We are big fans of the Viva Piñata franchise in our house. When we went to pick up the game on Thursday afternoon, the kids (4 & 2 years old) immediately saw it displayed at our local GameStop and yelled, “Eva Pin-yadas!! New Pinatas!!” I think there may have been some sort of dancing and jumping as well.
Three days worth of gameplay hasn’t curbed their enthusiasm. At breakfast, our 4-year old boy declared, “I was thinking about playing Piñatas today.” With the local co-operative mode allowing him to water plants, dig holes, and whack weeds in my garden, he really can play this time too.
The game starts out quite fast-paced with a three-challenge tutorial to cover the basics in about 15 minutes. This is definitely a sequel made for fans of the original. While the original was a nice leisurely stroll (with a few yawns) through a well-paved zoo, Trouble in Paradise is more like a backpacking trip in the wilderness of Montana where you pray you won’t get eaten by a wolverine or fall into a patch of poison oak.
Hit the jump for a full review of my gameplay experience with Viva Piñata: TIP.