FA+
Shop
"The Jet Gamer" Game Review: Carnival Games
10 years ago
(Another cheapo DS game incoming. Hey, collection growing is fun =P)
Carnival Games
Carnival Games? Honestly, never thought I would pick up something like this, but hey, for a dollar, it was worth a shot for my DS. It sounds like another super casual games, but we always have to try every game out to see if it is worth it for you all or not. Well then, let us see if Carnival Games is worth picking up or even trying out at all?
Gameplay
Carnival Games is pretty much a game of mini games. You create your own character, from a sort of limited set of character creation choices and then you are thrown into a carnival like setting and let loose to roam from booth to booth playing literally, games you would find at carnivals. That is pretty much the point of the game. The carnival games are mostly traditional games you would find in carnivals, just in a mini game like format. Some of the games would be for example: throwing a ball into a basket and making it stay, dunk tanks, hitting with a hammer to ring the bell, and so on and so on. For those that want that carnival feel of games when you are at home, these games will provide just that, just with slight twists in most cases to make them playable for the DS. However, really, that is also where the problem likes as well in some ways. These are just little carnival mini games. There is no real objective over all that needs to be completed. You are just playing mini games. The only objective really, if you choose it to be one, is to earn tickets from the games to buy clothes for your character. Also, doing well in the games unlocks items as well for your character. That really is the main incentive to even play the games is either to just enjoy the games or to win items for your character. I can't really say too much about the gameplay because really, it is what it is. You are playing mini games. The game does what it sets out to do, but it doesn't really impress in any ways. However, most of the games aren't bad either. There were a few that are definitely troublesome, but those are usually due to the controls, not the enjoyability of the game itself, more on the controls soon. So really overall, the game is just sort of average here. The game delivers what it says it is going to deliver, but if you were expecting anything other than just standard carnival mini games, then you will disappointed in this game for sure.
Story
Are you kidding me? Did you really expect a story here? Pass.
Graphics
The graphics in this game, I think are trying to sort of have an animal crossing like design, but without the animal crossing polish that is usually put into their characters. Your main character and all characters you run into as you are roaming the carnival have the blocky and sort of short cartoony looking feel to them that look like they just jumped out of an animal crossing game. However, when you get a closer look at these characters, you notice that the figures really do lack the finish the other game has. Your character looks very pointy, stiff, and just cheaply done. It isn't so bad that you want to vomit, but once again, you aren't going to be really impressed here at all. It just seems that was the common theme in this game is that things were just done to get the minimum out there, without much extra thrown into it. Like the main announcer guy you see on the title screen and some in the game. He really doesn't look like he even fits the style all the time. They were quite inconsistent with what things look like character wise. The games themselves don't look that bad though, as the games are so simple, that they do look like what they are supposed to represent. You won't be trying to figure out what the games points are or what things are in the game. So at least the company put enough into the game to focus the graphics to look good in the main part of the game, that being the mini games. You won't have troubles here at all. All of the problems are left into sort of blocky and blurry character design. Better get used to it if you plan to play this game a lot.
Sound
The sound in this game does the job of sounding like carnival music and the sound effects as you play the games, the ones that actually have a few more sounds, do seem to do their job once again. But that's just it, it does its job. There is nothing memorable at all. This wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the announcer. He is very annoying with the voice he uses. I know he is trying to use one of those stereotypical carnival announcer voice, but really, while it is sort of neat that they went there for this game, it really gets annoying when he talks so much and has to explain everything in the game using that same voice. You something either just want to skip his explanations just so you can get to the games and not have to hear him explain every single little thing in that overly happy announcer voice. And believe me, he is going to explain each and every little thing in this game. You are going to hear him way more than the music in my opinions. I barely even remember the games music, which shows you how little or unmemorable it was. All I remember about what you hear from this game is this guys voice and goodness is it annoying.
Control
Most of the mini games in this game work just fine with the controls and the stylus. I was hoping that would carry over with most of the games here, but actually, I'd say a little more than half of them control very well. Some of them are voice activated, so if you have a DS or newer one that doesn't have the microphone or one that doesn't work, then these games are unplayable. Some of the games can use the A button and d-pad, which I think are some of the better made games. Then there are ones that use the stylus. Some of these games work okay, but then others are just a jerky mess. You wonder how some of these games even got by testing with how jerky they are. Some of my main examples are the darts game, and the dunking booth. The dunking booth has you tracing a line very fast, and it doesn't seem like your stylus is following the line that easy, even if you trace it almost exactly. This game is so unpredictable it isn't even funny. The darts game is the worst though as you are supposed to flick the darts at the balloons on the other screen, but most of the time, they don't even flick at all. It is very frustrating and even when you do get the darts to flick, they hit so super high on the other side they will never hit a thing at all. How in the world could you mess something like that up so bad? I just can't explain it really in some of these games. While some are very good, like the ones that involve racing and driving, most of the flicking games and precision stylus games however are going to make you very mad. Be prepared for it.
