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It’s rare indeed when the challenge of deciphering the title of a videogame outlasts the gameplay. Unfortunately, this is the case for the ridiculously named More Game Party, Midway’s latest attempt at a party game in the style of Wii Play. Featuring shallow mini-games that test the players’ ability to throw darts, shoot hoops and slide pucks, More Game Party tries to be competitive multiplayer madness. However, it falls well short of this target.
Liam: The gameplay in More Game Party consists of ten tedious mini-games. These games come in many forms, but the undeniable truth is that they are all fundamentally the same. It is evident from the start screen that More Game Party has been modelled on Nintendo’s Wii Play, because it features a simple interface and a collection of mini-games that offer little to nothing in terms of gameplay. With no real objective, the game leaves players with two options, and that is to either beat personal or computer-set records, or play through this second-rate title with family and friends.
Patrick: The problem with these two options is that they differ so little. As the mini-games simply involve the player repeatedly carrying out the motions for throwing a dart, football or whatever object is relevant, it often doesn’t matter if there is someone else doing it with you. This also causes the games to become tiring quickly, as whilst shooting hoops non-stop for a minute is interesting the first and, perhaps, the second time, players will rarely feel there is enough depth to these mini-games to want to return to them. This then presents another of More Game Party’s faults, because the similarity of the mini-games means that once the potential of one game is exhausted all of the games become uninteresting. This hinges on the use of the ‘press and release’ control system in every mini-game, which involves the player holding the ‘A’ button, swinging the remote and releasing the button to throw or slide any object. The only difference lies in whether it is used in an over-arm, under-arm or straight forward fashion, depending on whether you’re rolling a ball or throwing a dart. It seems almost as if the only difference between the games is the scenery.
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Liam: Whilst on the subject of scenery, More Game Party’s visuals are adequate, but, like many other titles on the Wii, they display a lack of effort on the developer’s behalf to utilise the console to its full potential. A major point in the visual area that highlights the typical input by Midway is the inclusion of Mii look-alikes. The way these characters have been stylised clearly shows how very little creativity was incorporated into this title. This helps clarify that the visuals are there to facilitate rather than enhance the game.
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Patrick: The sound also gives the impression that Midway only sought to meet the minimum requirements. The music varies from rock to jazz to funk, and though the tunes are not unpleasant, they lack connection to the game, sounding as if someone were playing an unrelated CD in the background. The sound effects are also sufficient, though far from spectacular, consisting of the mandatory cheer of a crowd and sports-related noises. Like the rest of More Game Party, the sound is hardly memorable.
Liam: Overall, More Game Party is yet another title that can be added to the Wii’s shovelware library. By featuring uninteresting gameplay, passable visuals, sufficient sound and tacked on motion controls it meets all the requirements to be classed in this category. More Game Party, like many of previous shovelware titles released on the Nintendo Wii, is a fine example of what the system does not need.
By Patrick & Liam Doolan
Graphics: C-
The visuals are adequate, but nothing more.
Sound: C-
Good, though it fails to suit the game.
Gameplay: D
Gameplay? What gameplay?
Overall: D+
More Game Party is a shallow collection of mindless mini-games that doesn’t offer any serious gaming potential.
