Squeeballs Party

Posted 3 years ago By - Jay Acevedo

Ever heard of Squeeballs Party? I know, the name might seem a bit off but rest assured, this isn’t what you think it is. First unveiled at E3 2009 as an Xbox 360/PS3/Wii title alongside the GameTrack Freedom motion controller, Squeeballs Party is a mini-game compilation featuring the Squeeballs; a bunch of funny looking toys manufactured on a secret island. With the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions delayed until 2010, Eiconic Games went ahead and released the game on the only platform that already supports motion control: the Wii.

As you read this, you might ask yourself: why review another mini-game compilation since they all carry the reputation of being absolutely abysmal? Although Squeeballs Party isn’t the best game, it still manages to stand out from the others for two good reasons; its originality and it’s recent price drop.

As I mentioned earlier, Squeeballs are created on a secret island and, before being distributed to kids around the world, they need testing. As a player, you have to blow up, shoot, cook, throw and cut these little monsters into little pieces in over 150 mini game challenges spread across 11 unique mini-game types.

Being a family aimed title, especially at younger kids, Squeeballs Party’s gameplay mechanics are extremely easy to learn. Grab a bat and knock the little critters coming out of a canon, use your Wiimote as a slingshot and shoot them as far as you can, knock them over with a bowling ball or even use them as golf balls. The mini-games are varied, most of them being actually quite fun and challenging enough. Of course, quantity doesn’t necessarily denote quality. Grown-ups will tire of the repetition very quickly and will have a hard time finding an attractive element in it because of the incredible saturation of better mini-game collections out there (WarioWare Smooth Moves for example). That said, young kids should find it very amusing as the Squeeballs have a lot of personality, something that most of the mini-game compilations out there just don’t get.

Of course, to compare this game to games like Wii Sports Resort or WarioWare Smooth Moves in terms of visual presentation is completely unfair. However, there is just as much replay value in Squeeballs Party. For some reason, as much as some parents might hate to hear it, the fact that you are giving a hard time to these little fellas throughout the mini-games can keep you coming back. Plus, Squeeballs Party has been recently priced dropped to $20, making it one the few good mini-game compilations you can find for really cheap.

Squeeballs Party is a rather simplistic game that certainly won’t win awards but is definitely worth checking out, particularly over and above most of the immense number of subpar mini-game collections on the Wii. If you are looking for a cute and inexpensive Wii game for the younglings, this might just be your best bet.

Given the quality and appeal of Squeeballs Party, I’ve now got more hope that the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions could bring something very cool to the table in 2010.