CSM:
"Priced a hair under $20 and with some 30 distinct activities, Family Party is one of the most attractive party games currently on store shelves. Unlike many titles in the category, which feature as few as half a dozen minigames and are often plagued by technical glitches, Family Party offers up dozens of well-designed games, many of which make great use of the Wii remote's motion sensitivity, including several in which players must shake the remote to run, then perform secondary and tertiary movements to, say, jump, crawl, or maintain balance. Some of the activities can be a little confusing at the start (pre-minigame instructions would have benefitted from the sort of video tutorials seen in more expensive party games), but it generally takes just a single play to get a good feel for each challenge.
What corners were cut to keep the price so low? For starters, the presentation seems kind of cheap. Aside from a couple of unlockable games and avatar skins, there really isn't much in the way of rewards, nor is there any form of statistics or performance comparison, save a simple leader board for each game. And with no story mode through which to progress, there's not much reason to play alone -- especially since the game's computer controlled competitors have been poorly calibrated (they can be buffoons in one game and unbeatable in the next). Still, the majority of minigames are a blast if you have a couple of people with whom you can play, and that is, after all, the chief criteria by which one should evaluate a party game."
Nintendo continues to add to its already robust collection of both new and classic downloadable titles this week with the release of SNES title: Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen on the virtual console, as well as Family and Friends Party, an interactive board game for up to 8 players available via WiiWare.
Last week saw the debut of three Commodore 64 titles as well as the long-awaited co-op FPS Onslaught, and while this week lacks the excitement of the former, Nintendo has done an incredible job releasing titles from all sectors so that every gamer will have something to spend their precious Wii Points on.
Despite its claim of greatness, Family Party's mini-games range from abysmal to bland. Many are physically abusive and/or feel redundant; others have moderately interesting ideas but leave much to be desired. This game only offers frustration to those that would try it, and is not worth anyone's time or money.
GA writes: "I am guessing that most people will have the same gut reaction to Family Party: 30 Great Games as when I first picked it up; serious doubt about the word "great" being in the title. After playing the game many times, I feel confident in saying that the title is promoting false advertisement. A more accurate title would be 30 Mini Games.
There are six "great games" in each of five areas; Athletics, Castle, Muscle, Shooting and Variety. Initially, there are three areas unlocked; each with five games. The remainder are unlocked by getting first place overall in the unlocked areas. At least I think that is how they are unlocked. This worked for me for two of the three areas. However, there were two times when I placed first in the Athletics area that I was awarded with the word Failed. I have never heard of getting first place and failing. After brooding about my first place failures, I realized something; failure is the mark of this game. In almost every way this game fails. From the manual that has no useful information to the terrible AI; this game has failure written everywhere."
