Game review: Petoons Party could have been great, but it isn't

Everyone who owns a Nintendo Switch is always on the lookout for the next friendship-destroying game. Mario Party has been the king of that genre since it first came out on the Nintendo 64.

The formula of having a board game mixed with fun quick to play mini games is what made Mario Party very successful all these years. Petoons Party is the newest attempt at recreating this formula outside of Nintendo. Did it work? Does it compare or hold up to Mario Party?

Who are the Petoons?

Part of the reason Mario Party is so loved is the fact that we get to play with cute characters we grew up loving.

So who are the Petoons? When you choose a board to play, you are told that the Petoons are fighting the evil Kitra that wants to conquer their island of Kimera and steal their magic to control the world. And that is all we really learn about the Petoons in this game, which is disappointing as I would've loved to learn more about these cute creatures.

The gameplay

Petoons Partyhas three game modes. There's the Board game, where up to four players take turns to roll the dice and move on the board. The players then compete in a mini game after each turn.

The Cup mode is basically a collection of mini games for the players to go through and win as many as possible to take out the cup. This gives the players a way to enjoy the mini games without having to sit through the board game.

The third mode is a list of all the mini games so that the players can choose individual mini games to play.

This all sounds exciting until you dive into the mini games. All the mini games are basically repeated over and over with different skins on them. The controls are very clumsy and poorly done. There is a delay between pressing the button and the character moving on screen which makes you feel really frustrated about not having much control.

The way the mini games are designed doesn't help at all. Most of them seem a little impossible to win, with items being out of range in the stacking game for example. This leads to the main player losing to the AI over and over, leaving them frustrated. 

Graphics and music

Petoons Partyis definitely cute to look at. It has a kindergarten storybook feel to it. The game is very colorful which will be attractive for young kids. The characters look like they are made out of playdough, while the backgrounds are pretty and well designed.

The music in the game is fun, happy and cheerful which will be helpful when you are always losing games. The catchy main menu tune can get a bit annoying after a while. The game's sound effects are good as well.

The verdict

Petoons Party is one of those games that could have been great if more time was spent on it. It could have been a fun game for young kids to sit and compete against friends if the controls were better and the mini games were fair.

Score: 3/10