Start The Party! Save The World is the brand new party title from Supermassive Games and Sony that aims to bring 4 player motion control fun to the PlayStation 3. Offering players twenty entertaining mini games for players to enjoy the game looks to expand on the originals success and be another party hit. However, will Start The Party! Save The World the party sensation it has set out to be or which it be a party to avoid?
Let’s find out and kick off the HOTs and NOTs.
HOTs
Simple Colourful Presentation
Start The Party! Save The World uses the same simple yet pleasant graphical presentation as the original. While the graphics are amazing they all stick to the same cartoony colourful style which lends itself to the fun side of the game. The mini games certainly don’t aim to be realistic or life like and neither do the visuals. The game uses sounds terrifically well to let players know when points are scored or to add tension and adrenalin into the mix as the countdown reaches the final few seconds. Both parts of the presentation seem to go hand in hand with each other to convey the simple and fun nature of the game.
Controls
The game uses the PlayStation Move to track the player’s movements and convert them into movements in game. The motion controller is a great choice for the controls and inputs for a party title as it allows for them to be intuitive leaving no player thinking they have a disadvantage due to not playing as many games. If you can do the movement in real life you will be fine in Start the party save the world.
People will argue this is just down to the fact the PlayStation Move is a motion controller which tracks players’ movements but some party titles still fail at this basic concept of real world actions creating intuitive controls. Players of all ages and gaming experience will be able to enjoy Start the party save the world, as it succeeds in making the controls simple yet effective.
Fun Factor
Start The Party! Save The World has what every game let alone every party game needs, a fun factor. The game uses a great mix of entertaining mini games and a competitive edge to make the game interesting to all players. The difficulty also stops the game from becoming boring; as it is ramped up the longer the player survives or plays the specific mini game.
For example take the teddy bear train takeover level. At the beginning of the level players only have to hit the bears of individually as they come one at a time but before long there are a couple, then a few and at the end nearly ten holding on at the same time for players to hit off. This rise in difficulty allows all players to enjoy playing the game as nothing is always too easy or too hard. The fun factor doesn’t just come from the difficulty which presents a fun challenge the competitive edge as well as the exciting mini games themselves also add together to make the title extremely fun to play.
Simple Explanations
Players are introduced to each of the mini games individually via the solo play mode. This introduction gives players a brief but thorough explanation of the mini game’s objectives and also instructs players on what the controls are. This short explanation is incredibly helpful for new players. While the games are all relatively straight forwards there was occasionally a player who was confused at what to do and this introduction acted as a perfect tutorial.
Unique Games
Start The Party! Save The World is similar to many other party games, including its predecessor, in the way it offers an intriguing mix of original mini games. Every single one of the twenty mini-games has their own unique elements and themes to them, despite remaining in the same pleasurable graphical style. Despite the fact that players might not like the idea of fixing broken robots or saving divers from an octopus and some jellyfish, they will find the games fun and commonly a little unusual. However where is the fun in normality?
Each game provides something different from the last and while some may use the same theme the mini game activities are all distinctive. None of the mini games in Start The Party! Save The World feel like a simple copy and paste, fortunately unlike other party titles.
NOTs
Nothing Ground Breaking
Don’t get me wrong Start The Party! Save The World offers plenty of enjoyable content in the form of the mini games but it is practically the original but with different mini games. Nothing is wrong with this as the mini games are new and completely different but the game doesn’t bring anything else new and exciting to the table. Using the same winning formula does seem to be playing it safe and it has worked in creating a great game; conversely it doesn’t feel like an upgrade of the original, more like an extension.
Leaderboard Challenge
While playing with multiple people in the group party mode the leaderboards aren’t in play so it is only via solo play that gamers can tackle the games leaderboards. By no means was I brilliant at some of the mini games but within only a couple of hours I was situated at the top of all of the leaderboards. For some of the mini games I even made it onto the top of the leaderboards the first time I ever played them. What may have provided more of a challenge, thus excitement, to the solo experience is two separate leaderboards. One could have recorded the console high scores, at the same time as another offering either pre-determined scores, or scores set by players from around the world, to beat.
Verdict
Start The Party! Save The World is an entertaining game which offers twenty fun mini games over several modes for gamers to enjoy. The experience is left frustration free with simple yet satisfying objectives and intuitive controls, which enables a wide audience to get pleasure from the game. The game does seem to have used the same formula as the original but the fact all the games are new means it is not just a re-skin and well worth purchasing. For a fun party title with unique and somewhat peculiar mini games look no further than Start the party save the world.
[NOTE: Start The Party! Save The World was reviewed on the PlayStation 3 hardware. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
