Review: Hasbro Family Game Night (Wii)

The key component is the ability to experience many of the old board games that many Nintendo Wii parents (never mind kids) will recall. The added bonus is that several options (mainly Connect 4, Yahtzee and Boggle) actually require some thought, rather than merely shaking the controller. So one could argue it’s educational, as well as entertaining when you put game disk into the console.

On paper Hasbro Family Game Night includes Connect 4, Battleship, Yahtzee, Boggle, Sorry! And Sorry! Sliders. Arguably it seems like a skimpy list given the simplistic nature of some of the games, but in this genre, party games are meant to be straightforward and fun. There’s certainly no need for clearing out the family archives, when you may have further releases in the series to fill? As an acknowledgement of this, each game offers additional options to expand the experience, to a positive conclusion.

The first of these is of course the classic mode that most of us will recall from our own distant past. For instance Battleships will allow you to customise your own rules, turning the methodical original into a power-up crazed aquatic rampage. Other options within this game include Salvo and Superweapons, which show a little more thought went into creating this title than initially thought. Perhaps the most enjoyable option for Gamestyle is the power chips that can appear in Connect 4, moving the game on from its traditional roots. Not that the original offering isn’t short on enjoyment, still featuring that pick up and play factor we’ve come to love. The AI can also be challenging, prompting you to try again to overcome the odds.

Overall it is a strong selection from Hasbro, the most successful being Battleships, Connect 4 and Boggle. To be fair these are the offerings that Gamestyle is most familiar with, our memories of Yahtzee and the others are scant at best. Spending time with each of these and you can certainly see their widespread attraction. Yet we kept going back to our trio of favourites, a special mention to Boggle, which tests your spelling and vocabulary bank against a timer. How many words can you make using chains from the letters shown on the dice?

With all of these games and variations it is easy to overlook the party mode that is included. While Gamestyle is more than satisfied with the above, this option allows you to create quick mini-games based on a chosen number of rounds. On offer are four mini-games for each of the classic titles included, we could argue that each is a good training routine for the main classics themselves. Each focuses on one key element and rewards the winner, for example matching battleships to the pattern onscreen as quickly as possible. It can be viewed as a throwaway addition, but for younger players unable initially to grasp those classics, this is where the quickfire Nintendo Wii party games reside.

Using Mr Potato Head as your visual guide wraps up the whole package in traditional EA flair. Following the path of EA Playground, there is a ‘collect ‘em all’ dynamic at play by using the Game Room. Here you can view trophies, themes and furniture, all acquired through your performance in each game. For most of us this is just a novelty addition, to encourage users to play each game and return often in some desire to obtain the full set. It certainly isn’t to the taste of Gamestyle, yet younger players will feel a sense of achievement, as each new feature is unlocked.

Visually this title will not set new standards or would have ever attempted to do so. All we can say is that each classic game is replicated faithfully, with the added advantage being you’ll never need to worry about misplacing a counter or board piece. The presentation is vibrant and cheerful, exactly what you’d expect from a family title.

With family time always limited nowadays, the opportunity to play board games is very much a thing of the past. In this respect Hasbro Family Game Night is a success by using the Nintendo Will to provide several classics that play as good as today, as they ever did. The new technology enhances the experience, although the sceptic in Gamestyle still misses the attraction of sitting down around a table and engaging face to face.

Hasbro Family Game Night is a solid performer in the party genre. What it lacks in madness and addictive mini-games, it overcomes by providing good, informative, challenging and traditional entertainment. Right then, anyone for a game of Connect 4?

Rating: 6 / 10

Words by Jason Julier