You don't need to engage in a tournament every time you wish to play Viva Piñata: Party Animals. Custom play is also an option, where you choose to play the games you like as many times as you want, as long as they're unlocked. Unlocking them is fairly easy: just play one long tournament and you will have unlocked most of the challenges and many achievement points. I don't think I ever saw a game grant so many Xbox 360 achievements in so little time! You can also retrieve unlockables after playing a few times through; they're nothing too exciting though - just game art and things like that.

The game also offers online gameplay, which is not very common on kids titles. It's truly a welcome addition, since you cannot only play against your friends at home but also against those that are far away or other people around the world. The options are the same as always: you can play a quick game, search for ranked games that match you against people of similar skills, custom matches with your preferred game settings, etc.

Viva Piñata: Party Animals is a colorful and good looking game, and it's suitable for kids and parents alike. No one will get too tired of playing the game, unless the kid turns it into a daily chore! The piñata animals look great, and their smiles will make you melt. Their quirky attitudes are sometimes too much, but that's the style of the game itself; it's a humorous, modern title based on today's successful cartoons. The innocence was lost a little bit, but it's not too bad. Don't be surprised though when you hear those mischievous comments and noisy farts! The voiceover acting is good and gives the game that naughty cartoon feel we're getting used to seeing in Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Pecky Pudgeon and Pierre Parrybo are the hosts of the game, and sometimes their comments are hilarious. Later on, of course, you'll become tired of hearing them, especially Pierre the Parrot, with his "frenchy" accent and random "un, deux, trois!"

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The game also offers online gameplay, which is not very common on kids titles. It's truly a welcome addition, since you cannot only play against your friends at home but also against those that are far away or other people around the world. The options are the same as always: you can play a quick game, search for ranked games that match you against people of similar skills, custom matches with your preferred game settings, etc.

Viva Piñata: Party Animals is a colorful and good looking game, and it's suitable for kids and parents alike. No one will get too tired of playing the game, unless the kid turns it into a daily chore! The piñata animals look great, and their smiles will make you melt. Their quirky attitudes are sometimes too much, but that's the style of the game itself; it's a humorous, modern title based on today's successful cartoons. The innocence was lost a little bit, but it's not too bad. Don't be surprised though when you hear those mischievous comments and noisy farts! The voiceover acting is good and gives the game that naughty cartoon feel we're getting used to seeing in Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Pecky Pudgeon and Pierre Parrybo are the hosts of the game, and sometimes their comments are hilarious. Later on, of course, you'll become tired of hearing them, especially Pierre the Parrot, with his "frenchy" accent and random "un, deux, trois!"

By Maria Montoro
CCC Site Director

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