Publisher: Take Two Interactive
Developer: Cat Daddy Games
System: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Party Games
Release date: Available now
Review by: Scott Lufkin

I remember wandering the theme parks of my youth, watching kids play carnival games and pump tickets into arcade machines. I can almost hear the coins plunking onto plates, the carnie folk hawking games and the air guns taking out helpless ducks. I loved playing the games whenever my folks finally gave in and let me have a quarter or two, even though I never did very well.

Now that Carnival Games is out for the Nintendo Wii, I can play any of my favorite carnival games whenever I want and still win prizes and tickets. Plus, the mini-games don’t seem to be rigged in the house favor. Well, most of them, at any rate.

Carnival Games places you in a virtual carnival, where you can visit the various locations in the game’s environment by navigating the menus and selecting any diversion. You begin by creating a character, much like a Mii but minus the arms. The character creation system allows you to choose from a selection of pre-set faces, default outfits and coloring schemes. Accessories, including hats, buttons and different kinds of bonus apparel, are available as well once you unlock them in the single player mode.

Carnival Games features 25 Mini Games, five of which are arcade games that cost tickets but could yield more than you spent to play them, and several unlockable Super Games. The Mini Games range from Alley Ball (where you roll a ball up a ramp and try to sink it into one of a number of holes worth points based on their location) to Nerves of Steel (where you have to navigate a hoop over an electrically charged cable without letting the hoop touch the cable. Other games include flipping a plastic frog onto rotating lily pads and firing an air rifle at a target range. There are over 250 prizes to unlock as well with the tickets you earn.

The single-player mode also allows you to win prizes, such as stuffed dinosaurs, by playing well. These awards can be upgraded from Small to Medium, then from Medium to Large, and finally from Large to Grand. Upgrading your prizes often requires four of the previous size to get one of the next size. For instance, if you want a Medium Prize, you can sacrifice four of your Small Prizes to get one. The exception is that the Grand Prize only requires two Large Prizes. Unlocking the Grand Prize often opens up the Super versions of some games, which are generally more challenging. For example, the Super Alley Ball game only lets you roll three balls as opposed to six, and you have to avoid obstacles along the ramp when you roll.

Playing the Mini Games yields more than prizes; you also win tickets, which can be used to unlock apparel and accessories for your avatar. You can return to the character screen at any time and outfit yourself with these upgrades, which include cowboy hats, sheriff badges, crazy eyewear and the like. There are dozens and dozens of unlockable items to get your hands on, allowing you to really put some personality into your carnival-loving character.

Carnival Games also features a multiplayer component that allows up to four players to compete head-to-head in any Mini Game or in Competition Mode, where the participants tackle five random Mini Games. (This helps to level the playing field if one competitor is extra good at a particular challenge or two.) Points are tallied as the five games are played, and a winner is announced after the final match. You don’t earn tickets in the multiplayer mode, but you can use your custom avatars and show off your unlocked apparel to friends and family members.