Although New Carnival Games might have improved graphics and sounds, the controls are poor throughout most mini-games.
Three years later, a sequel came out (New Carnival games).
Presentation - New Carnival Games follows up with its predecessor, Carnival Games that was released in 2007. Like, the original, you can create up to six characters as men, woman, boys, and girls. You can also give them a name. The original Carnival Games was accused of being racist simply because you couldn't create black people. This issue has been fixed in New Carnival Games and you can finally change the skin tones of your character.
Fortunately, most of the games are new on the Wii with a few exceptions like alley ball. Although some of the games are basically the same, they still made it even more unique than ever before. For example, you may have to score 100 points on one shot a few times (not in a row thank goodness). They even gave us goals to complete for each game. After you complete them, you earn a special prize. You can also trade in your smaller prizes for larger ones when you beat a game. You can also take photos with your character at a photo booth and the background.
Unlike Carnival Games, this game has about 30 games or more. Also, some of the most famous games were thrown in this game. For example, Under 7 Over 31 is very challenging, and it's one of the most popular games from actual Carnivals. You have to score either less than seven points or more than thirty one points. It can be tough because the single digits are all over the place. You have to roll the balls a few times to get in one of the numbers. Also, there's speed bingo. In this game, you have to try to get bingo's four times because you play with four different boards. It also speeds up as time goes on.
Each group of games was divided into specific categories. For example, the clown game (where you have to knock down their teeth) was classified as a nostalgic game. You can even compare your scores to other people around the world. Unfortunately, you still can't play online.
Graphics - The graphics were absolutely horrendous in the original Carnival games because everything was blurry and grainy. In New Carnival Games, the graphics have improved with the lighting, brightness, and overall sharpness/depth of field.
However, the actual character models don't fare much better because you still can't create your Mii avatar. The character you get to create doesn't really look like you, and their faces /expressions don't look proportioned to their bodies. There is a grown man who looks like Woody from Toy Story that you can create. At least they now have arms, unlike the original Carnival games.
The animation from the carnies still hasn't improved much because their lips don't move when they talk. They also use the same animations over and over again. At this day in age, you need to have your character move his/her lips when he/she talks.
Sound - The music has also improved from the original because they sound catchier in most of the games. However, the carnies still depict negative comments towards you even when you play well. For example, in the Pool Shark game, the carnie says "You don't look like a Pool Shark to me" and "Yeah, I didn't think you would make that shot". This is inexcusable for a video game because it would hurt the player's feelings.
Game play - There are a total of over 30 mini-games. I'm going over the control scheme and classify the good and badly controlled mini-games.
The Good - Arrow Shoot, Gold Rush Alley Ball, Super Gold Rush Alley Ball, Haunted House, Swish It (Basketball), Pitch-A-Plate, Target Shoot, Under 7 Over 31, and Bottle Stand Up
The Bad - Pool Shark (hard to get puck in center)
Lucky Clover (medium throws go too far from table and I miss most shots)
Gone Fishin (hard to win and control)
Fish Bowl Bounce (ball doesn't go in fish bowl and flies too far away)
Horse Shoe Toss (horse shoe goes too far even with medium toss)
Speed Bingo (not fun to play and pace of the game goes too fast)
Start Your Engines (slow and unresponsive movement when moving left and right, dice occasionally flops out of hand)
Clown Face (still and slow movement with controlling your canyon)
Balloon Blast (movement occasionally too slow)
Bank-A-Ball (my arm movement doesn't always accurately line up even with stronger force)
Tractor Pull (occasionally strong arm movement doesn't move tractor very far)
Bumper Cars (difficult to maneuver around when I get stuck between other cars)
Super Clown Face (confusing to play)
Tic-Tac-Toe (controls work, but boring to play)
Lasting Appeal - While the visuals and music has improved, more than half of the mini-games are poorly controlled. Although the four player mode brings in the excitement, the lack of online play hurts replay value slightly.
The good - improved graphics and music
The bad - more than half of the mini-games are poorly controlled and/or not much fun to play, carnines depict negative attitudes towards you, stiff animation, ugly character design, still can't use your Mii, no online mode
Presentation - 9
Graphics- 5
Sound - 4
Game play - 4
Lasting Appeal - 5
Overall 5.4 out of 10 GameSpot Score 5.5 out of 10