Publisher: THQ
Developer: Rare Limited
System: Nintendo DS
Genre: Sim
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michael Smith

Being a childless single guy from the Northeast, my Mexican-themed birthday party experience is somewhat limited. Growing up, I never experienced the visceral joy of swatting colorful party favors with a stick while blindfolded, and now, with the release of developer THQ’s Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise, I’m glad I didn’t. These critters are just too darn cute to demolish just for a few pieces of candy.

VPPP is the Nintendo DS version of the Xbox 360′s Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. You are transported to the idyllic home of the piñatas, an island covered by lush foliage, grass-and-dirt fields and some oddly anomalous items, as if one of Santa’s bags ruptured, littering the island with toy-like trash. You are a gardener who has been given a small, square patch of land that has to be cleared of debris and prettied up with fast-growing grass seed to attract the island’s unique inhabitants.

Each species of piñata has its own prerequisites for visiting your garden, taking up residence and starting a family. Your job is to use the space you’re given to fulfill these requirements. As your success grows, so does the size of your garden, which then attracts more species with more detailed needs. Your ultimate goal is to raise enough of each piñata variety to ship off to parties around the world. These eviscerated creatures then return to the island to start the circle of piñata life all over again.

VPPP opens with a peppy, tuneful cinematic that introduces you to some of the island’s inhabitants. Next comes an options screen that gives you up to three save-game slots and the ability to adjust music and sound-effects levels and the game’s primary language (English, Spanish or French). Choosing an empty slot leads to a keyboard screen on which you use your stylus to type a name for your garden, and then it’s off to your chores.