Replay Value
Due to several of the issues I mentioned before, really unless you enjoy mini games a lot, I don't see you wanting to come back to this game that often. If you ever just want something quick then this will be a game you can pull out, get a good hour or less of gameplay and get a good taste of most of the games here for you to enjoy. This is definitely a game that is more a pick it up every now and then, when you don't have much else to do kind of game. Really, the only thing to keep you playing in this game for any extended period of time is trying to get first place in all the games and also trying to earn enough tickets to buy all the extra costumes and accessories for your character. That's all there really is to unlock in the game anyway, so once you have done that, you are done, unless you just want to play the mini games some more. If you have no interest in dressing up your character though, you won't have much reason to keep playing this game. I can't say it is horrible, because I can see someone that wants a quick dash of gaming every now and then enjoying this fact. Those that want a little more though, are going to play this once or twice and be done with it for quite awhile. I wasn't super impressed, and likely won't be coming back for a long while.
Overall, Carnival Games is exactly what it sounds like it is going to be. It is a casual play on occasion mini game fest. If you are looking for a simple game that is just short little games that you have seen at carnivals before, then you are likely going to like this game and it is worth picking up if you can find it very cheap as I did. However, if you want anything more from the game or are not into games that are full of mini games and such like that, then this isn't a game for you. I wasn't too impressed with it, as it did feel like they didn't put much effort into this game, other than throwing a bunch of mini games together and throwing it in a cheap over world to run around between them instead of just using a menu to switch games. If they had just put some more stuff in the game and fix some of the sound and control issues, I would say more people should give it a short. At the moment though, only get this if you enjoy mini games for short periods of time or just enjoy a casual experience.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Carnival Games on the DS a five point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 6
Story: N.A.
Graphics: 6
Sound: 5
Control: 5
Replay Value: 5
Overall: 5.5
Carnival Games
Carnival Games? Honestly, never thought I would pick up something like this, but hey, for a dollar, it was worth a shot for my DS. It sounds like another super casual games, but we always have to try every game out to see if it is worth it for you all or not. Well then, let us see if Carnival Games is worth picking up or even trying out at all?
Gameplay
Carnival Games is pretty much a game of mini games. You create your own character, from a sort of limited set of character creation choices and then you are thrown into a carnival like setting and let loose to roam from booth to booth playing literally, games you would find at carnivals. That is pretty much the point of the game. The carnival games are mostly traditional games you would find in carnivals, just in a mini game like format. Some of the games would be for example: throwing a ball into a basket and making it stay, dunk tanks, hitting with a hammer to ring the bell, and so on and so on. For those that want that carnival feel of games when you are at home, these games will provide just that, just with slight twists in most cases to make them playable for the DS. However, really, that is also where the problem likes as well in some ways. These are just little carnival mini games. There is no real objective over all that needs to be completed. You are just playing mini games. The only objective really, if you choose it to be one, is to earn tickets from the games to buy clothes for your character. Also, doing well in the games unlocks items as well for your character. That really is the main incentive to even play the games is either to just enjoy the games or to win items for your character. I can't really say too much about the gameplay because really, it is what it is. You are playing mini games. The game does what it sets out to do, but it doesn't really impress in any ways. However, most of the games aren't bad either. There were a few that are definitely troublesome, but those are usually due to the controls, not the enjoyability of the game itself, more on the controls soon. So really overall, the game is just sort of average here. The game delivers what it says it is going to deliver, but if you were expecting anything other than just standard carnival mini games, then you will disappointed in this game for sure.
Story
Are you kidding me? Did you really expect a story here? Pass.
