Game Party 2 Review (Nintendo Wii)

Every so often a game comes along that is so ill-conceived that it is painful to write a review.

Game Party 2 is one of those titles. From lackluster mini-games to monotonous controls you’ll be hard pressed to figure out why you decided to pick up this title.

Game Party 2 contains all the same games as the original Game Party, with a couple extra parlor games for smokes and mirrors - not to mention a heftier price tag. There are 11 games in all: Bean Bags, Horseshoes, Lawn Darts, Puck Bowling, Quarterback Challenge, Trivia, Hoop Shot, Ping Cup, Shuffleboard, Skillball and Darts.

Unfortunately, the 11 different games only come with 3 different movements - which hardly takes advantage of the Wii’s design. You’ll have fun playing Hoop Shot your first time around, but then go on to any other game and you’ll realize that it is the exact same game - just with a different background. Also, for several of the games you can pretty much memorize the movement to score every time. Outside of Darts and Trivia, most of the games have a pattern that you can easily figure out for maximum points and minimal fun.

The Trivia game is neatly done and can be fun for a group of people to play. But, honestly there are several games out there that do a better job of presentation. And, although the music seems lively at first, it just isn’t enough to save this game or your party.

The graphics of Game Party 2 are totally lame, and can hardly match up to Wii Sports. You have the ability to create your own character, but you don’t even get a variety of designs to choose from. We ended up just playing as Santa.

You can unlock new content and game modes, but you’ll probably find yourself to bored to waste the time. Don’t try and pass this game off to your children either. Between elevator music, mundane controls, and dated games like horseshoes you’ll find yourself under siege by a kiddie revolt.

Game Party 2 needed a major overhaul from the original Game Party. It probably could have benefited from extra time developing the concept, instead of being rushed to market only one year after the original’s release.