Carnival Island
- Other Reviews
It’s easy to be sniffy about Magic Pixel Games’ Move-using Carnival Island. Hey, I like to play hardcore games aimed at adults, and this is clearly not one of those. It’s also been so long since I was of the age that would — in theory — appreciate this, it’s hard to give a proper judgement without sounding patronising. So, now we’ve got that disclaimer out the way, let’s get on with the review.
Carnival Island puts players on a Skies of Arcadia-style floating island, where you will find the world’s friendliest carnival. It’s packed with loveable characters, like Curtis the Panda and Gabby the Jerboa (who “once got a cork stuck in her ear” — aww). It’s a place that couldn’t be any more inoffensive and saccharin, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In singleplayer mode, the player will work through 35 mini-games and attractions, unlocking them as they go until they’ve played them all and brought the magic back to the carnival. The player will be rewarded with a cutscene every time they complete a section and get a big cheerful one (with credits to boot) at the end. The cutscenes are lovingly drawn in an old-fashioned style which is very nice on the eye.
You are free to move between the stalls in just about any order you wish and take the game at your own pace. You can also take a break from playing and spend your hard-earned points on balloons and other trinkets. Amongst other things, you can even unlock a fountain and play around with the colour of its water. It’s all very charming.
Charming is one of the in-vogue words of recent years, but it’s appropriate for Carnival Island. It’s without a doubt charmingly polite, friendly and welcoming, and it’s more than a bit twee — even the art style is on the calmer end of the cartoon spectrum. But that, I fear, is an issue.
I’m not confident its style will have enough bite for it to resonate with the overstimulated kids of today, and I’m even less confident about how well its gameplay will connect. It’s played at a leisurely pace with the player moving between stalls and having lots of brief introductions. The gameplay is constantly being broken up and as a result it never manages to generate much momentum, and it definitely negatively impacts on the enjoyment.
READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW AT PS3 ATTITUDE
