is a

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

developed by

Game Republic was an independent video game developer based in Tokyo, Japan. The company, which employed just under 300 individuals before its closure, was founded on July 1, 2003 by Yoshiki Okamoto after he departed from Japanese game developer and publi ...

and published by

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...

. It was a Japanese

launch title This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 0–9 A ...

for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

Gameplay

The game plays as a

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a ...

in which up to four players compete to be the first to reach a goal. Each board features multiple routes, with some being shorter and riskier, while others are longer but potentially more lucrative in terms of prizes. There are a number (30+) of different

mini games A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than t ...

which can be triggered during play, similar to the ''

Mario Party is a party video game series featuring characters from the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise in which up to four local players or computer-controlled characters (called "CPU (gaming), CPUs") compete in a board game interspersed with mi ...

'' series. Before play begins, players select a character and customize the character with a variety of items and accessories unlocked during previous sessions. When playing online via

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. An u ...

, this helps provide a unique appearance as compared to other players.

Roulette wheels

Movement is handled by spinning

roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

wheels, although players actually collect the wheels themselves during the course of the game and pick which wheel to use each turn. There are 37 different wheels, with different distributions of numbers, allowing some strategy in trying to get the desired number to come up. Players can store up to five different roulette wheels at once. Some roulette wheels contain ''star spaces''. If the wheel lands on one of these locations, the player is subjected to the bonus or penalty from the current square again. While this can be helpful if on a particularly beneficial square, such spaces usually have little or no movement accompanying them, and so ultimately hinder progression towards the goal.

Medals

In addition to collecting roulette wheels, players also collect

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s (frequently referred to as "coins", due to their resemblance to gold coins). These medals are used as payment to pass certain obstacles, to avoid certain negative effects, or to make purchases (often of coveted roulette wheels).

Development

The characters in the game were designed by Japanese writer and

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

artist

Momoko Sakura (8 May 1965 – 15 August 2018) was the pen name of a Japanese manga artist from Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture. She was best known as the creator of the long-running manga ''Chibi Maruko-chan''. Biography Miki Miura, was born 8 May 1965. She re ...

, known for her work on ''

Chibi Maruko-chan is a shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Momoko Sakura. The series depicts the simple, everyday life of Momoko Sakura, a young girl everyone calls ''Maruko'', and her family in suburban Japan in the year 1974. Maruko is a t ...

''.

Reception

As the title was released only in Japan, most English language review sites previewed the game but neglected to perform a full review. Positives which were highlighted included customizable online play and a unique artistic style. Negative comments focused on long load times, dated graphics, and overly-simplistic mini games. Japanese review scores: * ''Weekly Famitsū'': 30 out of 40 (75%) * '' Famitsū Xbox 360'': 24 out of 40 (60%)

References

External links

Official website
{{Game Republic 2005 video games Digital board games Game Republic games Japan-exclusive video games Microsoft games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Xbox 360 games Xbox 360-only games