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345 of 353 found the following review helpful:
I was reluctant, but Wii Party is Tons of Fun!Oct 05, 2010
By Kaio I'm new to Wii, and after wasting over a hundred dollars on crappy games only to trade them in for pennies on the dollar, I was leery about throwing more money away. Thankfully, Wii Party is a huge hit at our house!
My reaction to Wii games seems to be instantaneous -- I either love or hate them within the first few minutes of play. And believe me, it doesn't feel good to spend 50 dollars on a game only to realize you've just thrown your money away. And after buying one dud game after another, Wii Party had a lot riding against it in my mind. But I really wanted something else to play other than my fave, Wii Sports Resort. So I decided to give it one more try, bit the bullet, and bought Wii Party -- and boy, am I glad I did!
The trailer for this game really doesn't do it justice. I was thinking this game might be kinda lame, but it really has to be experienced to be appreciated. Like Sports Resort, I'm very impressed with the programming, thought and imagination that went into this. Wii has taken the potentially boring concept of party games and created something quite wonderful, not to mention fun. Unlike New Carnival Games, which was one inane game fragment after another, Wii Party has come up with an inventive way to thread everything together and create an enjoyable gaming experience.
The Host is NOT speaking Japanese!
Wii Party has a cute character that hosts the entire game. I've seen some text and video reviews complaining that he speaks Japanese -- well, I'm not fluent, but I do speak some Japanese, and the host of Wii Party is NOT speaking Japanese. He's not speaking anything, it's just a made up language so the same game can be manufactured for distribution throughout the world. That way, only the onscreen text would change to fit the appropriate country's language, which is easy to accomplish with simple encoding. The host speaks to the players as if they are watching and participating in a game show. And the instructions are displayed as text onscreen. I've read some complaints about this, but since when is teaching children how to read a bad thing?! And for the adults, it gives the opportunity to read the instructions more than once if necessary, to make sure one understands how to play each game. Personally, I like the host and think he's cute. Whenever he comes on screen, it brings a smile to my face. It kinda reminds me of a cross between a quirky Sesame Street puppet and a Cirque du Soleil character. Their Vegas show, Mystere, has a similar character (who is even dressed in a similarly colored costume) and he helps thread the whole show together -- as does the host in Wii Party. And like Cirque, it makes no difference that he's speaking in a foreign tongue, or in this case, a completely made-up one.
Practice Rounds
I appreciated that each game has the option to do practice rounds. It helps immensely to read the instructions, do a practice, then re-read the instructions again to clarify. You can do as many practice rounds as you like, and some of the games can be tricky, so this is a big plus. The games are all very fun but it takes some getting used to, as far as how the controls work and respond, so practicing before doing the actual game is a good thing.
Laugh Out Loud Fun
Every game we've played so far had us all literally laughing aloud, pointing at the screen and the time just flew by. Hours felt like minutes and it was midnight before we realized we had stayed up way too late playing games. But if laughter is the best medicine, then it was time well spent.
Board Game Island -- was very unique and a really good time, even if bad rolls of the dice occasionally messed things up for us. The neat thing is, computer controlled Mii characters will play along too, so if there's only 2 human players, the computer will play the 2 others so there's a full squad of four. This makes board games more interesting than just playing with 2. But there are plenty of 1, 2 and 4 player games -- literally something for everybody.
Balance Boat -- is really neat too. You have to balance a predetermined number of Miis on a sailboat's masts, making sure not to topple the whole thing over and into the sea. Each round has a mini game that requires 2 players to work as a team. If you play the mini game well and get it right, you get to balance 2 Miis of the same size. If not, the Miis are ridiculously different sizes, making balancing the pair onto the boat much more difficult. So as the game goes on, it gets harder and harder, and funnier too!
The mini games are amazing! Landing your Mii on the moon with space jet packs, flying through space avoiding asteroids, flying a helicopter and saving other Miis with a safety line, chopping trees with an axe, dune buggies, balance mazes, Match Up where you match the Miis wandering the town square... even Bingo was fun and entertaining thanks to the mini games. And you're not playing bingo with numbers, but with Mii faces! The list of great games goes on and on! There's even a silly one where you swing from a vine like Tarzan -- just one vine and you swing as hard as you can to see how far you'll fly! We managed to exit the stratosphere and fly past a UFO!! Unlike all the other wasted money on crappy games, we're literally going to have hours and hours of fun with this one! What a relief to finally find a game worth the purchase price, and then some!
I guess I'm learning that I prefer games that integrate the Miis we've made. We found a website with instructions on how to make celebrity Miis and it's a lot of fun to see them incorporated into these games. Rescuing your faves, finding them in a crowd, matching them up, having them cheer you on as a player when you win or do well -- it's really a nice touch and adds another element of fun to it all. There's even a dating type game that gauges 2 players compatibility -- Friend Connection -- it's not necessarily a dating game, it just reminded me of the Newlywed Game. But any 2 people can play it and see how they match up as good friends or whatever.
Another feature I like -- when you're at the game's main menu that lists all there is to play, if you hover over each game, it gives an estimate of how long it'll take to play (5 min, 30 min, 45 min, etc.) Obviously, game time can vary based on what you do and how much you practice, but it's cool to know an estimate of how long each game might take.
Bottom Line -- just like Sports Resort, Wii Party is definitely a game I'll come back to again and again! Literally hours and hours of fun to be had here, and after all the wasted money on bad games, this one has renewed my faith in Wii games. I love Wii Party and can't say enough good about it!!! What a blast!!
