Well, of course Mario's gonna throw the best parties.
He lives in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Think about it.
Johnny Bravo can't complete with that.
In fact, if it doesn't involve hair gel, Johnny Bravo can't compete with much.
But like any good Johnny Bravo, that doesn't stop Johnny Bravo from being Johnny Bravo.
In Cartoon Network: Block Party.
Just...pretend you didn't get the RSVP.
So this game was released in 2004, just a few months before Mario Party 6...which included
a microphone.
This one includes disappointment.
Obviously, Block Party is a Cartoon Network spin on Nintendo's Mario Party.
You play as popular characters from Cartoon Network in a board game, with minigames scattered
along the way.
The big difference is...it's less a party than, like, an ice cream social for the AV
club.
The first problem with Block Party is that...there's just not much to it.
It only has six characters.
It has four game boards.
And perhaps the biggest issue...there's only 14 minigames.
I mean, within just a few minutes on my very first game board, it was already repeating
minigames.
In fact, to make matters worse, those 14 minigames seem to be split based on the game board.
So do the math.
Fourteen minigames among four boards...that's, like, around two or three minigames per board.
That just keep repeating themselves.
That gets old within two or three minutes.
Now, it's fair to note that...this is handheld game.
And as such, the small amount of content relative to a Mario Party is a bit more understandable.
Of course, there were about 60 minigames in Mario Party's GBA game, but nonetheless...I'll
still give this game a pass.
Where I won't, however, is in the quality department.
No quantity or quality.
Or...quanti...some other Q word, that makes sense.
To be honest, Block Party makes Mario Party's minigames look like Skyrim, in comparison.
I mean, these are some pretty shallow, pretty terrible minigames.
Run around the room without touching bad guys that you can't see until they touch you.
Collect more pigs than your opponents, even though they're not actually on the
screen with you.
In fact, you never see your opponents.
You just see their fictitious scores at the end.
Of course, the reason you don't see anyone...is because Block Party isn't really a multiplayer
game.
At least, not technically.
There is a multiplayer mode that lets you play on one GBA with up to three friends,
and that's great.
I really like those kind of pass-the-system multiplayer modes, but that design choice
is reflected in the minigames, which are basically single-player games against AI opponents.
That you really don't even compete against in the minigames.
That kind of sucks.
Cartoon Network: Block Party has a few things going for it.
It's simple, it's easy to play and it definitely has a kind of mini Mario Party feel.
But it's a little too mini.
And although that's kind of understandable, that doesn't make it fun.
Either find a new party or...I don't know.
You should always have a Plan B, on weekends, guys.
Especially when one of your options is Cartoon Network: Block Party.