Alright,
EA, what happened? Did you send men in black suits to erase my memory? Did you
stuff me into a DeLorean and take me back in time?
There must
be an explanation. I know I’ve played this game before.
I’d
attribute it to deja vu, but in science, we always search for the simplest
explanation. Time travel aside, the most plausible explanation for the strong
sense of “been there, done that” provoked by MySims Party is replication; it
offers little we haven’t seen and played on Wii dozens of times before.
As are
countless other indistinguishable Wii games with “party” in their titles, MySims
Party is a short, simple collection of short, simple minigames. Those familiar
with Nintendo’s own Mario Party franchise should know the drill; four players
compete for points over a selection of more than 50 minigames with EA’s cute,
blocky headed MySims characters as competitors and hosts.
From a
semantic perspective, MySims Party plucks Mario from Mario Party and replaces
him with MySims. Such is also the case in terms of gameplay; replace Mario with
Chef Geno, and voila—you’ve got a whole new game.
In theory,
at least. But substituting one pasta-loving Italian for another does not change
the party or, in this case, provide gamers something fresh.
MySims
Party’s minigames are mostly the common garden-variety fare that have become
standard for Wii minigame compilations—place toppings on a pizza, water flowers,
dance to a given rhythm, scoop ice cream. Tasks such as these have never been
mind-blowing fun, and having done them a few hundred times over, they’ve just
become predictable, boring diversions.
You’ll know
what to do as soon as you see the screen, because you’ll swear you’ve played
each minigame before in another wearisome compilation.
To be
predictable and boring would be bad enough, but MySims Party can also be
frustrating. Thanks to wild remote waggling in some minigames and broken
gameplay mechanics in others, the game’s controls range from poor to adequate at
best. The aforementioned ice cream minigame, for example, requires players to
twist the remote on a horizontal axis to scoop ice cream onto a cone. Without
slow movements, it almost never works properly.
Particularly for a game primarily aimed at young children, boring minigames with
occasionally malfunctioning controls would seem a major problem.
But make no
mistake, MySims Party isn’t a bad game—there are far worse so-called party games
available for Wii. But it’s not very good, either. Sterile minigames and
hit-or-miss controls aside, perhaps the most disappointing aspect of MySims
Party is its absolute failure to fulfill its own premise.
To its
credit, the game is built on a few interesting ideas.
Unlike
Mario Party, MySims Party doesn’t use a virtual game board. Instead, the game
takes place in the standard MySims town, which acts like a central hub. After
each series of minigames, players return to the town, where they can place
monuments they’ve won in the minigames, redecorate buildings and dig into some
of the fun customization typical of the MySims series.
It’s a neat
concept. You use what you’ve earned in the minigames to begin cleaning up the
town and doing usual MySims chores. But the idea is never really fleshed
out—indeed, customization has been restricted to the point of irrelevancy, and
while the concept is a welcome and clever take on EA’s established MySims
formula, it never actually reaches fruition.
As a
result, any potential the game had to offer an even remotely enjoyable
single-player experience is lost. Without friends, there isn’t much incentive.
Like most
multiplayer-focused games, MySims Party provides most of its enjoyability when
played with friends; the more, the better. Online gameplay isn’t included, but
since it would’ve been pointless for this type of game, its absence doesn’t hurt
the package. Online leaderboards are a nice touch.
Even with
friends, though, MySims Party is a shallow bag of laughs. After only a few
rounds, it’s easy to get bored with these generic minigames.
Unfortunately, MySims Party looks almost as generic as it plays. It has the
series’ trademark blocky, stylized graphics, and it’s often a colorful affair,
but the game also has a generally bland, dull-looking appearance that negates
the positives and strips the game of any visual appeal it might have had.
It’s a
shame. Last year’s MySims Kingdom was much prettier than the first MySims, but
this minigame spin-off looks identical to the 2007 original.
Some may
brush off these assessments with a shrug. “Well, it’s only for my little
nephew,” they may rationalize, as if kids are incapable of distinguishing
between a fun game and a boring one. “It’s only a kid’s game, after all.”
I couldn’t
disagree more.
Criticism
isn’t inapplicable to a game like MySims Party simply because it’s meant for
little kids. Who decided children can play only simple minigames? When my
generation was younger, we played Contra, Castlevania and Mega Man, and we loved
every hair-pulling second of it. I simply reject the notion that today’s young
gamers require dull games with lose-proof simplicity.
MySims
Party is difficult to recommend not because of any glaring flaws or
game-breaking glitches—rather, this simple game has a simple problem.
Even if
you’re in third grade, it’s just not very much fun.
Review Scoring Details for MySims Party |
Gameplay: 6.5
For the
most part, the controls and gameplay are extremely simple, asking very little
from players. Some of the minigames control well, others don’t.
Graphics: 5.5
Blocky and
stylized, MySims Party looks identical to the first MySims. It can be a colorful
affair, but the game has a generally dull-looking appearance.
Sound:
6.0
Upbeat
music typical of the series plays in the background, while MySims chatter
gibberish in their cute, indecipherable “Simglish” language.
Difficulty: Easy
For a real
challenge, try to stay awake while you’re playing.
Concept:
3.0
By
successfully completing minigame competitions, you earn monuments with which you
decorate your town. I like the idea, but it’s been simplified to scale back the
enjoyable construction elements from the original MySims.
Multiplayer: 6.0
Up to four
players can join this social gathering—it’s not much of a party.
Overall:
5.5
Even if you
think you haven’t, you’ve played this game before. It may have been under the
guise of a different title, but believe me, there’s nothing here you haven’t
already done countless times. Sterile and predictable, MySims Party seems more
concerned with promoting the brand than being fun.
