Fuzion Frenzy was originally Blitz Games’ foray into the mini-game world on that other console, the Xbox. This time around, Hudson of Bomberman fame will be rearing the helm. Typically mini-games consist of fun and simple games which don’t last long but have nearly infinite replay values. Multiplayer is usually associated with mini-games, coming hand-in-hand with each other to keep things interesting for years to come (or until next year’s reiteration, Mario Party). For the most part, Fuzion Frenzy was fair when it came to qualifying for a multiplayer mini-game compilation. Its games ranged from average to oddly addictive, with at least 50 of them to play. Somehow, Fuzion Frenzy 2 comes up short on not only good gameplay, but doesn’t mind cutting down on the amount of games. Right off the bat, it’s hard to enjoy this game.

Believe it or not, Fuzion Frenzy has a story along with all this crazy mini-game madness. As players on an intergalactic TV show, Fuzion Frenzy, participants must compete with three other players in order to save their planet. That’s it. Outside of the backstory that Fuzion Frenzy was originally dropped due to it becoming too competitive, but then reinstated as an intergalactic competition, no writers were hired for this game. It’s easy to assume that, at least.

Now, to dig into the extreme games. Out of 40 mini-games, there are maybe four worth playing. That line summarizes the entire game. If the gameplay isn’t broken, the collision detection isn’t awful, or camera angles poor, then it’s passable at best. Perhaps even the games worth playing are only worth playing after being irritated with the rest of Fuzion Frenzy 2’s offerings. These “offerings” are almost insulting, as well. For starters, each of the seven planets in the game features its own Rumble mini-game. Rumbles are generic brawls where the four players are dumped into a ring and made to fight until the last man standing wins. That’s right, almost a quarter of Fuzion Frenzy 2’s mini-games are nearly the same game.

There are a few highlights, such as the sumo balls from Fuzion Frenzy (which were always fun), or Tube Racing (think F-Zero, if F-Zero were half as fun), but for the most part each game consists of the same controls and concept. Most of the games which are fun come from the original Fuzion Frenzy, which was already a decent game. Normally it would be unfair to say this about a mini-game compilation title, but normally in Fuzion Frenzy 2 the controls in a mini-game are A for Jump, X for attack or whatever context-sensitive action can be preformed, and B for blocking. It’s uncanny how easily Fuzion Frenzy adopts its own control scheme to nearly a third of itself in order to seem accessible.

Where the game is not generic or boring, it is frustrating. Pattern-based games which rely on coordinated button presses to leap to another platform or recite a pattern only become a pain as the computer obviously has no problem missing a beat and the level speeds up at an alarming rate. In one specific game where players must fill each other’s machines with water in order to sink them, players must button mash on X or with the right trigger to consistently fill each other up. This quickly leads to cramped hands all-around, but losing proves to be more painful as when the same game is approached alone against CPUs and have two gang up on the player at once. Other problems come from poor control schemes like when trying to steer a vehicle or judging when to jump over a laser. This comes straight out of the game’s insistent isometric view, which constantly messes with the game’s control setup.

It’s easy to blame Fuzion Frenzy 2 for being unimaginative, but more interesting to muse on about why. The audio department is a great place to start. Boring background music nearly begs the custom soundtrack to step in. On top of this is the DJ, who should have been left out entirely. In a game called Fuzion Frenzy, where one may be led to assume things would be frantic or in a frenzy of sorts, he takes up far too much time between games to talk about how exciting everything is. Nor will the DJ let up in-game, with as many as five things to say about every player for the duration of the entire game. Fortunately his comments can be skipped and the VO can be silenced.

The art style is also uninspired, simply highlighting each character with a main color. Somehow, it’s still easy to lose yourself in a crowd. Despite the fact that there are seven planets, there’s not much of a difference in what types of mini-games are accessible –even if they are themed. For crying out loud one of its planets is called Moisture, featuring a planet which is 99% water… but you knew that already. The animations are stiff, and with huge hit-boxes surrounding each character, actual combat is a bore to watch almost as much as it is to play. The only strategy there is to this game comes in cards players get. These are basically power-ups which allow players to multiply their score, divide others, or gain dominance over selecting the next mini-game or planet played in.

Fuzion Frenzy 2’s greatest sin is in how it doles out achievement points for simply playing the game. There is no goal, except to finish a tournament with one character and then receive 50 points. Unlocking the extremely small amount of mini-games available nets even more. There are no interesting goals to attempt to achieve, nor will Fuzion Frenzy 2 challenge players to be creative. With the game’s shallow offerings and the short time it takes to accomplish everything, Achievement Points are the only thing Fuzion Frenzy 2 has to offer.

In short, it’s simply not worth the mundane presentation. A round of play lasts ten minutes at minimum, but there’s no excuse for annoyances such as computer players taking 15 seconds to choose a mini-game or the DJ being allowed to select the first mini-game the first time. There is only one unlockable game on each planet and no extra characters, hardly providing any room to explore. Nobody is online for a quick match or tournament, and after unlocking the handful of hidden games there is nothing else to do with Fuzion Frenzy. With online play available but no one online, and even offline with friends, there’s nothing that will keep gamers interested for long. The game even feels like it’s taking too long to complete, even though a complete play through can be finished in less than two hours. Ultimately, there’s no reason to bother with Fuzion Frenzy 2 unless you’re very bored and have played all the video games in the world.