Old Review- Viva Piñata

Viva Piñata in all of its glory

Release date: November 2006

Platforms: Nintendo DS, PC, Xbox 360

With the task of writing the first review for this blog let me welcome you all to CyberLine Empire! With the beginning of what is hoped to be a fun venture for us all I thought it would be logical to go back to another beginning of yours truly. Folks, I want to bring you back to early 2007 where younger me had just had his original Xbox stolen from his home. To make up for this my family bought me a flashy new Xbox 360 and a single game. That game was Viva Piñata.

With all my strength going into keeping the rose-tinted glasses in their case for a less biased review I have to force myself hard to fairly analyse and critique this game and with my recent replaying of the game I find that exceedingly hard to do, but here goes. From the moment the disc boots up you are assaulted with charming visuals and audio. Not new to Rare and their classic games (And still a little burnt from some of their more recent Xbox games) I am glad to say this game very much upholds the same level of quality of what is expected from a Rare game. The bright, colourful visuals mixed with the amazing music composed by the talent-spewing Grant Kirkhope (Known for the music in such games as Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64) create a wonderful feeling that is hidden within everyone. The childish sense of wonder that is felt at the marvellous world shown in front of you is brilliant. I can still remember my mom wearing the same smile the first time she watched the introduction to the game.

Once you pass through the main menu (I know, we haven't even made it into the game yet!) you get an introduction scene of you walking towards a dilapidated garden plot. A lady in the garden gives you directions on how to fix the place up and away you go! The main mechanic of the game is planting and caring for flowers and trees as well as other farming and gardening chores with the main goal of attracting various piñata animals and trying to get them to settle down in your garden. Sounds simple right? Wrong. Each piñata requires different things to settle in. The game revolves around you constantly trying to balance the contents of your garden to attract as many candy-filled creatures as possible.

One thing I noticed straight off the bat when I booted up the game was the extent to which the game can chug in certain moments, especially when saving. Whilst, not game breaking, it is a minor inconvenience at times, but I found that a lot of the frame drop is due to saving or menu navigation. One thing you realize quickly is that the controls are simple and easy to master, this really speeds up a lot of the mundane tasks throughout the game and lets you focus on the best parts. As I played my way through the game I realised more and more that nostalgia was not the main source of my entertainment. The amazing music and eye-catching graphics and scenery, the way the piñatas move and sound and the way that the world feels alive all amalgamate into an enjoyable experience for any ages. I am glad I was given a reason to relive this game from the start and if you haven't, give it a go!

Pros

• Graphics are breath taking
• Music is superb
• Gameplay is easy to grasp yet quite complex

Cons

• The frames-per-second can take a hit during some menus and saving screens
• You often feel as if you have no end goal that you are working towards
• The game loses steam quickly if you are a new player

Final Verdict:

Viva Piñata is a testament to Rare's video game making prowess and should not be ignored. If you haven't played it yet I suggest giving it a go, you may even get hooked!