Muppets Party Cruise is (surprisingly enough) a party game, set up to play like a good old-fashioned board game featuring animated versions of all the most well-known Muppets. The 'board' is represented by the various 3D decks of the ship, and the game plays a bit like Trivial Pursuit in that the objective is to get a certain number of party favours of the same colour (they come in red, green or blue). You can play as Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, Fozzie, Gonzo or Pepe. You will also see Dr Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Sam the Eagle, Statler and Waldorf, Rowlf, Rizzo Rat and the Swedish Chef wandering around the deck - some will help you, some will hinder you. All the characters have authentic voices and are well animated.

   

There are two game modes, Long Cruise and Short Cruise (nothing to do with Tom). In Long Cruise you start in the Engine Rooms and can unlock Crews Quarters, Quality Cabins, Star Suites and finally the top deck, Royal Staterooms. You need three party favours to win a game in the Engine Rooms and seven in the Royal Staterooms.

Instead of rolling virtual dice, the Muppets have the "Moving and Grooving machine" to decide how many squares you can move around the board (basically a pinball machine). Party favours can be found just lying around the board, but you can also pass through red, green and blue doors and play a game, which if you win will earn you the party favour of the corresponding colour. There are racing games, puzzle games, shoot-em-ups, rhythm action games, collecting games, bingo, counting games, shuffleboard, tug o' war - all sorts of mini games to play - and some really good ones too. There are also yellow doors behind which are micro-games in which you can increase your Cruise Credits, which is the in-game currency that you bet, bid and buy with. Party favours are converted into Cruise Credits at the end of the game at which point you can spend them on unlocking more mini games. Short Cruise is basically a practice mode in which you can play any of the 30 mini-games that you've unlocked.

   

As you progress around the board (you can zoom out the camera and manipulate it to plan where you want to go next) you will see the other players, if you land on the same square as another character you play 'Scissors, Paper, Stone' - win and you get half their Cruise Credits, lose and you get your total halved.

On the decks are certain types of square that hold different abilities - a trading game square where you can offer trades with other players, Hypno-disc, where you can take another player's turn, teleports which take you straight to game room door, and you don't want to land on the Seasick square which will reverse your controls for the duration of the next mini-game. The ATM (automated trouble machine) allows you to switch with other players' positions and forcefully take credits or party favours from them - which is kind of mean, but very handy!

   

At the end of each level, there's a quick bonus presentation round where all the players get bonuses for just about anything (even being the worst player); opening most doors, most cruise credits, longest turn and of course the most party favours.

Muppets Party Cruise is great fun but not really immediate enough to draw in the casual gamer in the way that games like Super Monkey Ball or Mario Party did. The game structure (like a lot of board games) takes a few goes to get the hang of, and some of the mini games require a surprising level of skill to win. If playing with less than four players the computer controls the others, and the game suffers from some rather unbalanced difficulty settings, with AI characters being unbelievably good at some games and completely useless at others. Sometimes the game can border on the tedious while you wait for the computer characters to take their turn - thankfully you can put 'maniac mode' on which speeds them up. Games can also drag on a while, and surprisingly, you can't save mid-game and continue later.

   

MPC might be just the thing for a family holiday period or a rainy afternoon with friends, and has some excellent mini games to unlock, but it's a bit of a slow burner and I think most gamers will lose interest before even the shortest "Long Cruise" game is over.