Thrillville

"Welcome to Thrillville, the easiest place on Earth to have fun and get some lady friends."

The first time I saw a Thrillville commercial, I knew that it would be a great game. I searched high and low at all the stores for it, but couldn't find it. Finally, come Christmas, I got it as a present. The next day, I found out that I was correct, Thrillville is indeed an awesome game, and it is easily one of the best based entirely off of mini games. The sad thing about it is that very few people actually know about it. Nonetheless, a stupendous game that I will love for my entire gaming life.

Gameplay - 10/10

The gameplay in Thrillville is largely based off of the mini games, but before delving into that, the gameplay is solid, providing you with many a-thing to do. You're given a bunch of missions, and you don't have to do ALL of them, thankfully, but instead a good percentage to move on, which I find to be appropriate. Now, into the mini games, I don't think even the biggest misanthropist could not find something they liked here. You've got it all from mini golf to arcade games to go kart racing, and the fact that you can also ride your coasters and such does not harm the gameplay whatsoever. Overall, the gameplay you'll find here is solid and has an extremely small chance of ever leaving you bored, so this alone makes the game worth it.

Storyline - 6.5/10

This game definitely does not focus on the storyline. It is good in the aspects that it has your plot twist or two, your (somewhat) evil villain, and things like that, but in no way would I say it is gripping or dramatic. There is no action if you're looking for that, no major romance, or any of the other things that can make up a great storyline.

Controls - 10/10

The controls in this game are first-rate, simple and in no way hard to remember. In fact, I picked this game up last week, and without having played in at least six months, I got the controls worked out in a minute or two. There are some mini games where the controls can be hard to get down pat, but you can work them out with effort and the rest you learn without attempting.

Graphics - 6/10

The graphics are one of the worst parts of the game, unfortunately. The characters do not have much detail at all, many of the things are rough-looking, and the texture isn't much at all. I know the PS2 doesn't have that great graphical capabilities, but I know it can do better. However, I can tell everything apart, aside from all the people that are essentially clones, and that's what really matters to me.

Sound/Music - 9.5/10

The sounds of all the rides are as realistic as I think they can be, so that's a big plus. All the other sounds are pragmatic, too, and the voice acting is pretty good on top of that. The music is great, consisting of big hits like “Whiplash” and other music, mainly in the pop, hip hop, a little rap, and some country genres. The thing for me is that I do not listen to this kind of music, but I do like it. The tunes are good to listen to, even for me, and I normally listen to stuff like Metallica. They have good beats, vocals, and overall are some of the best in their respective genres. However, I did listen to this kind of stuff before, but that's a different story, on with the review.

Extras - 4.5/10

Unfortunately, this game does not have very many extras to offer. Still, the rare thing you could call an extra, like hidden cash or items, is pretty good, but there are nowhere near enough for this game to do well in this category.

Play Time/Replay Value - 8.5/10

If you are extremely talented at this game, you can beat it in a day or two, but for most, I think it should take maybe a week. After that, the replay value of this game is astounding. You can play this game for weeks on end and not get overly bored with it, largely due to there being so much that you can do.

Final Verdict - 8/10

Although core gamers may not like the looks of this game, it is fun for all and an overall sensational game. It provides hours upon hours of fun for everybody, and is a great game to pull out whenever you are bored or do not feel like playing any of your other games. I highly recommend this game, but you should probably do a little more background research to see if it is your type of game before going out on a limb and buying it, even though I doubt most people will be disappointed with this outstanding game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/09, Updated 11/09/09

Game Release: Thrillville (US, 11/21/06)