Rio

I know that you have taken a look at Rio and right away written it off as another licensed game that is not worth the disc it was printed on! While licensed games do have a bit of a stigma about them. Rio The Video Game much like the movie it is based on is pretty damn underrated and a far more fun time than many people will ever give it credit for.

Movie or Game?

Like most other licensed games, it does manage to follow the plot of the movie fairly well. There is the main story mode and this mode actually uses clips from the Rio movie to move things along. What is strange about this is that they do not use voice acting and instead the clips are silent! This is really weird and it does take you out of getting too invested in the plot.

The Games May Be Mini, But They Are Big On Fun

You would probably suspect that Rio The Video Game is a 3D platform game and I can see why. That would have made the most sense as it is what most other licensed games do. For this game, they tried something different and that is a mini-game compilation, kind of similar to what we get with Mario Party, but without the board. The game features around 40 mini-games for you to play and there is a decent variety. You have rhythm ones, combat ones, sports ones, quizzes, and more. The selection is decent enough and each game is easy enough to figure out what you have to do.

Game Mode Mania

As well as the story mode, Rio has a ton of other ways for you to enjoy the mini-games on offer here. There is a Party Mode where four players can either go at it solo or in teams of two to see who the winner is. The Garland Mode is really cool in that you are still playing the mini-games, but there is a final round at the end where literally the person in last place can end up the winner. This mode is very unpredictable and a ton of fun to play. There is also a Carnival Mode and a Spinning Wheel mode as well. These both offer you different ways to compete with your friends and against the AI. The mini-games for the most part are all fun, but the quiz questions do start to repeat fairly quickly which is a shame.

Pros:

• Lots of fun mini-games to enjoy
• The game follows the plot of the movie pretty well
• The graphics are pretty damn solid
• The music is fun and very fitting
• It is a really fun game to play with the family

Cons:

• The quiz questions repeat far too quickly
• Why are the cut scenes from the movie without dialogue?