Fuzion Frenzy 2: Review

Review: Fuzion Frenzy 2

A nice simple game to kick things off with.

I never had the original xbox, and thus never played the original. The girlfriend loved it, and I caught it online fairly cheap.

The concept behind FF2 is mini-games, or more accurately, 40 of them. Each one can last from 5 seconds, to a couple of minutes. Each ones has 4 players - up to 4 humans with the rest being a member of the CPU fraternity - available in easy, normal, or hard mode (it would seem more apt to consider drunk, tipsy and sober).

I had originally downloaded the demo on XBL, which came with 3 mini-games. It wasnt anything spectacular, but wasn't puke inducing either.

If you have ever played Mario Party for the N64/GC, then FF2 is basically like that, but without the board game element. Your task in single player offline mode is to conquer two worlds worth of minigames against your opponents. Each world has upto 6 different mini-games, with points given for each round. After each round, a special 'power' up bonus is given, which becomes apparent in round four, where everyone has to beat the crap out of each other. At the end of the four rounds, he/she who owns the most points, wins the planet, and picks the next planet. But here comes the twist! At points throughout the game, you are given cards that you can play prior to each minigame. These can vary between - score multipliers; card stealers; score dividers. Thus, you can come second in a minigame, steal the top players 6x multiplier card, and beat them thoroughly. Or, when you win and play a x6, someone else can swap it for a /6, giving you a measly 2 points.

This is all well and good, but what does the game play like? Well, it is responsive to commands, and each of the scenery works well - wind, ice etc. But after 10 or so minigames, you get bored. Whether on single player, or multiplayer. If you play on easy, it's hard to lose - if you play on hard, it's difficult to win. If you try sand play online - well you cant really. Because no-one is there. If you want to play online, you have to buddy up with someone.

Next comes the achievements. Fairly easy, these are. Complete the main story mode with each character is easy, if not repetitive. Play all the minigames at least once is straight forward. The ones that take any difficult may be the online ones. I had to head over to http://achieve360points.com and leave a message on their forums for a friend request to help do it. Then online takes around 30 minutes.

Hints for achievements: The more controllers you have, the easier it is. Plug them all in, then when you play, select as many humans as possible. This goes for online too - if you and your friend both have 2 controllers, then both be humans (use the free one month XBL gold for it) to make winning online even easier.

Rating: 2.0 stars out of 5.
Difficulty: 0.5 stars out of 5

Graphically very nice. Longevity fairly short. Sound is repetative.

Conclusion: Would have made a nice XBLA game. If you want the 1000GS from this, then rent it, or purchase it very cheap and re-sell.