Family Fest Presents: Movie Games for Wii Reviews & Ratings by IGN

Ubisoft's Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party is filled with mini-games (some 50-plus in all ), all of them spoofs on a variety of television shows and movies. But apparently just one mini-game compilation that poked fun at the small and silver screens wasn't enough because the publisher has also delivered Wii owners the thoughtfully named Movie Games. It's not an epic adventure title or first-person shooter, in case you're wondering. If, on the other hand, you thought it might be a rushed mini-game-fest with gameplay fundamentals so shallow that they make TV Party seem like Fallout III by comparison, give yourself a pat on the back.

Developed by Phoenix Studio, Movie Games is a generic mishmash of 20 measly mini-games inspired by famous Hollywood films, from Indiana Jones to Pirates of the Caribbean and James Bond. Of course, since very little development funds went into the experience, no licenses were secured and the end result is a selection of minis that only faintly resembles the movies it attempts to replicate. If you're a movie buff, prepare for disappointment because the pirates in this game do not look or act like Captain Jack Sparrow and the environmental Incan puzzles that the Indy wannabe solves are simple Bejeweled recreations, nothing more. The fact that no characters talk -- except, that is, for an irritating laugh when minis are finished -- only further diminishes the already lackluster presentation.

There are 20 mini-games included, not even half the number in the latest Rabbids installment, and the quality of the experiences will leave most wanting more. The template is immediately recognizable. There are the shake stages in which you must waggle the Wii remote wildly to win -- literally, in some cases. In one of the pirate themed levels, you merely shake the peripheral as quickly as possible to stay on the heels of another character who drops treasure. There are the pointer levels, easily the best in the game. On-rails shooter stages of the Rayman sort. The infrared controls are at least fast and responsive, but the levels themselves are slow and easily completed with high scores. There are the aforementioned Bejeweled rip-offs. And finally, the dance stages -- waggle the Wii remote to on-screen cues; again, just like Rayman, but not nearly as comprehensive or well done. And that's it.

With only 20 mini-games to explore, you'll see everything the game has to offer within the hour. Worse, if you've played any Rabbid title before, you've seen it all anyway, most of it done much better with the benefit of a much more humorous and all-around more compelling presentation courtesy Ubisoft's funny critters.

Phoenix Studio has come up with a couple of fun modifications on the now-standardized mini-game levels. Instead of always shooting the bad guys in the remote IR levels, you will sometimes have to keep the outline of a camera focused on them or take their pictures for points. And although there is one Bejeweled style puzzle in which you must also illuminate the board with the Wii remote, acting as a virtual flash light, before you can begin to move the tiles around. On top of everything else, the game's graphical style is by no means offensive. The character designs are all throwaways, forgettably generic in nature. But I like the cel-shaded designs of the pirate and haunted house themed areas.

As with any mini-game compilation, Movie Games features a four-player mode. Given the 'Family Fest Presents' pre-title of the project, I presume the developer intended for the entire household -- mom, dad, brother and sister -- to get in on the action. The multiplayer mode works as promised, enabling simultaneous play through the selections, a genuine plus given that some compilations instead allow only successive competitions. Shaking the Wii remote rapidly against friends as you attempt to sneak your pirate past a silly rendition of the kraken is enjoyable, even if stupidly simple. But oftentimes the games are so simple in nature that there's very little authentic competitions possible. Play remotely passable and you'll win. And with no means to sabotage a player in the multiplayer mode, Movie Games lacks a key ingredient to winning mini-fests.



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