74 of 77 found the following review helpful:
Very Entertaining.Oct 07, 2010
By Mike V. I wanted to write my first ever Amazon review after being very well entertained for 4 days now with Wii Party. The review was going to be very detailed. However, I believe I'm on the same page as Kaio, and almost wrote the same positive review nearly verbatim, so I scrapped it.
Let me say that I'm 30 years old and tend not to buy as many games as I used to, but I get that itch once in awhile to purchase a game, or should I say a Nintendo game for that matter? And tend to keep an eye out for what's coming out. After being fairly entertained with Wii sports and having played Mario Party in the past, Wii Party piqued my interest. I was going to wait a month or so to see how well the game would be received except that I received an email on launch day stating that Walmart was giving away a Free Wii-mote with the purchase of Wii Party (I found that to be false). So I cruised over to the local Walmart only to impulse buy Wii Party promotion-less.
Wii Party sat unopened for a full day due to the fact that I read some underwhelming reviews by some reputable gaming websites and early Amazon reviewers claiming the game was a conservatively made title by nintendo that wasn't very entertaining. I was afraid if I cracked the seal, I would've wasted more money on games that get light use.
After peer pressure by my friend to play the game, I opened that package and since then we've been Wii Party evangelists. We have played it with 5 different friends and a family of mixed ages, resulting in a blast every time and multiple copies purchased in just a couple days.
I haven't played by myself yet and don't really plan to, however, the two-player games are entertaining, mini-games are well made, and the more players-the merrier. Some reviewers griped that anything less than 3- players playing at a time is boring, but I've had a blast with the 2-player Mario Party-esque board game mode, and the co-op ship balancing challenge. For more insight on how I feel overall, check out Kaio's review... I had the same expectations before the purchase and experience with the game.
The only reason I gave it four stars was because I felt Nintendo should've made a Mario Kart type leaderboard challenge for the House Party games. Maybe they did and I overlooked it.
51 of 52 found the following review helpful:
Fun for a groupOct 04, 2010
By Diana Wonder We like it. Lots of minigames, pretty good load time, and lots of ways to play. You do not have to commit to an hour or anything, its nice that you can pick it up and play for a few minutes only if you want to. We also have all of the Mario Party games and I think this is more fun. The mini games are not re-hashed versions of Mario Party games. It is NOT an in-depth, serious game, but is great for what it is, a party game. My family and I played it a bunch (mom, dad, teen-ager) and all of us had a good time. I think that it is worth the price. It is also easy enough for anyone, making it a nice choice for all ages to play together.
50 of 53 found the following review helpful:
Wii Party [REVIEW]Nov 14, 2010
By Antoine D. Reid
"80sforever"
I was looking forward to trying out Nintendo Wii's Wii Party. Basically, this is the party or entertainment game to get. The game is packed with lots of interactive fun and games including a Monopoly-like board game where your Mii character races toward the finish line and competes in mini games to determine who moves first; hide-and-seek with the Wii remote; a hot-potato like game where you pass the Wii remote between players and much more.
For those who have played Mario Party 8, Wii Party may not seem as fun because the gist of Wii Party is basically the same grounds for Mario Party without the Nintendo characters. Sure, there are some new games to play but I couldn't move beyond the realization that Wii Party is a bit of a copy or slight upgrade to the Mario Party series - without Mario, Luigi, Peach and the gang. I also didn't understand the board-game part of Wii Party that has you playing a mini-game in between each move on the board to determine who gets to roll first. Some of the single player mode games really aren't engaging and drag on. The more players you have playing with you the better in terms of Wii Party. What's good about Wii Party as opposed to Mario Party is that there are many more "brain" games included that cause for you to have to not only interact and engage through the Wii remote but games that also require you to think quickly on your feet.
In all, a decent game. This is called Wii "Party" so play it with a group of people. The more people and Wii remotes involved, the busier, funner and more engaged you'll be. For those who've played Mario Party and are wondering if it's worth investing in this game - not really. While there are a few new games, a lot of Wii Party feels like Mario Party 8 verbatim.
18 of 18 found the following review helpful:
An excellent choice for kids & familyOct 12, 2010
By Joseph P. Carty
"Staceynkc"
My family picked this up yesterday even though I wasn't thrilled about paying full price for a new game. We have boys 3 & 6. We played this game through the evening yesterday and they bolted out of bed and dressed in seconds with the promise of a few more minutes before the bus/carpool arrived. The best part of this game is the variety of different types of gameplay. Unlike Wii Sport, or Wii Sports Resort, there are what seems like a hundred options. This may seem overwhelming, but the setup makes it easy. I love that the menus actually give you an estimated time that each game will take so that you don't start something only to have to stop for bedtime or risk everyone being exhausted tomorrow. The game times range from 5 min to an hour. In a nutshell, this is a great game for kids to play with or without adults, for a family to play with or without kids. It is unlikely, however, that our group of adult friends who love to get together for game night will spend much time playing this game. We're not drunks, but we like to have a couple of drinks and play board games, rock band, just dance, etc... We'll try this, but it will probably end up being what we use to entertain the kids while we head back to the table for Partini. But, I could definitely see us playing with Grandma & Grandpa for hours. P. S.: One reviewer commented that the game host only speaks Japanese. This is not true. He does not speak English or Japanese, but what I would call 'Mumbling Jibberish'. You have to read his comments like any Wii game I have played including any from the Mario Bros. franchise. The speaking sound he makes is only for effect.
based on 223 reviews
( 223 customer reviews )
