dull
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