Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
A Wii U party game with 35 minigames and the lowest Metacritic score.
Released in late 2012 for the Wii U, Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade is a party game from developer Art Co., Ltd. D3 Publisher handled its release in the United States and Japan, while Namco Bandai Games published it in Europe. As part of the Simple series, it is one of the few entries to see a release outside Japan. The game was widely criticized and currently holds the lowest aggregate score on Metacritic of any video game.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Art Co., Ltd
- Publisher
- JP/NA
- D3 Publisher
- EU
- Namco Bandai Games
- Series
- Simple series
- Platforms
- Wii U
- Released
- November 30, 2012 (PAL)
- December 4, 2012 (NA)
- December 20, 2012 (JP)
- Genre
- Party game
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Two modes are available: Challenge Mode and Freeplay Mode. In Challenge Mode, players compete in five set Wii Remote games based on a chosen world, with five randomly selected Wii U GamePad games in between. Up to four players, with CPUs ensuring four participants, attempt to beat a set score to unlock characters and minigames for Freeplay Mode. Freeplay Mode allows selection of up to ten minigames, regardless of controller type, played in a set order with up to four players and no score requirements. Despite the title, the game includes 35 minigames spread across five worlds, each world containing five Wii Remote games and two Wii U GamePad games.
Reception
Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade received overwhelming dislike, according to Metacritic, with a score of 11 out of 100, making it the second lowest-scored game on the website at the time behind Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. After Big Rigs was removed from the full list due to Metacritic increasing the minimum review count to seven, Family Party became the lowest-scoring game on the site. On GameRankings, it holds a score of 16.2%. Criticism targeted its visuals, design, minigames, controls, and voice acting. Kristoffer Nyrén of Eurogamer stated that the feeling of torture arose before playing, criticizing the extremely outdated graphics and frequently malfunctioning controls. Zack Kaplan of Nintendo World Report said the game makes a promise it cannot keep, assaults ears with annoying voice acting, and sucks all fun out of owning a Wii U, scolding its poor controls, minigames devoid of fun, and irritating voice acting. Anthony Severino of Game Revolution described it as having absolutely zero redeeming qualities and said the developers should feel bad, chiding the borderline unplayable gameplay, controls, and voice acting. Official Nintendo Magazine gave it an 11% score, concluding a review written as an audiolog with an ONM Coroner's Report reading: Patient suffered a psychotic breakdown while playing this game. No treatment possible.
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