Imagine: Party Babyz! Review
How many of you, dear readers, remember the innocent days of our youth when the world lay wide open before us as we imagined any and all of the career paths that our lives could take? Ubisoft remembers, and has offered us a way to return to that time with their Imagine! series of DS and Wii games. Through their previous releases we have sated our curiosity of what it would have been like had our lives taken a slightly different course with their eerily accurate simulations of real lawyers, doctors, nurses, figure skaters, cooking mamas, championship (and here I am assuming horse) riders, fashion models, dictators, rock stars, teachers, mormons, veterinarians, dog and/or cat owners... the list really goes on and on!
Their latest release is a breath of fresh air in what can only be described as a Capcomian saturation of the Imagine! market. Instead of being grounded in reality like the previous titles, Imagine: Party Babyz! challenges us to instead imagine a dystopian future in which mankind is ruled by the Party Babyz: ruthless and often inebriated extreme babies whose wanton lust for party and adorable appearance has drained the earth of its party resources and left party civilization in shambles. A radical departure indeed for the series, but one which I think will surely pay off in the valued critical acclaim that has always eluded the Imagine! games. I don't want to spoil too much of the story here, but I'll offer a brief walkthrough of the first act.
Following a delightfully ominous opening title sequence scored perfectly by the unsettling laughter of partying children, the player is then greeted by the character creation screen. Though the options may appear limited as to your character type (underaged, unwed mother), all of the least responsible minority races' odd facial features are fully represented. Players can even create and share their favorite tramp stamps and fingernail patterns through Nintendo's WiFi network. Once you have crafted the best (or worst!) mother around, the game takes you through its opening party scenes.
The first Party Baby is discovered in a party at a mysterious shop hidden deep in the alleyways of New York's Chinese district and is promptly stolen and brought home. To keep both the Baby Party Health and Mama Party Health meters filled, the player must juggle between different party-like minigames including Feeding Time, Diaper Change, Happy Hour, Find a Sitter and Dating Blacks. Here Ubisoft masterfully funnels players through to the second act of the story by raising the party difficulty until the player inevitably throttles the Party Baby to make it stop crying and partying all the damn time, finally tossing it onto the nearby dining room table where errant Vodka spills onto its back, leading to the accidental spawning of an evil, partying army of Party Babyz.
From the first few parties where weed and kegs are noticeably more difficult to come by than usual to the Resistance's bathtub-hooch-fueled underground parties and the final party/confrontation with Stripe, the partiest of all the Party Babyz, the party-emulating Wii controls and party-filled story will put you in the party like never before.
I party this game 10 partyz/10 babyz.
Party party party.
Their latest release is a breath of fresh air in what can only be described as a Capcomian saturation of the Imagine! market. Instead of being grounded in reality like the previous titles, Imagine: Party Babyz! challenges us to instead imagine a dystopian future in which mankind is ruled by the Party Babyz: ruthless and often inebriated extreme babies whose wanton lust for party and adorable appearance has drained the earth of its party resources and left party civilization in shambles. A radical departure indeed for the series, but one which I think will surely pay off in the valued critical acclaim that has always eluded the Imagine! games. I don't want to spoil too much of the story here, but I'll offer a brief walkthrough of the first act.
Following a delightfully ominous opening title sequence scored perfectly by the unsettling laughter of partying children, the player is then greeted by the character creation screen. Though the options may appear limited as to your character type (underaged, unwed mother), all of the least responsible minority races' odd facial features are fully represented. Players can even create and share their favorite tramp stamps and fingernail patterns through Nintendo's WiFi network. Once you have crafted the best (or worst!) mother around, the game takes you through its opening party scenes.
The first Party Baby is discovered in a party at a mysterious shop hidden deep in the alleyways of New York's Chinese district and is promptly stolen and brought home. To keep both the Baby Party Health and Mama Party Health meters filled, the player must juggle between different party-like minigames including Feeding Time, Diaper Change, Happy Hour, Find a Sitter and Dating Blacks. Here Ubisoft masterfully funnels players through to the second act of the story by raising the party difficulty until the player inevitably throttles the Party Baby to make it stop crying and partying all the damn time, finally tossing it onto the nearby dining room table where errant Vodka spills onto its back, leading to the accidental spawning of an evil, partying army of Party Babyz.
From the first few parties where weed and kegs are noticeably more difficult to come by than usual to the Resistance's bathtub-hooch-fueled underground parties and the final party/confrontation with Stripe, the partiest of all the Party Babyz, the party-emulating Wii controls and party-filled story will put you in the party like never before.
I party this game 10 partyz/10 babyz.
Party party party.