Carnival: Funfair Games
Roll up, roll up! Imagine experiencing all the excitement of a day at the carnival with fun and games at your disposal, without forking out money or having to deal with those annoying crowds. Welcome to Carnival Fun Fair Games. You will literally have all the fun of the fair – where you can play fun multi-player games and collect prizes, just like at a real carnival.
Aimed at children between 3 and 13, it doesn’t stop adults having fun either but with its simplistic approach, it may not appeal to the traditional gaming fan. But at its heart lies fun and entertainment, the two elements you can only hope for when you buy a game.
You can’t complain at the depiction of each of the 20 odd mini-games, and there’s a generous smattering of variation when it comes to using the Wiimote. Instructions for each game are clear and easy to understand with the added fun factor of creating your own on-screen persona and dressing them up in as silly a fashion as deemed appropriate. You may find that the amount of facial features and hairstyles is rather limited but is more than compensated for with the clothing and accessories, most of which will need to be unlocked as prizes for success in the various games on offer.
In true carnival style there’s the ring toss, shooting gallery and lucky cups. Or how about trying your luck with basketball in the hoop? Let’s not forget that no amusements are complete without a day at the races, either. And this is all just for starters. You’ll be awarded with a varying amount of tickets for your efforts, but you can ‘fair’ better and win up to ten tickets and a large prize. There’s plenty of fun to be had here. Highlights include Skeeball and Clown Splash, the latter which can only best be described as shooting gallery with a twist as you jab your remote up and down in order to acquire enough pressure to shoot water into the clown's mouth. Throw a couple of friends into the mix and prepare yourself for a highly entertaining evening of multiplayer action.
In total there are over 25 interpretations of real-life carnival competitions to suit everybody. With accurate handling of the Wiimote, you will however require some arm stamina on certain games. Your strength, for example, is called upon to rotate your arm to build up the power to hit the bell with a hammer during ‘Test Your Strength’. Others, such as ‘Shooting Gallery’ calls on perfect precision in aiming – although be careful not too overcook it by being too precise as your aim range is substantially large. ‘Tossing the Rings’ requires some nifty manoeuvring with the Wiimote as though the ring is being held in your hand. Others such as ‘Basketball’ require overhead throws, while ‘Lucky Cups’ requires skill with underarm throwing. Each mini-game is controlled exclusively with the Wii remote which brings differing degrees of success and in the main, the controls work well, but there are certain games such as ‘Hole In One’ and tricky ‘Nerves O Steel’ (which has you moving a metal ring over an electrified wire, while trying to avoid the ‘novelty’ of getting shocked), where using the Wiimote may feel limited and cap your sense of enjoyment – but only slightly.
If you’re feeling courageous and full of confidence, there is the opportunity to enter the fair on your tod where you can try to trade prizes and increase your ticket tally by yourself or you can play against as many as four players on a tête-à-tête challenge, (best out of five), or even a full-on contest. Tickets that you collect can be used to buy items on your personalised page so you can add to your Mii ‘wardrobe’. There are also games as well as items you can unlock – one way of which is to shoot a lone bullet on a hanging picture. It's undeniably a great family game that any children aged five and over would enjoy. With both single and multiplayer action available from the off, this is the perfect family experience. Perhaps not made with serious gamers in mind who desire a challenge, but it’s without doubt the addictive game that you find yourself playing into the wee small hours of the morning. Black coffee, anyone?
Although it’s probably not the most visually impressive game you’ll play all year, it’s all fairly functional stuff and it comfortably does what it says on the tin.
Overall, Carnival Funfair Games does exactly what you'd expect of a game with that title. It's a well-presented menagerie of games, executed with varying success.
