What they’re saying: Trouble in Paradise and Pocket Paradise
The big sites crackdown on Rare's latest masterpieces
With the release of every major Rare offering onto the Market, we here at MundoRare set off on a large and long-winded journey to see what the people that are actually paid to do this sort of thing are saying. It’s been a few days now, so let’s jaunt around the internet to see what the critics are loving, and not loving about the two new entries into the Viva Piñata series.
The reaction for Trouble in Paradise was mostly positive. Critics are saying that the game has added nearly everything many gamers found missing from the previous game, while maintaining everything about the original that was good. In fact, one of the few major complaints the game has received was for having a lot of the same from its predecessor.
The Multiplayer, while a nice touch, was sited as a little uncomfortable to some critics. Giant Bomb’s review noted that it felt more like a learning tool, so friends could teach new players some of the basic duties of the game. Two player local play was a nice feature though, allowing parents to play with their kids. The Camera connectivity sounds great in theory to these reviews, but many sited it as a tool for gamers to be lazy and simply scan piñatas into their garden; as demonstrated right on the opening of IGN’s Video Review for the game. The game continues to be overly cuddly and cute, and still has a fantastic soundtrack, but still lacks decent voice acting; the other major complaint I kept seeing across the board.
According the Game Rankings, the title stands at a pretty good 83%, based on 24 reviews, a score that’s actually two points lower than the original, perhaps because of the “more of the same” platform the game is getting. The critics are saying that just because it was more of the same doesn’t mean that TiP is a pass, though. The final verdict I’m seeing here is “If you like the first, buy this one as well.” For Piñata veterans, and “If you missed the first one, why have you not bought this one yet?” for the newcomers.
As for Pocket Paradise, the recreation of the original game for the DS seems to have transitioned well for the critics, thanks to a tight control system and simply the fact that it’s a portable Viva Piñata for crying out loud. A major critique was the rather slow rewards system, and the fact that the experience seems to wear thin quicker than both 360 titles, even though it should offer at least 15-20 “I’m Really Into This Stop Bugging Me” hours of enjoyment. Pocket Paradise currently holds a 81% on Game Rankings, a notch below both 360 titles, but still as enjoyable.
So, do we here at MundoRare agree with the views of IGN and GameSpot? Or do we truly believe that this is the greatest game ever to come out since Diddy Kong Racing DS? You’ll find out when our full reviews for both Piñata titles are posted in the coming days.
Somehow related news
- Trouble in Paradise and Pocket Paradise ship to stores in North America ()
- Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise is on the way to Nintendo DS ()
- Your Pocket Paradise doubts, answered next Tuesday! ()
- Press to pay a visit to Rare’s new pocket-handkerchief garden ()
- Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, coming to Xbox 360 ()