Graphics
The graphics in this game, I think are trying to sort of have an animal crossing like design, but without the animal crossing polish that is usually put into their characters. Your main character and all characters you run into as you are roaming the carnival have the blocky and sort of short cartoony looking feel to them that look like they just jumped out of an animal crossing game. However, when you get a closer look at these characters, you notice that the figures really do lack the finish the other game has. Your character looks very pointy, stiff, and just cheaply done. It isn't so bad that you want to vomit, but once again, you aren't going to be really impressed here at all. It just seems that was the common theme in this game is that things were just done to get the minimum out there, without much extra thrown into it. Like the main announcer guy you see on the title screen and some in the game. He really doesn't look like he even fits the style all the time. They were quite inconsistent with what things look like character wise. The games themselves don't look that bad though, as the games are so simple, that they do look like what they are supposed to represent. You won't be trying to figure out what the games points are or what things are in the game. So at least the company put enough into the game to focus the graphics to look good in the main part of the game, that being the mini games. You won't have troubles here at all. All of the problems are left into sort of blocky and blurry character design. Better get used to it if you plan to play this game a lot.
Sound
The sound in this game does the job of sounding like carnival music and the sound effects as you play the games, the ones that actually have a few more sounds, do seem to do their job once again. But that's just it, it does its job. There is nothing memorable at all. This wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the announcer. He is very annoying with the voice he uses. I know he is trying to use one of those stereotypical carnival announcer voice, but really, while it is sort of neat that they went there for this game, it really gets annoying when he talks so much and has to explain everything in the game using that same voice. You something either just want to skip his explanations just so you can get to the games and not have to hear him explain every single little thing in that overly happy announcer voice. And believe me, he is going to explain each and every little thing in this game. You are going to hear him way more than the music in my opinions. I barely even remember the games music, which shows you how little or unmemorable it was. All I remember about what you hear from this game is this guys voice and goodness is it annoying.
Control
Most of the mini games in this game work just fine with the controls and the stylus. I was hoping that would carry over with most of the games here, but actually, I'd say a little more than half of them control very well. Some of them are voice activated, so if you have a DS or newer one that doesn't have the microphone or one that doesn't work, then these games are unplayable. Some of the games can use the A button and d-pad, which I think are some of the better made games. Then there are ones that use the stylus. Some of these games work okay, but then others are just a jerky mess. You wonder how some of these games even got by testing with how jerky they are. Some of my main examples are the darts game, and the dunking booth. The dunking booth has you tracing a line very fast, and it doesn't seem like your stylus is following the line that easy, even if you trace it almost exactly. This game is so unpredictable it isn't even funny. The darts game is the worst though as you are supposed to flick the darts at the balloons on the other screen, but most of the time, they don't even flick at all. It is very frustrating and even when you do get the darts to flick, they hit so super high on the other side they will never hit a thing at all. How in the world could you mess something like that up so bad? I just can't explain it really in some of these games. While some are very good, like the ones that involve racing and driving, most of the flicking games and precision stylus games however are going to make you very mad. Be prepared for it.
Replay Value
Due to several of the issues I mentioned before, really unless you enjoy mini games a lot, I don't see you wanting to come back to this game that often. If you ever just want something quick then this will be a game you can pull out, get a good hour or less of gameplay and get a good taste of most of the games here for you to enjoy. This is definitely a game that is more a pick it up every now and then, when you don't have much else to do kind of game. Really, the only thing to keep you playing in this game for any extended period of time is trying to get first place in all the games and also trying to earn enough tickets to buy all the extra costumes and accessories for your character. That's all there really is to unlock in the game anyway, so once you have done that, you are done, unless you just want to play the mini games some more. If you have no interest in dressing up your character though, you won't have much reason to keep playing this game. I can't say it is horrible, because I can see someone that wants a quick dash of gaming every now and then enjoying this fact. Those that want a little more though, are going to play this once or twice and be done with it for quite awhile. I wasn't super impressed, and likely won't be coming back for a long while.
Overall, Carnival Games is exactly what it sounds like it is going to be. It is a casual play on occasion mini game fest. If you are looking for a simple game that is just short little games that you have seen at carnivals before, then you are likely going to like this game and it is worth picking up if you can find it very cheap as I did. However, if you want anything more from the game or are not into games that are full of mini games and such like that, then this isn't a game for you. I wasn't too impressed with it, as it did feel like they didn't put much effort into this game, other than throwing a bunch of mini games together and throwing it in a cheap over world to run around between them instead of just using a menu to switch games. If they had just put some more stuff in the game and fix some of the sound and control issues, I would say more people should give it a short. At the moment though, only get this if you enjoy mini games for short periods of time or just enjoy a casual experience.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Carnival Games on the DS a five point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 6
Story: N.A.
Graphics: 6
Sound: 5
Control: 5
Replay Value: 5
Overall: 5.5
