Viva Pinata informs Rare fans that the company still knows how to make amazing titles...
Gameplay: 8/10
This game is very fun to play, but not at first. the title has a slight learning curve to it since the gameplay mechanics are not very clear. Parents are recommended to be playing the game with their children at first, so that they can help them get a feel for the title, before allowing them to have a go at it on their own. However, Hardcore gamers will take the same amount of time, but be able to grasp the concept fairly quickly and get the ball rolling for the game. Once you get going, the game becomes an addictive roller coaster of breeding pinatas, growing plants, and fighting off the evil sours from destroying your garden. This title makes it very easy to suck up multiple hours of gameplay, but it does lose its appeal pretty quickly compared to other addictive games. This might come from a somewhat lack of things to pass the time with, and many moments in the game where you beg for pinatas to come into your garden, but have no idea how to get them in. This comes into play because of the awkward and clunky menu system the game adapts. The menus are littered with stuff that could have been combined in one thing, this littering makes the loading process of the menus very slow, making you wait for 5-10 seconds to load almost every menu. This makes finding information a 3 min fiasco, when it should be just a 30 second event tops. However, all of these come into play after the addiction, with many casual gamers not noticing these issues at all.
Graphics: 10/10
Undoubtedly, this is the "Gears of War" of cartoony graphics. This title is absolutely gorgeous for a child's game, and the pinatas look amazing close to the real thing. The entire world is lush with color and life, and the pinata like skin on everything, from the grass, to the houses, to the clothes the citizens of the island wear, its all amazing. Rare did a great job in this dept. and should pat their design team on the back for this one...
Sound: 8/10
The sound of Viva Pinata is relatively great, but doesn't boast greatness. The tunes that play during the game are very lovable and sometimes memorable, especially that intro video for the show and game. However, the tunes in the game seem to randomly play, and they always seem to repeat themselves, making the game soundtrack seemed rushed. The sound effects of the game are very well done, but, once again, they are nothing special. The sounds are what you expect, since the pinatas don't speak, and make noises like Pokemon do. The noises are almost identical, I'm surprised that we didn't have actual pinata battle arenas in the game...
Value: 10/10
The value of this title is indescribable since it really is worth it for those who are interested in this type of game. The title has a good amount of game time in it, ranging about 30 hours. The achievements of the game require you to play about 50 hours, which is possible, if you take your time and get the achievements slowly since all of them can be gathered rather quickly if you read the requirements and know the ins and outs of the title relatively quickly. Still, gamers will surely have a blast out of this one. However, I will state that this is NOT for everyone. I have met many gamers who have hated everything about this game, so don't take my word for it that this game is completely wonderful. This is only a matter of opinion anyways...
Tilt: 9/10
I really loved this game, and many other have as well. The game is very solid for what it is, and the story, while it exists, is meaningless since you never really care about how the pinatas were created until your done with the title anyways. The title was an awakening for me on many levels, one being that Rare still has it, despite what gamers have been saying about the company.
Overall: 8.9/10.0
Great game, I recommend it to those interested. However, for those not, rent it first, or give the demo on XBL a whirl first.