Carnival Games

Another mini-game collection on the Wii. This time, the theme is fun-fair/arcade games and around 25 are included. The games make use of the Wii Remote, mainly using under-arm, over arm, and sideways throwing styles, or point and aim mechanics.

Each game has 3 prizes levels that you can win; small, medium, and large toys which are attained depending on your score. The prizes can be traded upwards, so 4 small toys for 1 medium toy, 3 medium for 1 large, and 2 large for the special prize. What this means is, if you aren't particularly good at a certain game, you can still collect all the prizes; it just means you have to play the game more times. Obtaining the special prize can unlock a variation of one of the games which can then be played to unlock clothing items.

As you play, you will obtain tickets which can be used against the purchase of clothing items, or be used in some of the more pointless machines like the Love Machine or Fortune Teller.

The avatar you create is quite limited but there are plenty of wacky items you can wear to make a silly character.

Most of the games are surprisingly fun, and you will end up replaying them many times. Examples of some of the games you play are 'Alley Ball' (rolling a ball up a ramp and into holes), 'Test Your Strength' (wiggling the remote to build up power, then time the button press), 'Spilled Milk' (throwing a ball to knock bottles down), 'Hoops' (basketball), 'Day at the Races' (similar to Alley Ball, but it's a horse race against other players), 'Ring Toss' (throwing rings onto bottles).

The majority of the games are at the right difficulty to pose a challenge, but some of them are pretty tough. A particular challenge is 'Clown Splash' where you have to waggle the remote to build up water, then aim it into the clowns mouth to fill up a balloon. This is a race against 3 other CPU controlled opponents with two of them being too fast and too accurate for my liking.

The graphics are decent enough for a game of this type, but it doesn't seem to support wide-screen. There's definitely enough quality and challenge to at least last a few days so is great for a rental. After several days, it probably won't have much lasting appeal, but is worth it if you can pick it up at a bargain price.