Carnival Games Reviews.

[ddobson]

I actually picked Carnival Games up myself yesterday; the shop only received one copy, so sales expectations are apparently not high.

I loaded it up to play it for "a few minutes" before dinner and ended up spending a good hour on it. It's a pretty polished little collection of minigames -- nice features like voiceovers and a choice of 1-4 multiplayer with separate controllers or a single shared one. Graphics better than I expected in terms of style -- the "carnival" atmosphere is family-oriented, but there's a little hint of seediness here and there that I found entertaining.

A few games have controller issues -- or learning curves, at least; I've discovered that the "frisbee throw" motion has to be fairly level for the ring toss. But for the most part the games work well and there's a nice mixture of timing-based and motion-based events.

There's not much reason to "finish" the game -- you can earn all the prizes and unlock all the "SUPER" variations with dedication -- but it's a fun little title and I imagine I'll throw it in from time to time when I want some physical Wii fun. Nice alternative to Wii Sports, may sell better than anticipated.