Fuzion Frenzy

"A Boring Frenzy, and a Disappointing Game"

This X-Box game falls on it's butt. I do own this game and I'm certainly not proud. This game is absolutely no fun at all. I am a big fan of party games too believe it or not. I thought the Mario Party games were fantastic and loads of fun. I couldn't get enough of it. Granted, if I haven't have played Mario Party, then I'm sure I would be giving this game a much higher score. But I have, so I can't give this game that luxury. This game looks awful compared to Mario Party for so many reasons. Read on below to see why this party game fails in almost every aspect.

Graphics:10/10

Since we are talking about an X-Box console, we can assume this game will have astounding graphics. It does do that. Real looking characters with lots of life and are all very unique in their own way. The game is fluent with vibrant colors for each characters side. The levels are also something to be very impressed with. Each level has it's own type of style to it, and each one is different with size. When I first popped this CD into my X-Box Console I was delighted with the graphics. Alas, they were very short lasted.

Sound:8/10

Alright, the sound isn't bad, but it's not great either. I like the map song, I think that it is pretty cool. It's just some of the levels I played earlier didn't have any music at all. There is just sound effects. The sound effects are pretty good as well though. I enjoy them for the most part. I also respect the characters voices...after awhile. Some of those characters can get quite annoying after awhile. They make the same menacing comments over and over sometimes. It really gets quite annoying. But overall, the sound is decent.

Gameplay:1/10

The gameplay in this game is awful, purely awful. There is basically nothing good about it at all. As I stated previously, this is a party game. You have a choice of a character to compete with in the mini-games. You can choose your own or play a tournament. The only bright spot about this game is that it's better with friends. If you have a few friends over than you can enjoy some halfway decent mini-games for half an hour. But never, ever play this game by yourself. It just isn't any fun..period. If you beat the mini-game tournament, basically nothing happens except that you can pat yourself on the back. No characters to unlock, no levels to unlock, no extra features. Nothing at all positive about this. I'm a kind of person that likes to get everything in games and unlock everything possible. To my knowledge you can't do this in this game. I beat it on tournament mode once and nothing happened at all. You do have a choice of easy, medium, or hard but I would stick with easy because the other difficulties can be quite frustrating. For example, in the boat type mini-game to collect coins, I cannot steer very well at all. My boat goes all over the place. Even though I still won this race, I had no fun in the process. Now, I am going to compare this game to Mario Party again, and for good reason. In Mario Party you gain things when you complete a board with your character. You UNLOCK things such as levels and etc. and it keeps you playing. This game doesn't offer any of that. In Mario Party you can buy items to help you in the mini-games to add variety. This game has nothing of the sort. It's bland, and just not a fun game to play due to no extra things to do in the game.

Story:4/10

I don't know, I guess a bunch of losers get together and decide to play mini-games. This game looks ''futuristic'' so I guess they inhabit some planet full of weirdo's that say the same comments over and over. These games don't have too much of a story so I told you what I think!

Challenge:8/10

This category depends on the type of mini-game you are playing usually. The game is extremely simple on the easy mode, pretty difficult on normal, and not really playable on hard. On easy the characters cut you slack and you could cruise to victory. On normal they are a bit more aggressive and could give you fits. Hard, on the other hand is just, well impossible in my opinion. When I play this game (which isn't too often) I will usually set it on easy. This game on hard would make it worse than it already is. I'll play it on easy while I still have a tiny bit of respect for it left.

Replay:8/10

This is a high point of this game. If you have a friend over, by all means stick this game in your X-Box console and play a few mini-games with them. It might actually be fun for awhile. You will probably never do it again after playing a mini-game more than once so do it while you can. But honestly, if you want your friends to have a better time than I suggest Mario Party over this one. If you do own a X-Box though, give it a rent with some friends over and that will be enough.

Rent/Buy:Rent

This is one of those good one day rentals. One day is all you need to get a little taste of what this game has to offer. I would say a rental is worth it, as it is for all party games. I could actually play Mario Party by myself and enjoy it as much as when friends were over. It doesn't apply for Fuzion Frenzy. Just before you rent it, make sure you have plans for your friends visiting because you will feel like you wasted your money if you play all by yourself.

Overall:3/10

This game is truly a disappointment. I can't really recommend this but for a rental and I think that is pushing it. It really does lack in about every category except graphics and this game had so much potential leaking from it. This could have been as good as Mario Party, or better with the potential it had. I really can't believe how bad this game really is. This game is by no means worth anything over $10. If you see it for less than that than it's a good buy, but you will be only playing it from time to time. But for real, if you are looking for a party game, try Mario Party. If you don't own a Nintendo 64, then I would honestly just wait on another. I'm sure any party game would be better than Fuzion Frenzy. Sorry Bill Gates, but I give my disapproval on this one. Pass it up, unless it's a rental.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/02, Updated 08/05/02