Being a fan of the DKU (as described by dkvine.com), and Rare games in general, I was interested in the Viva Pinata games. It’s the last successful new IP they’ve made since Banjo, really, and has done well for them. It’s also one of the last things they did before being totally creatively lobotomised by Microsoft. This is the only VP game on a non-Microsoft platform and hence the only one I have access to.

In a situation similar to Viewtiful Joe, I feel very underwhelmed by what the DS version is presenting and feel that while the control scheme could be good for the format, the other limitations fo the platform make it suffer compared to its console counterpart. I’m also not fond of the Rare handheld team’s latter work, which is characterised by ugly menus, messy graphics, and a general lack of polish.

My problems with this one aren’t just aesthetic, though. I’m not great on open-ended sims at the best of times, but the goals in this game confused me and while I learnt how to perform a few functions, I couldn’t figure out how to progress. There didn’t seem much point. I bred a few pinatas but then I had too many milling around, so I had to sell them or feed them to others. I couldn’t build an attachment to them. I dunno, the whole thing just didn’t grab me.

I basically picked up the game because of Rare, it was their very last game on a Nintendo platform. But apart from the lackluster presentation, I don’t think this style of game is really for me. It doesn’t happen often but I didn’t play it much and I don’t see myself going back. Sorry Pinatas!