Viva Piñata Party Animals

by Microsoft

Product Features

• Huge variety of exciting mini-games
• Engaging gameplay for people of every age
• Bright, detailed and inviting graphics
• Great online play - up to four players can play in one room, or join a game on Xbox Live

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000UKZ208
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches ; 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: October 30, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,387 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

In Viva Piñata: Party Animals, players control the fame, fortune and destiny of their favorite characters: Fergy Fudgehog, Paulie Pretztail, Franklin Fizzlybear and Hudson Horstachio, as they compete in a variety of zany battles and races.

Engaging Graphics View larger.

Gameplay for all ages View larger.

Exciting Mini-Games View larger.

Synopsis Compete in a variety of zany battles and races in the social party game Viva Piñata®: Party Animals. Control the fame, fortune, and destiny of all your favorite characters from Viva Piñata: Fergy Fudgehog, Paulie Pretztail, Franklin Fizzlybear, and Hudson Horstachio. It's party time! Key Game Features: Huge variety of exciting mini-games: Viva Piñata: Party Animals includes more than 40 mini-games and a dozen foot races for players to compete against one another. Collect candy and special bonuses in all sorts of exotic and hazard-filled locations. Gameplay for everyone: Appealing to young kids or those just young-at-heart, this unique social party game rewards and challenges all players regardless of their skill level. Friends and family members of all ages can party together in one place or from around the world via Xbox LIVE. Engaging and inviting graphics: The game is especially designed for interaction among friends and family. Pushing the advanced capabilities of the Xbox 360, the game offers a vibrant and engaging gaming experience. It's the perfect game for parents looking for fun new ways to connect with their kids, or friends just looking to share a few laughs. Great online play: Up to four players can gather together in the family room to play, or join a game on Xbox LIVE, and take the party global.

Product Description

360 Viva Pinata: Party Animals

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pinata fun ala Mario Party!, November 18, 2007

By 

Tim Martin (South Bend, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Viva Piñata Party Animals (Video Game)

If you are familar with the Mario Party concept, you are familar with this game! If not, here you go: it is basically a set of head-to-head minigames. The concept is pretty simple. You start off with a race (there are seven different courses) and then you can play between one to three mini games (your choice) after each race. You can also choose the number of times you race, etc. There is a large number of mini games: more and more are unlocked as you play the game. Up to four people can play at a time.

As to the game, I will let my ten year old daughter take over: "This game is really fun. Because they have some funny comments and funny mini games. After each race, two pinates say funny jokes and the pinatas have funny dances and say funny things when they win. I think this game is good for kids between 6 and 13. My dad thinks it is fun too and he is forty something."

I should add that this game is entirely appropiate for any age range. If your kids like Viva Pinata, they will also like this game. Enjoy!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kids Love It!, November 3, 2007

By 

Melissa Fieser (Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Viva Piñata Party Animals (Video Game)

Great fun! But very different from the original. This is a bunch of mini competitions. The kids love playing against eachother. The graphics are good. My only complaint is there is too much talking in between the games and the pinata's don't always do what your controller is telling it to. But other than that i would reccomend it. My kids 4-10 love it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Viva Pinata Party Animals - Not quite as good as Mario Party, January 9, 2009

By 

Bryon W. Black "TongBlack" (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Viva Piñata Party Animals (Video Game)

I originally purchased this game because my fiancee loves Mario Party for the N64, and I wanted to get a game for our 360 that she would enjoy as much. After searching around for a little while, I found Viva Pinata Party Animals. I read several reviews of people comparing it to Mario Party, so I purchased it from Amazon.

After playing, I can say that the game is a nice attempt to recreate a Mario Party-like game, and while fun, it ultimately isn't as good.

For starters, the way the entire game is set up is that you do a race followed by 1-3 mini-game challenges. 3 is the highest number of mini-games you can do per race, so if you want to have a lengthy game, you're going to be doing 5-7 races just to get enough mini-games to be fun. I would have preferred the ability to play more games per race, or possibly even just make the races a mini-game themselves.

Which brings me to the races: they're fun, but pretty much pointless and easy for one player to dominate. It seems that no matter who I'm playing with, I win every single race. And yes, perhaps I'm better at it than everyone else because I'm a fairly seasoned gamer, but I think a game like this should be about equal for everyone, regardless of gaming experience. That's what makes party games fun - no one wins all the time.

One thing that I like about Mario Party that's missing from Party Animals is the game board itself. The way Party Animals is played is that you do a race followed by 1-3 mini-games, and the characters get different amounts of candy for getting 1st-4th place, and the person at the end of the game that has the most candy wins, etc. You miss the nice luck/random chance element that comes with rolling the dice and being subject to wherever you land. In that sense, Party Animals plays less like a board game with some mini-games thrown in and more like a bunch of mini-games back to back.

For example, in Mario Party, you can land on Bowser and he might either take away a star or all your coins, which can move you from first to last place. In Party Animals, once you have your candy, it can't be taken away. Once someone pulls ahead of the pack, it's pretty hard to catch them.

Speaking of the mini-games, let's talk about those now. There is a nice variety, although several of them are very similar. You have some shooting games, where you have a reticule and you aim to shoot moving targets, some games where you have to press buttons in rapid succession to match a pattern you just watched, some games that involve hitting pinata stars with bats to burst them open, games that are simply about reflexes, counting games, games where you have to fight everyone else off to collect the most candy, and several other types. Each type of game has 2-4 varieties, not all of which are very different.

Overall, I'd say that Viva Pinata Party Animals is a great start for party games on the 360, but we need to refine this formula and produce more games that are a little bit closer to the Mario Party style. Not that I simply want a Mario Party for 360 - I want something new and different. However, I think Mario Party has set a good bar for game makers to reach for when making party games.

Don't let my negative statements about this game make you think that it's not fun to play, as it still is. Notice that I did still give it 4 stars. If you enjoy party games, this is definitely worth checking out.