Viva Pinata

Viva Pinata

Strengths: Gorgeous graphics, addictive gameplay, one of the few excellent family games for the 360

Weakness: Can be somewhat difficult in later stages for children, should have ability to send crates to family members

I had heard good things about this game for a while and when I finally got a 360 this was one of the first games I popped in. When you start the game you are given a small plot of land that must be cleared. As soon as you do this your first Pinata (a Whirlm, which is, uh, a worm) shows up. Soon after you will end up with a few more types. For each of the over 60 pinatas in the game, there are...
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I had heard good things about this game for a while and when I finally got a 360 this was one of the first games I popped in. When you start the game you are given a small plot of land that must be cleared. As soon as you do this your first Pinata (a Whirlm, which is, uh, a worm) shows up. Soon after you will end up with a few more types.

For each of the over 60 pinatas in the game, there are four levels of engagement with them. The first is for it to appear at all in the game. At this point you will see a black and white version of the pinata strolling around just outside of your square garden area surveying your landscape and plantings. The second level is for it to visit your garden. Now you can select it and see what it wants to become a resident in your garden. When the requirements are met for residency they become colorful and will stay within your garden. At that point, you can work on the final set of requirements - those for "romance". This is the kid-friendly term for breeding. You romance two pinatas to get an egg. The egg hatches into a baby pinata of the same type and then soon goes into a cocoon to turn into an adult. The romancing is accompanied by a minigame where you must get one pinata to the other in a 2D maze with various obstacles in a limited time - of course, these mazes get harder with the higher-level pinata.

The requirements for the pinatas vary wildly. Some will want a bunch of grass, while others will want lots of water. Some will want to eat certain plants, others will want to eat certain pinatas. Nearly all of them will have 3 or 4 different requirements for each of the stages. It is not possible to attract all the pinatas with a single garden layout, so you will have to constantly alter it to collect them all. Fortunately you can start up multiple gardens and work on collecting them in each one (with your money and level-acquired items shared between the two).

As you do anything substantial in the game, such as attract a Pinata for a visit or grow a plant to maturity, you gain experience and, much like a role playing game, you will gain levels. Some of the pinatas simply don't appear until you hit a certain level. Also, plants and other items won't appear in the shop until you reach a certain level. You will also obtain upgraded shovels and watering cans which end up saving you some time and hassle in the latter parts of the game.

To keep you on your toes, there are bad guys that will appear regularly. These come in the form of Sour Pinatas and various ruffians. The sour pinatas will all do different things to annoy you - some will eat eggs while others will cause your pinata to fight amongst themselves. They all cough up sour candy which makes your pinatas sick if they eat it. The ruffians cause general trouble (like filling in your ponds). The key is to find out how to tame each sour pinata and turn it into a normal resident. Once that happens, the sour type will no longer appear.

The requirements for some of the rarer pinata are pretty complicated for small children to handle. But the beauty of the game is that they can play however they like, and they will almost certainly see a good portion of the pinatas anyway. The "hardcore" gamer can really concentrate on the details and collect (or at least make resident at one point since you can't have them all in your garden at once) all of them. My kids were content for a while just to have a garden full of Whilms. The "do anything" aspect is enhanced by the ability to purchase random items for the garden (as decorations) and also accessories for the pinata themselves to wear (and some of these are required for romancing of some pinatas).

While this is a great game for the family, it is lacking one minor feature that would have made it even better. You have the ability to send crates to people on Xbox Live with up to 5 of any item (be it a seed, garden decoration, or pinata). This is a great feature but it has two flaws. For one, I was unable to send my won (who also had a Gold Live account) a crate. It turns out children are not allowed to receive crates. This seems odd as you are required to approve each friend on their list as it is (I was the only person on his friend's list). That would be OK if you had the ability to send crates "locally" to any other profiles on your Xbox 360. Sadly this is not the case. So while I can share a rare (or high-level) seed or pinata with an adult friend over the Internet, I can't send one to my child's game to help him set up his garden like he wanted to. Hopefully in any sequel this will be addressed.

Overall, though, the game is excellent fun. The achievements are well-balanced too and you will find you hit them slowly but steadily while trying to collect most of the pinata (and you will have to get pretty far to get them all). But none of them require any crazy off-the-wall task or skill as in many 360 games.

By mojave - Jun 2, 2007

Not just for kids!

Strengths: Colorful yet brutal world of Pinata eat Pinata comes to life.

Weakness: None

I didn't expect Viva Pinata to be fun. But it is. It's a sim where you raise your pinatas on a magical island. It's sorta like a mix between Sim City and Harvest Moon. You create yoru little island paradise and manage your farm of pinata's. Some of them you can grow quite fond of. It also has a suprising level of complexity and difficulty. Just because the setting is aimed at kids it isn't dumbed...
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I didn't expect Viva Pinata to be fun. But it is. It's a sim where you raise your pinatas on a magical island. It's sorta like a mix between Sim City and Harvest Moon. You create yoru little island paradise and manage your farm of pinata's. Some of them you can grow quite fond of. It also has a suprising level of complexity and difficulty. Just because the setting is aimed at kids it isn't dumbed down. So, if you like management sims, this might be one for you.

By Admiral_Ackbar - Apr 23, 2007

Viva Rare..the old horse still has some life in it.

Strengths: Addictive!!!

Weakness: Addictive!!!

I haven't played a Rare title in years that i've liked. Viva Pinata certainly changes all that. It stylized incredibly well, and has some of the most addictive gameplay ever...to a point. I played for four hours straight once without thinking i played more than 20 minutes. It's a 'just one more thing type game. Highly recommended, although i feel there is only so much you can do in the game...
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I haven't played a Rare title in years that i've liked. Viva Pinata certainly changes all that. It stylized incredibly well, and has some of the most addictive gameplay ever...to a point. I played for four hours straight once without thinking i played more than 20 minutes. It's a 'just one more thing type game. Highly recommended, although i feel there is only so much you can do in the game before it becomes old hat.

By xplode427 - Feb 21, 2007

kids love it

Strengths: good graphics and sound, easy for kids to play

We bought this for our daughter for Christmas. She and her sister play it often. You build up and take care of your garden and by doing that you attract numerous live pinatas. I found myself watching them in curiousity just to see what would come into their garden next. It is a very unique game for the 360 and fun for kids.

By mchenoweth16 - Feb 16, 2007

Not a Kid's Game

Strengths: Addictive and Fun, Plenty of Freedom

Weakness: Micromanagement gets overwhelming, Difficult to discover full potential without help.

Colorful Pinatas and a Saturday morning cartoon give the impression that Viva! is a game aimed at the pre-teen demographic. Unfortunately for the children who receive Viva, after a few hours of gameplay, the game takes a turn for the complicated. By no means are the controls or the premise confusing, but the amount of attention that needs to be payed to all aspects of the users garden gets very...
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Colorful Pinatas and a Saturday morning cartoon give the impression that Viva! is a game aimed at the pre-teen demographic.

Unfortunately for the children who receive Viva, after a few hours of gameplay, the game takes a turn for the complicated.

By no means are the controls or the premise confusing, but the amount of attention that needs to be payed to all aspects of the users garden gets very overwhelming quickly. The average person may only experience half of the Pinatas in a normal playthrough.

The biggest hurdle the game has to pass is attracting the players who will actually enjoy it. Beneath all the goofy appearances, Viva is fun for all ages.

By Mark Michon - Feb 14, 2007