I must admit that I never played the
Wii version of Carnival Games. When I saw the commercials for the game I wanted
to give it a try simply for the Alley Ball game. But due to other games and
review commitments I just never bothered to pick up the game. With the release
of the DS version I figured why not give it a try. While the game might not be
the best DS game on the market it certainly fits the title of Carnival Games.
Simply put, Carnival Games is a
collection of mini games that you might find at your local amusement park such
as Sea World, Six Flags or traveling Circus. The variety of games will probably
please anyone looking for their favorite carnival game. Alley Ball, Going Nuts,
Test of Strength, Nerves of Steel, Wild West Showdown, Frog Leap, Buckets of
Fun, Balloon Darts, Dunk Tank, Clown Splash, Spilled Milk, Hoops, Meter-O-Love,
Loud Mouth, The Great Swami, Star Shootout, Clown Bonk, Honey Falls, Bumper
Boats, RC Raceway, Radio Replay, Bubble Gum Battle and Shooting Gallery make up
all of the games you find at this virtual carnival. Believe me when I say the
game covers almost every single game I’ve ever seen at a circus or amusement
park. Some of the names might be different but games are still the classics
you’ve seen or played before.
You start off the game by creating
your own character and selecting from several different faces, hair and clothes
designs. You then start at the entrance to the carnival on the bottom DS screen
and the map of the park on the top screen. You simply move from booth to booth
and press the A button to play a particular game at that booth. However, the
actual gameplay for each mini game ranges from "this works great" to "what where
they thinking?"
The shooting mini games were
extremely easy to play with; you only having to tap an item on the screen to hit
something. Alley Ball was easy as well with just flicking the balls towards the
top of the screen to roll them. But other games were just overly complicated for
what I was expecting, especially on the DS. The Hoops basketball game was played
out by having to tap a 1, 2, 3 button in sequence before you could shoot the
ball. The Clown Splash game almost requires you to use two hands on the touch
screen, which is almost impossible. You have to pump water into your gun by
pressing a handle up and down, but still maintain your aim to fill up the water
gauge in the clown’s mouth. Dunking Booth has you trace a line from the left of
the screen to the dunking booth target. If the path is off by just a little you
won’t sink the person in the booth. I’m sure many players will probably skip
several of these games simply because the controls just weren’t as smooth as
expected with the DS touch screen.
Once you played the game you earn
either tickets or prizes, just like a regular amusement park game. The tickets
can be collected and spent on various items for your character such as hats,
jewelry and clothes. If you do really well the prizes you win are usually just
the same type of items you can purchase. Once you’ve won an item you can use it
(equip it) immediately after the mini game is over. Honestly there are plenty of
prizes but nothing that really offers any unique value to the game. If you’re
happy just changing the clothes you character wears all the time they you will
probably get plenty of enjoyment out of the prizes.
Carnival Games for the DS tries very
hard to offer a compelling collection of mini games. There is plenty of variety
when it comes to the games but the actual gameplay just falls flat for several
games. The overall length of the games is also disappointing since I really
didn’t want to have to keep pressing replay over and over again to keep going in
Alley Ball. Yet there isn’t a free play mode that lets you just keep playing
continuously. For half of the games you probably will get plenty of enjoyment
but the other half will have you looking for the exit out of Carnival.
Review Scoring Details for Carnival Games |
Gameplay 4.5
There isn’t an even balance for the entire game. Some games play great but are
too short. Other games are too confusing to play properly using the touch
screen.
Graphics: 6.0
Visually the game isn’t a mind blowing experience for the DS. The mini games
themselves all look just like their amusement park counterparts. Many of the
prizes you earn in the game are sometimes hard to make out on the small screen
because your character is really small as well.
Sound: 6.0
The music in the game is a light hearted arrangement of music that will remind
you of being at an amusement park or carnival. The voice acting of the carnival
leader sounds way too over the top for all of the mini games. His voice gets
annoying after a few minutes so thankfully you can adjust the voice levels in
the options.
Concept: 6.5
The game really does try to give you a good balance of games that use the
capabilities of the DS. Some games require the touch screen, some require you to
speak into the microphone and others just use the direction pad. Unfortunately
the actual gameplay falls flat for many of the mini games regardless of the
controls.
Multiplayer: 6.0
The game does let you share three games (Dunk Tank, Leap Frog and Buckets of
Fun) with other players only using one DS card.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Some mini games are simple enough for anyone to play even if they’ve never
played the game before. Other games can be confusing to adjust to the unique
controls.
Overall: 5.8
Carnival Games does an OK job of trying to replicate an Amusement park like
experience on the DS. If the gameplay was more balanced across all of the games
this could be a worthy title for your collection. But if you’re a Carnival Game
junkie on the Wii, then you will probably have to pick this one up anyway.
