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Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise

by Chris Holmes September 16th 2008 3:53 PM CDT0 Comments

Let’s face it; Viva Pinata is just downright weird. There is no other game like it on the market, and given the poor sales of the original, it’s not something that’s going to change anytime soon. However, it won critical acclaim and warmed many gamers' inner child, showing everyone that Rare is beginning to find their form once again.

Trouble In Paradise feels like a major expansion to the original game, but perhaps not a fully fledged sequel. All the usual elements make a return, such as the addictive gameplay and level progression, but now the garden gets even bigger, the camera is refined, and there seems to be a bigger sense of scale.

However, Rare has introduced some truly dodgy elements for this version, such as the incredibly tenacious Professor Pester. This character has become the scorn of players everywhere, as he essentially wanders into a garden, smacks your most prized piñata, snorts up all of its candy, then runs away feeling like a big man. The only way to stop him is with some seriously high-level piñata. This is a crippling piece of game design for weaker players, and seeing a piñata smashed up to see some Pete Doherty-esque character snort up its insides is hardly the child-friendly game Rare seems to be promoting here.


This is where the Trouble In Paradise is at its lowest, when Rare has seemingly forgotten the title’s market and just powered on to create a vicious, torturing beast. Kids will love the animals, the colours, the characters and such, but they will hate that they can’t actually play it. Rare has made some plans the coutner this with some nice new co-operative modes. Locally, you can just connect one other controller to the game and press start to play with a friend, and online you can invite upto four players. Cleverly, the host can decide the level of power outsiders can have on their garden.

Another key addition is the “Pinata Vision” feature, which allows you to scan piñata cards into your game with the Vision Camera. These can give you anything from piñatas to 10% off stores, and are surprisingly quite useful, especially for inexperience players who need help. You can take pictures of your own creatures and put them in cards to give to friends and everyone on the game’s official website. Disappointingly though, the camera can be extremely fussy with lighting conditions and angles, and the items and piñatas from the cards still level up your garden, even though you haven’t properly worked for that experience. This may sound like a good feature, but it sucks away the fun and sense of progression of the game.

Moreover, the most important new feature in Trouble In Paradise is the ability to visit the Dessert Desert and the Pinarctic to trap wild piñata. This works rather well, with a large amount of new creatures only acquirable in this manner. Catching piñatas is surprisingly addictive and time-consuming, as the cautious animals seem to be all-to-aware of the dangers which lurk next to a delicious-looking orange. Once they eat the bait, a satisfying over-the-top trap animation plays out and the piñata can be retrieved and persuaded to stay in your garden.


From a technical standpoint, this is much more impressive than the first game. Everything seems to be smoother and less clunky now. The graphics and animations have also been tightened up, and it just feels refined and homed in, and this helps the gameplay really shine too, with no weird glitches prevalent in the original getting in the way. Furthermore, the link-up with the official website and your gamertag is a simple yet effective move, allowing you to track your stats, see leaderboards, and search for photos and cards.

In conclusion then, Rare has done a great job with Trouble In Paradise, finally perfecting one of their best 360 games and creating perhaps their best title of recent times. It might not get the sales it deserves but it’s such a wonderfully creative game and should be noticed for what it is. Games do not need to have guns and a storyline to offer a truly fun experience.