During my stay in Portugal for the holidays, I noticed these Buzz! games everywhere in stores. There were tons of them, with huge displays in game areas with PS2 consoles and large LCD screens. It seemed like quite the hit over there, and it came in several different flavors: Jungle Party, Music Quiz, Sports Quiz, Big Quiz and Mega Quiz.
Buzz! Junior was the one I played one night with my two girl gamer cousins and the little son of one of them. Judging by the game’s title, I was in for some kiddie action, but seeing as my cousins, one being 40 and the other 37, enjoyed playing it as much as the boy (who is 7), I really couldn’t wait to see what came of it.
Jungle Party is obviously a jungle-themed series of mini-games for up to four players. The game comes bundled with four buzzers, which are the only controllers you need to play. The buzzer has a large button and then four other colored buttons: blue, green, orange and yellow. Each of the colors represents a player.
When starting a game, you can choose its duration: short, medium or long. We played the medium and it still seemed like there was a ton of games to play, and in total, the game offers 40 different and very simple mini-games. However, some of them are very similar, particularly the “hot potato” kind of games. But they’re also hilarious to play.
Before each mini-game, you get a description of what the task is and how to control your monkey. Yes, everyone plays a monkey of different color, and the little guys really are funny to watch, particularly as they laugh at the losers at the end of a given game.
The first mini-game I played was a duel where two of us would face each other and the quickest to draw the banana (yes, no guns, just bananas) won. But there is a gorilla judge to give a signal with his hand for us to shoot, however he was tricky and made different gestures to try and fool us. Shooting before he makes the signal gives your opponent the victory. In this game, every player gets to duel with everyone else in the game.
The second game I played was a “hot potato” type of game where you had to pass the bomb to someone else before it explodes. To pick whom you want to pass it to, you press the color of the player on the buzzer. If the bomb explodes on you, your score drops and the other monkeys will roll around the floor laughing like crazy. When your score reaches zero, you’re eliminated and the remaining players continue. Many games work on an elimination basis until a winner is found. It gets really hectic with the clock ticking and the announcer saying the colors of the players as we pass the bomb around.
One that really made me laugh was the sliding game, where all four monkeys sit in a row and slide down a huge trunk. The purpose is to catch as many fruits as possible as you slide, but without hitting an obstacle. So basically, you sit there sliding down and eventually jump to the back of the row, leaving another monkey in the lead to be hit by something… or not! It’s completely random, and sometimes you will be sliding down for a long time, others you’ll see the other players splatter themselves against a branch within a matter of seconds.
The fun goes on with more strange mini-games. For example, stealing an ostrich’s egg without her seeing us. You are only allowed to move when her head is stuck in the sand, but it’s what happens if she catches you that’s funny!
There is also a rhythm game where the monkeys play drums. Then there’s this one where you have to stick your head in a lion’s mouth for as long as possible to get the highest score. In another, you must press the respective colored buttons on the buzzer as the colors of the pieces on a totem, to demolish it. Another has one of the players on the ground taking items from one side to the other of a conveyor belt, with the other three hanging from the trees and throwing coconuts to distract him.
There’s also this exhilarating whack-a-mole type of game where your monkey peeks through the holes on a log and you must press the color of the hole you’re in as quickly as possible, or else you get whacked by one of the awaiting characters wequipped with mallets.
So as you can see, the challenges are diverse and all are presented with a good dose of humor.
Graphically, the game is very colorful and everything is lush and vibrant. The characters and backgrounds have a cartoony look to them, and the animations are fluid and give the monkeys their true “monkeying around” personality. The jungle sounds (monkeys, lions, birds and more) are great, and the tribal beats only help set the mood.
For me, the entire experience wasn’t so much about winning, it was all about having fun. And I had tons of fun in the couple of hours I played Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party with my three cousins and at a certain point, my aunt too.
Buzz Junior is great fun for kids, their parents and for whoever else decides to join the party, providing the entire family with hours of entertainment and lots of replay value.