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Shrek Super Party
by Jolex Del Pilar
Monday, December 2 2002
It looks like the Xbox will get its own party game courtesy of the Shrek license. How does it compare to Nintendo's Mario Party? Find out in our full review.
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Title:
Shrek Super Party
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Platform:
Xbox
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Publisher:
TDK Mediactive |
Developer:
Mass Media |
#
of Players: 1 - 4 |
Genre:
Party/Puzzle
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Origin:
United States
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Expected
Release:
December 2002 |
Grapevine:
While Mario Party featured characters like Mario, Luigi, and Wario, Shrek Super Party will feature characters like Donkey, Lord Farquaad, Princess Fiona, and of course, Shrek himself. The cast is perfect for the game and its purposes. |
Today is a golden era in gaming. Of course a few of the older gamers will always point to their respective eras, whether it be the reign of the 16-bit machines, or even before, but they are all sadly mistaken.
In no other point in gaming history have we had such a diverse amount of genres and games to choose from. Not to mention that there are three console systems on the market, two of which feature online gameplay, something once exclusive to PC users. One of the recent genres that has managed to gain popularity is the advent of the party game. Starting with Mario Party for the N64, the genre has managed not only to entertain "groups" of gamers for the past few years, but also to bring together gamers and friends alike in gaming harmony and brotherhood. The party game is truly a genre that has closed bridges of social ineptitude, and brought together gamers of different leafs. Whether you are a hardcore action fan, an RPG fanatic, or even a puzzle wizard, the party game will entertain you to no end.
The newest entrant into this ever expanding genre is Shrek Super Party for the Xbox console (a Gamecube version should be out by next year). This game features the popular Shrek license (fairly obvious), and its charming cast of characters. While Mario Party featured characters like Mario, Luigi, and Wario, Shrek Super Party will feature characters like Donkey, Lord Farquaad, Princess Fiona, and of course, Shrek himself. The cast is perfect for the game and its purposes.
The main point of the game is to collect bug juice (it was Stars in Mario Party). Once you collect a predetermined goal of juice, you win. This can be accomplished in two ways. One of which is defeating others in mini-games, which allows you to trade for bugs that will give you the most juice, or by reaching the end of a mini-board (more on this later).
Super Party shares a lot with Mario Party from Nintendo. Obviously with Mario Party being the originator of the genre, obviously there is going to be some overlap in certain game rules. Super Party features a game board, dice roll, and an item you have to collect in order to beat the other challengers, in this case, "bug juice". The game board in Super Party is different than Mario Party in that it isn't one huge integrated board that interconnects from beginning to end. Instead, Super Party's board consist of a central starting hub in which players can choose to go to different mini-boards to collect bug juice. Mini-boards often are only 30 moves long and look like different places from the movie. For instance there is Lord Farquaad's castle, and the forest where Shrek meets Monsieur Hood. Once you get to the end of these mini-boards you collect the bug juice prize for that mini-board, which increases over time until someone collects it.
The other way to get bug juice is a little more complex. The game features a bug trading system. Certain bugs are worth more than other bugs. For instance, the blue bug is the most valuable while the little green bugs are not worth so much in terms of bug juice. Combinations of bugs make for even more bug juice. A combination of five blue bugs will bring you a bounty of bug juice. The weight of each bug is explained in the game before you start. Where this system comes into play is after the many mini-games that you and three other players will battle through. The fourth place player will not be able to trade for any bugs and will just have what the computer has given them. The third place player can trade for two bugs from the fourth place player. The second place player can trade for two bugs from the third and fourth place player, and finally the first place player can trade three bugs from any of the remaining three. At the end of the training, all bugs that you have of at least in a combination of two are traded in for bug juice. It is in your best interest to trade for bugs that will increase your tally during this "cashing in". However that may mean ruining a player's combinations who placed below you. Too bad for them.
Crushing knights is one of the more entertaining mini-games in Super Party.
The mini-games are the heart of Super Party, for without them, this game would just be a boring version of Monopoly, without the plastic houses. The games featured in Super Party are pretty well conceived and entertaining. The basic premise of these games has you and three other players duking it out in some way with the winner being determined by a points system. Sometimes there are duels between two players, at the end of these duels, only these two players can trade between each other in bugs with the winner having his choice of two. Some of the notable games include the Barrel Roll, in which all players are placed atop a barrel and have to run over knights in a wrestling ring. The more knights you run over, the more points you get. This was based of a scene in the movie where Donkey smashes a few knights while rolling a barrel around. Other games include catching rats and throwing them back into a central sewer hole, and even catching bees.
Shrek Super Party is a strong game but lacks a few things that would've made it a lot stronger as a total package. First off, there isn't any voice from the movie. I understand that hiring stars such as Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz for voice acting on a game would make the cost for this game prohibitive, however maybe a few sound bites from the movie instead would've sufficed. Without the voice, a lot of the essence of some of the characters is sadly lost, which detracts from the overall mood of the game. The soundtrack for the game is wonderful, perhaps better than any party game that has been made yet, however the lack of voice is just troubling. Another thing that makes Super Party less super is the overall board system. It's a little too simplified. It basically comes down to who can roll the hire dice and get to the end of the mini-board to get the bug juice bounty. The dice roll system is not completely random and the player has control over when the dice is dropped. The bad part is, after some practice, most gamers can get the dice to roll into the exact number they want. Mario Party's random dice rolls were a little cleaner and hassle free, although some are bound to prefer Super Party's dice roll system. Finally, although this is not a big complaint, it seems when there are at least two A.I players on the board (meaning a two human game), the two A.I players are exceedingly kind to each other meaning that if the two human players don't collude in some way against the A.I players, then the humans are doomed to third and fourth place. I guess it makes sense, but then it becomes a 2 on 2 game rather than a 4 player free for all.
Shrek Super Party is a solid game with an entertaining premise. In the end, it is flawed but what game isn't to a certain degree? Even with it's flaws, Super Party is entertaining and will probably sell a lot due to its license and lack of competition (not many party games on the Xbox). Let's hope that this game gets a sequel and addresses some of the negatives that it has, and perhaps it can be one a serious contender for the #1 spot in party games. As it is, it's still worthy of most gamer’s Friday nights (*resisting urge to make jokes about a typical gamer's Friday night*).
--- Jolex Del Pilar "Friday Night Gamer"
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