Squeeballs Party is the first title from Performance Designed Products (PDP) and Aksys Games. It is yet another mini game compilation for the Wii, however, it has a bit more personality than your standard mini games. First of all though lets answer the question that I am sure you are wondering…what is a squeeball? Squeeballs are small creatures manufactured on a secret island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The premise of the game is that before Squeeballs can be sold to children as toys around the world they must be fully tested…sometimes to the point of destruction. Squeeballs Party features over 150 mini games which you will unlock by going through the “Challenge Ladder”. As you successfully complete challenges you will unlock new ones in the sport that you are currently playing as well as entirely new sports. The different types of mini games have a pretty wide range with bowling, golf, paint by squeeballs, cooking, feeding frenzy, pumping and more. Within those sports there are a variety of different challenges that you will have to complete.

If you like bowling you will have a whole host of challenges to try to complete. They range from “Spare Necessities” where you have knock over all ten pins twice with six balls to achieve two spares in three frames to “Splitting Pins” where you have to knock over all the split pins with the one throw of the ball to “Handy Bowler” where you have to knock thirty pins over with eight throws of the ball. During the Cooking mini games you have a variety of recipes that you have to make in a short amount of time. You might have to make vegetable soup which will have you chopping up carrots and then putting them in the pot, stirring your soup, adding salt and pepper as well as grading a Squeeball into the soup like you would a piece of cheese. You also have a “paint by squeeballs” game where you have colored squeeballs that you are shooting at a picture. Using the Wiimote you push the “B” button and then pull back so the sling shot you are using in the game can fire the squeeball onto the target. In the beginning this is pretty easy to do, however, later on you will have to dodge certain items or try and hit targets to get extra points.

There are a few different ways to play this game. You can play it by yourself, however, that really isn’t recommended as you will probably get pretty bored with it fairly quickly unless you are a young kid or someone that just loves mini game compilations. There is the party game feature where you can play with up to four players which would be the ideal way to experience this title. Then there is the “head to head” mode where, well, you go head to head with someone. This seems like it would be a great family game if you have small kids that enjoy games but you don’t want them playing some of the more violent titles. I do question, however, how long this title would hold their interest as some of the challenges do get a bit repetitive, especially if you are having trouble with one and you have to do it over and over again. Like most Wii titles, this title also doesn’t feature any type of online play which could have helped extend the replayability of this title for those that do pick it up.

Squeeballs Party is a mixed bag. It is yet another mini game compilation on the Wii, however, the Squeeballs themselves add a bit of personality to the title. There are Squeeball toys out there and if you can find them and have a child that enjoys this title, they would probably get a kick out of getting one of the plush toys. As I stated above, there are over 150 mini games in this title so it should probably take you a while to experience everything, especially if you only play it with other people. You might want to rent this title first though to see how you feel about the game after spending some time with it. The game is priced more towards the budget category which was definitely a smart move on the publisher’s part. It’s a good first attempt by a new company who will hopefully stick around and try making some games in other genres.

Score: 6/10

Originally posted on Totally Gaming Network