Game Party 2 (Wii) Review

Posted by Jacob Lopez on 11.02.2008

The sequel to Midway’s minigame-compilation-made-for-the-Wii is here, and one of your loving 411Games guys decided to review it. In a market flooded with party games and minigame collections what can Beer Par—um, I mean Game Party 2 offer to set itself apart?

Gameplay:

The truth is, that Game Party 2 doesn’t do a whole lot to separate itself from other titles in the genre. Most of the games happen in an arcade setting (an arcade was a place us old fart gamers used to go to drop quarters into machines for a game that lasted approximately 1-3 minutes). Other games look like they take place in a house party complete with beer pong, I mean, uh…Ping Cup and a few other classic games like horseshoes.

The gameplay is fairly accessible, which may be just what a casual gamer needs, but it probably won’t grab most who play. Of the handful of games offered, many of them just require the same hand motion over and over again.



You will find a total of 11 games such as Puck Bowling, Lawn Darts, Quarterback Challenge, Horseshoes, Beanbags, Trivia, Darts, Skill Ball (Ski Ball), Hoop Shoot, Ping Cup and Shuffle Board. Up to four players at a time can go head-to-head, or 16 can play tournament style. It is not likely you will run into 16 people to play a game with locally, but the option is nice.

Of all the minigames in Game Party 2, the Trivia is by far the best. I would have liked to see a more polished version of this. The title may have had more to offer had they made fewer games that were just more developed.

Most of the frustration will come when you play against the computer, as the game seems to favor them most of the time. For example the beanbag toss and horseshoes are hard to gauge, but the computer opponent will usually score points with every other throw. Even when playing with a friend things can seem pretty random. When playing beer pon—sorry, Ping Cup, a game in which you must toss a ping pong ball across a table and land it in a cup to eliminate it. The throws can be had to judge. Other times, you can just arbitrarily swing the Wii Remote forward and effortlessly land 3 or 4 cups in a row.

The game lets you create a character profile, but the customization is not nearly as deep as I would have enjoyed. There are a few hairstyles and shirts, some of which are unlockable, but you do not have the option of changing hair or skin color beyond the presets. With the character profile you can earn ‘tickets’, which you can trade in for things like new clothing designs and items for the minigames.

One major frustration for me was that every time you finish a minigame event, you are asked to enter your name, even when you are playing under a profile. Another similar problem is that when you change games, you have to reselect your character. It just doesn’t make sense to be asked to re-enter my name, go back to the title screen and reselect my character if I am playing under my profile.

Graphics:

Game Party 2 doesn’t exactly feature the prettiest graphics to grace the Wii. The character designs are very basic, with little variety. Which may not matter a whole lot if a casual fan picks it up, but will not win over a more avid gamer.



The game’s backgrounds although bright and colorful, lack any real detail. In the backyard scenes there are no moving clouds or occasional birds flying by to give the feel of a somewhat living environment. The trees and some of the other background objects are just flat shapes, and it is very doubtful that it is simply a result of system limitations. The arcade environment is the best looking one, but that is not saying a whole lot. It is just a shame that more of the game’s environments couldn’t be on par with the arcade.

There is not a lot happening in the way of collision detection either, spectators’ arms will go right through walls as they cheer you on, and bean bags will seemingly pass through each other as they land. Other times, you will see two characters standing right next to each other wearing the exact same shirt or jacket. Now I guess that’s not impossible, but it doesn’t look good in a game.





Sound:

The opening music is kind of cool. Everything else is also pretty catchy, and fits the mood. Of the whole team, the sound designer probably did the best job. Kudos to him/her for a job well done.

Crowd noise and cheers sound just as they should, as well as background noise when you are playing in the backyard. You can hear the birds, but they are not there.







Lasting Appeal:

This game may be fine for a non-gamer crowd, but it won’t keep the rest very interested for more than a few rounds. There is some unlockable content, but even a novice can probably open everything available within an hour or two through playing a game that awards lots of tickets.

If you play the game with a group, it may last a bit longer, but don’t expect this one to move to the top of your “things to do when we hang out” list. You will probably quickly find yourself and your friends moving to another game with hopefully a bit more to it.




The 411:

Game Party 2 is a budget title at $29.99, but it may not be the one you want to pick up. I did want to enjoy this game, but I just couldn’t bring myself to have a whole lot of fun with it. Had it offered 5, more complete feeling games, I may have gotten more enjoyment out of it. Instead, we have 11 games that all feel like they are missing something.

If you read no other part of this review then at least read this:

It may keep kids 6 and under entertained for a while. It might also be fun for the retirement home crowd, with games like darts and horseshoe, but many may find themselves going back to Wii Sports shortly after.

Graphics	3.0	Skimps on the details, generic character designs with little to no variety and flat background objects circa 1998 definitely don’t do this game any favors.
Gameplay	3.0	The overall game doesn't offer anything noteworthy. Most of the controls are so-so at best, and you won’t find a whole lot of variety in motion throughout this game.
Sound	4.0	The person in charge of music and sound effects did with what they were given. Unfortunately, they were not given a whole lot to work with.
Lasting Appeal	2.0	May keep a kid or senior citizen busy for a while, but I wouldn’t count on it (I unlocked everything within an hour). Definitely won’t do much for anyone other than the game’s target audience.
Fun Factor	2.5	Ouch. Well, it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye.
Overall	3.0   [ Bad ]

Screenshots
All 6 Game Party 2 Screenshots