 Review By: Matt Flanagan |
Developer: | Taito |
| Publisher: | Majesco Entertainment | |
| Genre: | Action | |
| ESRB: | Everyone 10+ | |
| # Of Players: | 1-2 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Nunchuk | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Multiplayer “party” games have been around since at least Anticipation on the NES, and the genre has been getting a lot of attention lately thanks to the DS and Wii’s unique control schemes offering developers the opportunity to make a wide variety of different mini-games. Unfortunately, when something gets as much attention as the WarioWare and Mario Party franchises have been, there’s always somebody standing by to quickly throw a copycat together which is kind of the same, but costs less and caters to the "impulse buy" market. Furu Furu Park unfortunately comes across as one such game.
Furu Furu Park was developed by Taito, which pays a sort of SSB-esque tribute to their classic titles by including a few retro themed mini-games. Some of these actually go so far as to simply emulate a level from an older title, something potentially fun but ruined by the lack of more than one level from each game. A single level of Arkanoid for example is fun until you play it a bunch of times repeatedly with no variety, and this really just calls attention to how much better this game would be as a straight collection of older titles.
Probably the biggest shortcoming in Furu Furu Park would be the inconsistency of its games, for example, Submarine Escape is an addictive, fun side-scroller that along with a select few other games stands out and manages to be memorable. Games like Pinch Hit, an obvious nod to Wii Sports’ baseball mini-game, except with barely passable controls, is exactly the opposite. Overall, there are more dull average clumsy games to plod through (especially in single player mode) than good games to reward you for your plodding.
Of course, the focus of any casual party game isn't on single player gameplay but on the multiplayer aspects, which in this case is the sort of saving grace of Furu Furu Park. I say "sort of" because it’s not really exceptionally fun but because, while you’d still be better off playing WarioWare, at least there are enough games that are tolerable with other people to kill some time. Looking past how pretty much any game will be fun if you have enough people playing it, there is enough here that’s at least above average to make for a decent time-killer for people who don’t want to just buy an older Mario Party or WarioWare game.
The graphics in Furu Furu Park are bright and colorful, but not really detailed or visually impressive. In stages that don't have a "retro" styling to them the visuals take on a sort of cel-shaded look that, following the theme of the rest of the package, isn't any better or worse than average and gets the job done. The controls, however, are a different story...WarioWare on the DS used the system's unique control feature to create a unique collection of mini-games. Furu Furu Park uses the unique controls of the Wii, but not in any way that really enhances the game. In a few cases the gameplay really suffers from controls that aren't well thought out or functional enough to really allow the game to be played the way it was meant to.
Bottom Line:
It’s hard to really say too much about Furu Furu Park because it doesn't really do anything fantastic or terrible. If this game were a cookie, it would be flavorless except for a few chocolate chips, and while the majority of people would probably enjoy the chocolate chip part, the blandness of the thing as a whole will probably lead them to find something else more satisfying.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 4.7 |
Posted: 2008-05-26 11:16:39 PST