"Good, but not "great""

After reading many reviews across the net, I was really sceptical of even renting this. I went with my uncanny gut, however, and bought it. I don't see why this is dissed so much. I see why though, but it didn't deserve a 2 from IGN. Read on and find out why!

Gameplay: Have you figured out what this game is about yet? Its a Mario Party clone. A pretty good clone however. There are a lot of game boards and some pretty good mini-games in this package, but let me explain something. I see why this got shafted. As the game starts out you get sent on a quest searching for the "Super Power Crystal" not even knowing what to do. I thought "uh-oh, this looks bad" when I first turned it on. The board scheme starts out nearly impossible to understand. After dicking around for a while, I was able to understand what to do. It takes time, but when you understand it you'll really like it. In CBB there are numerous unlockables, and things to achieve. Some of the mini-games are fairly entertaining, but some are just sooo bad I can't even mention them. Each of the 6 boards are assigned missions. For example, in one board you may look for 4 pieces of a certain item. This makes games longer than wiser brother Mario Parties, but sometimes takes time. Once it took me 9 turns and once it took 44 to acquire them. Its all random. In a way its a good thing, but in a way its also a bad thing. In fact its really bad. The mulitplayer mode is very fun, if your friend is willing to rent the game. You can also send messages to other players in-game which is really neat. I would have liked to see some more mini-games, but I guess you can't have everything.

Graphics: The DS is capable of good graphics and these are excellent!! Some of the character models look clunky, but the shading and texture is modeled well and fits the game like butter on bread. I was, however, expecting to see jungle environments, from a Crash game, but its good enough!!

Sound: CBB's sounds aren't memorable, but they are nice little tunes that fit the gameplay. In the city level you will hear a jazzy type of tune, for example. IMO, the SFX are O.K, but need some work.

Replay: Party games have tons of replay and so does this. The multiplayer mode is very entertaining and I find the single player mode fun as well, you just have to teach yourself how to play the game. Once you do that, you'll be hooked ( at least until you realize that this is not worth 30 clams.

Buy, Rent, or Leave: ONLY buy Crash Boom Bang!! If you are a Crash Bandicoot or Mario Party fan. Rent it if you would like something to play on your beloved DS. Leave this game if you totally disagree ( most of you probably do XD ).

Conclusion: I know... its confusing. If you are a experienced gamer or anybody with a brain, you will eventually be able to understand this and enjoy it for a while. Please give it a chance. I found Crash Bash ( one the PS ) better, but what do you expect? Its not the best game, but it certainly isn't the worst.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/09/06, Updated 12/18/06