One Piece: Pirates' Carnival review

The popular crew from One Piece take to the seas once more, this time in an Othello-style clash packed to the gills with mini-games

12DOVE Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Solid mini-games entertain

  • +

    Bit of strategy to keep you awake

  • +

    Good use of the license

Cons

  • -

    Load times really slow the pace

  • -

    Good

  • -

    but doesn't really excel

  • -

    $40 is a bit steep for what you get

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Mario Party practically invented the party game, a sort of video board game where winning relied almost as much on luck as actual skill. Love it or hate it, the thing sold gangbusters, inspiring a legion of clones often based on kiddy anime licences. One Piece: Pirates' Carnival is the latest of these, featuring the lovable and wacky cast of Shonen Jump's famous "One Piece" manga / anime. But unlike most of its peers, Pirates' Carnival does enough stuff right to actually make it worth a play or three for dedicated series fans.

Instead of a Candy Land-style loop, Pirates' Carnival is played on a small grid of squares. Each of the four players takes turns flipping over tiles, which lead to either mini-games or one-time, random events which affect the board. The winner of a mini-game captures the tile and scores a bunch of cash, and play continues until all of the tiles are flipped, at which point cash is tallied.

However, a bit of strategy comes in with Othello -style tile stealing. Surround a foe's tiles with your own and those tiles -- and their cash values -- are instantly yours. This being a typical party game, however, other random occurrences can and do pop up to turn the tables and make you curse your foul luck.

More info

GenreFamily
DescriptionTake one whacked-out anime series, add in a pirates' chest of minigames and mix well. Pour onto an Othello board.
Platform"PS2","GameCube"
US censor rating"Rating Pending","Rating Pending"
UK censor rating"",""
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