Review: Birthday Party Bash for the Wii

All three of my girls have birthdays that fall during what, here in Michigan anyway, are cold weather months. The end of November, middle of January and first few days of April certainly aren’t conducive in any way for having outdoor birthday parties – something that we didn’t really think about way back when we were planning our family, lol. We’ve done all different sorts of indoor parties – everything from the ‘traditional’ party at home to various sorts of alternate locations, like bowling alleys, skating rinks, bouncing/play places, etc. And while those types of parties are nice in some ways – not having to clean the house is certainly a plus, they are expensive. So I’m always searching for new ideas for fun things to do with at-home parties. Last fall we played a DVD bingo game at my 6-year-old’s birthday party, and the kids all had a great time. This year, I think we’ll be taking advantage of the fact that we now own a Wii – and having at least one Wii-themed party with a new game called (aptly enough), Birthday Party Bash.

What it is:

2K Play just came out with this new game exclusively for the Nintendo Wii. Birthday Party Bash provides parents a unique way to throw a memorable party in the comforts of your own home and without paying a fortune.

Birthday Party Bash is a “party-in-a-box” from start to finish and includes 12 ready-to-mail invitations, coupons for party supplies and Duncan Hines, a party-planning guide full of helpful tips and suggestions, and over 20 fun birthday party games, all played on the Wii.

Here’s a quick snapshot of how it works:

• The birthday boy/girl chooses the party theme, anything from pirates to princesses (there are 10 ‘theme’ options). They even get to create their own virtual character, as well as characters for all of their guests!
• Up to 12 party guests can join in on playing the Wii games – with options such as Piñata Blast, Duncan Hines Cake Stacker, Pin the Tail, Hot Potato, Present Frenzy, Balloon Popper, Musical Chairs and Sack Race.
• Finally, when it’s time to serve the cake, “Happy Birthday” will play karaoke-style while a virtual cake appears on screen.

The game also includes options to do a ‘quick’ party with less customization, and also a ‘free play’ where kids can simply play any of the 20 games as much as they want to.

Courtesy of 2K Play and Mom Central, we received a copy of this game to try out and review.

Here’s my our take on it:

We’ve only had our Wii for a few months, and really have only ever played the sports on it up until now. My girls were absolutely thrilled to try out this game, even though we don’t have any birthdays coming up for a few months yet. I was really curious as to how the game would actually work, considering that we only have 2 Wii remotes and that’s a lot of sharing and cooperation that would be required – especially with up to 12 party-goers.

We started off with the free play mode and the girls had a lot of fun trying out each of the different games, along with a neighbor boy who was over. Having an even number of kids worked out well – we simply switched off the remotes, two and two. The games are short enough that nobody really had to wait very long, and even the ones waiting had fun cheering the others on.

The way it works is that for the games, the screen splits into four sections – one for each of the four potential remotes you can use. If less than four remotes are available, the console simply plays the others. In a crowd, I don’t think anyone would really care – or even probably notice. The players are differentiated both by color, and by the character you can pick to represent ‘you’ in the game.

The individual games are all pretty easy to get the hang of – and like most actual party games, rely more on speed and luck than on skill. Neither my eight or six-year-olds have any trouble manipulating the game with the remote, and even my three-year-old can play several of the games with no help. When just the three of them play, we’ve come up with a way to rotate the third player in and out so that it’s fair for everyone, and they’ve done really well with that format.

I was really curious as well about how you would actually play games like ‘sack race’ on the Wii. It’s very simple – you just shake the Wii remote up and down in order for your character to jump his or her way to the finish line. And instead of players being blindfolded themselves for ‘pin the tail’, a virtual cloth masks the scene so you simply guess where you think the donkey (and its rear end) are located and pin the tail accordingly.

Obviously, the game is a lot of fun even when not being used for an actual birthday party – it’s my girls’ favorite to play right now. I can see how it would work well during a party – especially if you can get a few of the guests to bring extra Wii remotes so that you can play four at a time. One thing I wish the game had is the ability to use the Mii characters already created and used for other games, instead of having to pick from a pool of pre-made characters used only in this game.

I also think that you have to have the right kind of setup in order for this to work well for an actual birthday party. Obviously, a large TV helps, and having a large enough open space to have room both for the kids playing at any particular time, and also the kids who are watching to be able to see, yet stay out of the way. The game is meant for up to 12 players per party – and I definitely don’t think I’d want to try it with any more than that.

The bottom line:

Birthday Party Bash is a fun alternative to the usual party games – whether you use it as the main attraction at a party, or possibly even just as an icebreaker while kids are arriving or leaving. It’s very versatile and can be customized to a wide variety of uses – even to be played on a regular basis simply for fun, without an actual ‘party’ going on. The games are easy for kids to pick up and play, and appeal to both boys and girls of all ages.

Where can you find it?:

You can purchase Birthday Party Bash wherever other games for the Nintendo Wii are sold as well as on Amazon. The list price is $39.99.

This post courtesy of: 2K Play and Mom Central. No payment or compensation, other than product samples as described above, was received for this post.

www.momcentral.com
Smart Solutions for Everyday Moms