Amazon.com: Carnival Games: Nintendo Wii: Video Games

249 Reviews

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(79)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(20)

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3.8 out of 5 stars (249 customer reviews)

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353 of 373 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendously Fun, August 31, 2007

By	Angela (Ohio) - See all my reviews

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

Carnival Games is the type of game that everyone should have for their Wii. It's great for solo play, or multi-player fun, and never becomes boring, with more than 25 games to choose from. It's extremely easy to "pick up and play" for all ages, and it's good clean fun. The game really represents a carnival in every way possible, starting with the perfectly accurate games (and gameplay), the bright colors, the chatty emcee's, the wandering carnival-goers who walk past you or play games beside you, and even the carnival music playing softly in the background. You can almost smell the cotton candy!
What really makes this game shine is how well designed all the carnival games are. They work very well with the wii-mote, and rarely miss a beat.

Here are some of the highlights of the 25+ games included on this disc:

ALLEY BALL: This game is identical to a favorite game of many called "Skee-Ball". It is definitely one of the best games on here. It feels extremely realistic, the way you use the wii-mote to kind of throw the ball (not swing back & roll like bowling, but rather kind of flinging it up on the 'alley' like you really do in skee-ball). It's sharp and accurate, and hard to stop playing!

SPILLED MILK: This one has you throwing a ball at a stack of 3 milk bottles. It somewhat lacks the realism of Alley Ball, but it still is quite fun. It has you hold your wii-mote as if it's a ball, and you do an overhand throw to try to knock down the bottles. Fortunately it has a little marking on the screen to show where you will hit before you throw.

BALLOON DARTS: One of my favorites. This game has a corkboard covered with balloons that you must throw darts at to pop. You hold your wii-mote as if it's a dart (really!) and do a short, abrupt forward lunge with it as if you are throwing a dart. The accuracy on this game is amazing. I hit the small balloons every time! In fact, once you win this game a number of times, you will open a "super" version of this game that you can also play where it has a whole wall of balloons to pop in about 30 seconds.

SHOOTING GALLERY: This is another favorite. A perfect representation of the duck shooting game we all love at carnivals. The little yellow ducks are scrolling by, and you have to use your wii-mote like a toy gun to shoot them (aiming for the target on their belly will net you even more points). The accuracy of this game is perfect.

HOOPS: This game has a basketball hoop in front of you, and you need to use your wii-mote as if it's a basketball, using an overhand throw to get the ball in the basket. What really amazes me on this game is how once you throw the ball, it shows you where it will land, and you have a chance to twist the wii-mote to make it more likely to go in the basket! You have to be quick though! But this increases the fun factor enormously since you have such great control over the ball.

SHOOT FOR THE STARS: This game was never a favorite of mine in carnivals, and isnt here either but I wanted to at least mention it for those who like this popular game. You stand in front of a star target and have to rapid-fire 300 shots to shoot away the star. It's perfectly accurate (can you hold steady enough for 300 shots?), and I usually end up with about 85% without trying too hard.

HOLE IN ONE: I have not played this game yet, but the manual claims it is a miniature golf game that gives you 3 chances to putt the ball, but each time you do, the hole moves. Sounds fun though, as I love golf.

RING TOSS: This is yet another favorite of mine. It has a large area of bottles arranged in a square, and you have to toss rings in hopes of landing one directly on a bottle. You hold your wii-mote kind of frisbee-style and fling your ring out towards the bottles. It is quite accurate and very fun. It looks and plays identical to the one you see at carnivals.

DAY AT THE RACES: This is an odd take on horse racing. In order to get your horses to run, you have to roll balls into holes at the end of an alley (somewhat like skee-ball) as quickly as possible. The difference here is that there are just several holes on a flat surface, but they have different point values for different holes. The higher your points, the faster the horse goes. It's quite fun though! And accurate too.

COLLECTION PLATE: I wouldnt say this is a favorite of mine as I am no good at it but I believe with practice it will be a lot more fun for me. This game has a platform of several plates at different heights, and you have to toss coins to land on them. You hold your wii-mote as if it's a coin, and kind of toss it outward. My problem is I use to much strength and the coin goes flying to who-knows-where. Those with more finesse would surely do better than me at this game! It's cute and pretty accurate in my opinion.

Those are the highlights of Carnival Games. The other titles included in it are: The Great Swami, Frog Leap, Bowler Coaster, Meter-O-Love, Pigskin Pass, Buckets Of Fun, Going Nuts, Clown Splash, Ka-Pow, Prize Claw, Nerves Of Steel, Lucky Cups, Dunk Tank, and Push-A-Prize. Plus you can open a few alternate takes of some games once you reach certain goals.

And lastly, for those of you who love character customization, you get a little person that represents you in the game, and you can change his/her hair, clothes, face, accessories, etc to your liking. You will also acquire more items for your person by either winning them in games or buying them with tickets. And you can also win "virtual prizes" in games (stuffed animals, toy cars, etc) but these are only a picture on your screen. Nothing special there.

In summary, Carnival Games is a something-for-everyone game that has lasting appeal and tons of variety. Best of all, it gets you off the couch and playing like you're really at the carnival! Dont forget the corn dogs!

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39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sleeper Hit!!!, August 29, 2007

By	C. Messerschmidt (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

Talk about a surprise! This game offers exactly what you'd expect... mindless single player fun. Try it during a break from "Metroid Prime Corruption." With multiple players, though, this may be THE ultimate drunken Wii party game! It's certainly much better than Wii Play or Mario Party 8. It's a shame this has slipped under so many gaming site's rader and likely won't get the attention it deserves. This game fits the Wii perfectly... fun for everyone of all ages.

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56 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my Favorite Games For the Wii! Like Cotton Candy, It's Quite Addictive!!, September 5, 2007

By	A. Stagg (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

I started reading the game descriptions on this product months before it was released. I am a big fan of mini-games and this looked like it might be worthwhile. I suspected it might be a GOOD game, but I didn't expect it to be GREAT! Then I saw all the 5-star reviews and went ahead and bought a copy. Absolutely not disappointed! This is one of the best games for the Wii I've played to date!

This is an exceptionally well-polished game. The graphics aren't fancy, but they are clean, crisp and well rendered. A real Carnival feel to the product with bright colors, lot's of kitsch, and some mildly sinister but funny carnival hucksters. The mini-games are addictive and lots of fun. Some of the games are simple, while others are more challenging. It's easy to earn "tickets" whether you are an expert player or novice. You can then trade your tickets to play other carnival games or unlock a variety of masks and other accessories for your player to use in the game.

I won't go into descriptions of individual games, since other reviewers have done an excellent job. However, just like a real carnival, my favorite game is darts. I've also become fond of capturing the dinosaur with "The Claw". This game is simple enough for small kids to master, but challenging enough for teens and adults. An excellent game for the Wii platform, the controls are responsive and there are few if any bugs. It will make you crave fried twinkies and cotton candy. Highly recommended!!