| Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise | |
|---|---|
 North American box art | |
| Developer | Rare |
| Publisher | THQ[1] |
| Designers | Gary Richards Joseph Humfrey Paul Machacek |
| Artists | Dean Smith Dermot Fanning Chris Peil |
| Composer | David Wise[2] |
| Series | Viva Piñata |
| Platform | Nintendo DS |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Life simulation |
| Mode | Single-player |
Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise is alife simulation game developed byRare, for theNintendo DSvideo game console and based onViva Piñata. Released days afterViva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise for theXbox 360 in the fall of 2008,Pocket Paradise was developed byRare's handheld team, as opposed toViva Piñata: Party Animals and thePC version of the original game, which were developed by separatethird-party developers. It is currently the latest game Rare developed for aNintendo system, as well as currently the final game in the series and is also the only game of the series as a whole to be handheld.
Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise is, like itspredecessor, asandbox game that tasks the player with turning a neglected plot of land into a beautiful garden. The game retains the majority of features and all of the piñata from the original. As the game was built from the ground up for theDS, Rare's handheld team took the opportunity to add additional features and changes.
The most obvious difference betweenPocket Paradise and the original is that the entire game is controlled using the stylus,[3] giving the player a very direct, intuitive method of interacting with their garden. It is now possible to simply ‘draw’ grass onto soil, or double tap a flower to remove its head.
The game also makes use of the two screens on the DS where, for the majority of the game, the main garden view is displayed in the lower screen of the DS. In the upper screen, there is a context sensitive information panel[4] that is unique to this version of the game. The information that is displayed dynamically changes to reflect what is currently selected - ranging from an individual piñata's romance requirements to a percentage breakdown of the garden's floor tiles. It is even possible to swap the screens around and interact with the information panel, to view a comprehensive piñata encyclopedia, a journal, an awards page and a piñata pyramid (amongst other things).
Other than control changes, there are a handful of design changes that are unique to this version of the game. First off, it is no longer possible to buy fertiliser or romance sweets.[5] Fertiliser (which is now accessed via the main tools pallet) is only produced when a Taffly is made to interact with a piece of fruit - the colour of the fruit dictates the colour of the fertiliser. Romance sweets are now earned by completing Viva Piñata Central challenges, putting much more emphasis on what was originally a purely optional aspect of the game. Another major difference between the DS version and the original is the addition of an overhead map[5] that not only enables the player to view the whereabouts of their piñata instantly, but allows them to zoom in on any pinata by simply tapping their icon.
A new game mode has also been added that mirrors the "Just for fun"[6] mode inViva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, named “Playground”.[5] This is a no-pressure version of the main game (set on a beach) where young or inexperienced players can experiment without having to deal with the challenging aspects of the game, such as Dastardos or Ruffians, or having to pay for items.
Rare explains on their website that "you'll also be given free rein with an expanded selection of tools and tool actions, upgraded forms of the Journal and Encyclopedia... and Episodes (tying in more closely to the TV series and allowing fans of the show to spend quality time with familiar faces)". They also state that "DS wireless connectivity... lets you send prime Piñata specimens to your friends, making the act of parading your Doenut around in a humiliating pirate outfit easier than ever".[7]
Back in 2005,Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that Rare was hard at work on two projects for the Nintendo DS. Their first Nintendo DS game released wasDiddy Kong Racing DS, so that game andViva Piñata were most likely the two projects mentioned.[8]
Viva Piñata for the Nintendo DS was first hinted at in an interview betweenMicrosoft Game Studios and1UP.com at the DICE 2007 Summit inLas Vegas.[9]
The game was presented later atComic-Con 2007[10] andTHQ officially announced the release ofViva Piñata: Pocket Paradise in the Fall of 2008.[11][12][13]
In the interview with members from the team, the question "Was it always the plan to transfer Viva Piñata across to the DS, or did it take some prompting?" received the response from the game's producer Paul Machacek: "In discussions for a follow-on project forDKR DS it became a greater focal point, and in hindsight, seeing what we came up with, it's proven to be a complete no-brainer. We love it".[14]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 82.58%[15] |
| Metacritic | 82/100[16] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| 1Up.com | B+ |
| Edge | 7/10 |
| Eurogamer | 8/10[17] |
| GamesMaster | 85%[18] |
| GamesTM | 8/10 |
| IGN | 8.5/10[19] |
| Nintendo World Report | 7/10[20] |
| Official Nintendo Magazine | 90%[21] |
| NGamer | 85/100[22] |
| IGN UK | 8.9/10[23] |
Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise won the award for Best Simulation Game for the Nintendo DS fromIGN in their 2008 video game awards.[24]Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise also received a pair of 2009 BAFTA nominations for Best Strategy Game at the Game Awards[25] andBest Video Game at theBritish Academy Children's Awards.[26]
