Fun with a capital Ñ
You're going to need sunglasses. Xbox 360 has seen more than its fair share of games with wall-to-wall man-muscle in murky browns. Now, refreshingly, Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise brings us day-glo donkeys, rainbow-hued hedgehogs and more cute than a teacupful of chicks.
Gardening time
It's essentially a garden-'em-up, in which you cultivate plants to attract animals - papier-mâché animals, mind - to your little corner of the world. Some only like certain trees; others won't get out of bed for anything less than a fancy pond; others will hang back until they smell lesser animals they consider lunch. Set things up right and the happy Piñatas will stick around and breed adorable babies. Papier-mâché animal babies, yes.
Set things up right and the happy Piñatas will stick around and breed adorable babies. Papier-mâché animal babies, yes.
Bland? No. After about an hour, it's goodbye tranquil seed-watering game, hello frantic micro-management strategy marathon. Soon you're wheeling around protecting precious plants, pulling apart fighting Piñatas, seeing off poachers and responding to around 883 other pop-up problems at once. This is deep, challenging stuff.
Cute? Hardly. Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise has a seductive dark side. You'll be breeding and selling off Whirlms like the hand-rubbingly greedy owner of a battery chicken farm, sacrificing little Mousemallows to the jaws of bigger beasts, and bashing your more useless Piñatas to death with a shovel.
Animal attraction
So this isn't simply a game for ten-year-olds who like smiling donkeys. And, just like perennial playground favourite Pokémon, there's a real thrill as a rare animal trots onto your screen for the first time. Piñatas are usually black and white, but the way a 'captured' animal explodes into blazing colour will make your eyes sparkle.
Gradually, as you employ garden helpers and shed any guilt you had about bludgeoning surplus Piñatas to confetti, Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise’s challenge relaxes a little to make it an almost zen-like experience - an endless lazy Sunday afternoon of zoo-keeping and garden-tending.
It becomes an almost zen-like experience - an endless lazy Sunday afternoon of zoo-keeping and garden-tending.
There's an enormous amount to do, including sharing your garden via Xbox Live, and diving into the brilliant Piñata Vision - where you use the Xbox Live Vision Camera to scan in cards from developer Rare's website, or create and upload your own.
And it all looks just beautiful.
Papier trail
Still, Viva veterans might hear their deja vu bells jangling. And, yes, Viva Piñata 2 is basically Viva Piñata 1-and-a-bit. Aside from the new Piñatas and environments, and a welcome Just For Fun mode that relaxes the rules for bewildered young children, Trouble In Paradise just simplifies the controls and menus (and arguably not nearly enough). Dig beneath the surface and it's the same game all over again.
But, for newcomers, Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise is one of the most deeply rewarding games on Xbox 360. It's colourful, open-ended, funny and family-friendly - and, like similar micro-management games such as The Sims, it's likely to consume your every waking hour. Whether you're eight or 80, one glimpse of a papier-mâché penguin and you'll be hooked.
GAME's Verdict
- The perfect tonic for anyone with Brown Game Blindness.
- Much more challenging than its cuddly smiling animals suggest.
- The ability to stick a moustache and a top hat on a camel.
- Viva Piñata old-timers get new Piñatas, and not much else.
- Co-operative play quickly turns into a war over control of the camera.
- Menus are still over-complicated and slow to load.
Review by: Mark Scott
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 24.09.08