Mini-Reviews: Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Pinata Party Animals

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Anniversary (Xbox 360)

 

It was in 1996 when teenage boys began lusting over Lara Croft’s curvaceous body and became entranced with the Tomb Raider adventure series. Now they’re bringing back that original game once more, this time with a new and improved gameplay system. Last year’s Legend was an excellent resurgence to the franchise, and that same system is found on Anniversary. From what I remember, playing the original Tomb Raider was a bit tough in terms of control and jumping, but in this remix the controls are so much easier and a lot more fun. The graphics are updated as well, but the cut scenes could have been better. It’s the Xbox 360, for goodness sake! And what’s with the Peruviano being the first person to die in the game? It’s still fun though.

 

Viva Piñata: Party Animals (Xbox 360)

 

The game is cute and is directed towards children; and no, none of characters have a cheap Mexican accent. But if you’re an achievement lover (like me), this would be a good game to rent. It consists of over 50 different sorts of mini-games where you can compete against the computer or against three other people. The mini-games range from running races and dance contests to piñata beating challenges and collecting pieces of candy type matches. Every time you win a challenge, which isn’t that hard, you get an achievement. Or if you get a certain amount of points, or do something special within a challenge, like fly, you get an achievement. They give them away like candy. It’s worth a rent to rack up points towards your gamer score, other than that, Piñatas are for the children.