Sometimes, Simple Is Best: Party Planet Review

Players: 1-4
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch

If there’s one thing that the Wii has taught us, it’s that popularity means shovelware. When I first looked at Party Planet for the Nintendo Switch that’s exactly what I thought would be the case here. Much to my surprise, that didn’t end up being the case.

Simple and functional.

There’s no denying that Party Planet has its share of flaws, but it delivers a varied experience that is bound to have something for everyone. The game is exactly what it sounds like: a party game. It’s a collection of 30 mini-games akin to Mario Party (without the board game aspect). Each game offers a vastly different experience, making the game feel extremely varied as a result. There’s games like a take on the classic snake game, a matching game, an Ice Climber-esque game, a reactive button mashing game, a puzzle that involves keeping a bug caged and more. None of the games feel particularly innovative, but recreating these concepts with this new coat of paint within a single package is certainly pleasing.

Pretty much Zuma.

Perhaps my favorite part of all this is that all of the games can be played alone. Each game has a bronze, silver or gold medal you can get based on your score, something that will likely not be attainable when playing with others due to the chaotic nature that comes with playing with people. This is nice incentive for solo players to keep playing until they get all the gold medals. It’s not all perfect though. The problem is that some of the games have really wonky controls that hinder the experience and make getting gold medals challenging due to design flaws not skill. For example, in the snake game you control which way the snake turns from the perspective of the snake, which makes it really confusing sometimes figuring out which way the snake will turn when you press ‘left’ on the analog stick. This could have easily been solved by allowing the player to have full, free-form control over the snake’s movement from the perspective of the camera. Another example is with the matching game. That one is time limited, and I found that it was overly sensitive, so that sometimes my cursor would quickly jump over cards or it wouldn’t have a logical movement when navigating over empty space. These control issues aren’t in all the games, but the few that have it can get very frustrating to your progression when playing. There’s nothing more frustrating than knowing the only reason you didn’t get that new high score is because the controls were screwy.

That darned ladybug is crafty at escaping!

Speaking of progression and incentive, you also rank up as you play more. About half of the games are locked at start, requiring you to rank up to play them. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it’s really nice to have rewards for solo players to keep getting. On the other hand, if you’re getting it to play with others then it’s a little irritating that you don’t have access to all the games right off the bat. As a mostly solo player myself, I appreciated the unlockable aspect, but can completely understand if people might be frustrated with it. While this all sounds lovely, ultimately the game has little replayability. In one sitting I managed to get half of the unlockables and about a quarter of the gold medals. Beyond ranking up and getting gold medals, there isn’t really anything to do in Party Planet. There’s no replay value beyond ‘hey let’s have a little fun with my buddies.’ That isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it would have been nice to have more features beyond just being able to play each individual mini-game.

Keep jumping. Avoid snowballs. Don't fall. Simple enough.

It’s important to note that 12 of the 30 games are single-player. This reminds me a lot of the original Rayman Raving Rabbids (a game I adored), where only about half of the game was actually multiplayer. It seems like an odd choice, but most of the games are fun and challenging in their own way so I really appreciate that not only are all of the games playable alone, but there are some that are designed specifically for the solo player. I feel like there’s a decent balance there.

Nothing like getting a gold AND ranking up.

The overall design of the game is really clean and pleasing though. Everything looks like a very high resolution set of flash games. That may sound atrocious, but it helps make everything look smooth and presentable. I love that there’s very little clutter and that everything looks so crisp. The artistic style doesn’t look particularly unique, but everything looks good nonetheless. The music is in a similar boat, where it sounds a little generic but also is somewhat catchy. Overall the game doesn’t feel like it’s breaking any new grounds aesthetically, but it’s very presentable nonetheless.

Snake. As it's always been.

So far everything I’ve said puts the game in a mostly positive light, but there is one thing that really hurts the game from my perspective: price. The game costs $39.99, which I don’t feel is worth it considering the relatively low replayability and the lack of features as a whole. Despite going into it expecting a mess, I was pleasantly surprised with the overall experience. The free sticker sheet that comes with the game was a nice touch too. It’s not the best party game out there, but it’s fun in short bursts and offers enough variety to be a worthy purchase, assuming you can get it for a little less than the current asking price. Party Planet is out now and is available both digitally and physically, so if you decide to go for it then get whatever form you prefer.

- Teepu

Planet Party Official Website: http://partyplanetgame.com/

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Gameplay: B
Graphics: B
Sound: C
Value: D

OVERALL: C+

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Disclaimer: This game was provided to us by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

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