Let's get the whole gang together.  We'll play games at Mickey's house, get goofy with Goofy, and enjoy visiting with Donald and Daisy.  That's the premise of Disney's Party, the Disney-themed answer to Mario Party.  There are mini- (and even Minnie) games galore, but this isn't the kind of game that you might expect.  It is a board game, but there's a similar word that would more accurately describe the title.  And get this – it rhymes with board.

From the title and box art alone, you can tell that this game is geared at children.  That's no secret, so chances are if you're reading this review that isn't a problem.  With that in mind, let's start by examining the gameplay. 

Disney's Party's gameplay consists entirely of mini-games, which offer a variety of gameplay styles.  There's Balloon Bust, which throws you and three other Disney characters in a balloon to see who can stay afloat the longest.  The more thorn balls you collect, the easier it is to attack and deflate the balloons of your opponents.  One point is earned for every successful deflation.

Star Fountain is a game of crystal-collecting.  Crystals fall from above and it's up to you to collect the most.  While doing this the star fountain will continue spinning, with additional spins from the sidewalk every now and then.  You can knock your opponents down to prevent them from grabbing a crystal, but other than that there are no specific ways of defending yourself or your precious crystals.

Wildlife Watcher is a quiet, simple game of counting.  Watch as the wildlife goes by and do your best to keep track of each animal.  Give your best guess at the end of each round, and if your amount is closest to the amount of animals that ran by, you'll win.

In Old Town Shoot Out, you get the chance to pump Pete and his gang full of cork.  You can also gain extra points by pumping your opponents full of cork bullets.  You'll be penalized for hitting a townsperson so aim carefully.

Totem Pole Valley.  Didn't expect to hear about a mini-game like this, did ya?  In this one the goal is to bungee jump off a cliff towards a river below, landing as close to the water as possible without falling in.  The person (or should I say Disney character?) closest to the water wins.

Crazy Kitchen isn't Sega's take on refrigerator racing; it's a mini-game about collecting food and delivering to the counter.  Deliver multiple pieces of the same type of food to increase your score.  Steal food from your opponents to increase your score and prevent theirs from growing.

That should give you a good idea of what to expect from Disney's Party's mini-games.

Before the game begins, players are treated to a series of menus and text messages.  Why, tell me, would a game that is geared at young children be filled with menus and text messages?  Children don't play role-playing games for that very reason!  As someone who grew up playing video games, I used to cringe whenever I was forced to read a lot of garbage before the fun could begin.  I honestly doubt that the kids of today feel any differently.

These text messages aren't fun stories about Disney's greatest characters – they're explanations of what to do in the game!  I could be wrong, but isn't that what the booklet is for?  You can cut down some of the text by turning off Tinker Bell's IAM (Instantly Annoying Messenger), but that doesn't eliminate all of the torture.

That was harsh, wasn't it?  Alright then, let's engage in some mini-gaming.  Let's forget all about the annoying messages and try to have a good time.  That's what I wanted to do from the start.  However, the game disagrees with me.  See, it would rather that I continue reading and forget all about the mini-games.  When the first mini-game finally came, it was over in 30 seconds.  Then it was back to more funny-looking symbols called LETTERS, which formed WORDS, which is sadly the majority of what this game has to offer.

Truth be told, the mini-games aren't that fun anyway.  If they were awesome, or even moderately addictive, I could see myself coming back for more.  Nothing could keep me from getting more of the good stuff.  But Disney's Party doesn't have any good stuff.  The dull mini-games can't even begin to compare to the ones featured in Mario Party or Crash Bash.  Save your money for Mario Party 5...or an improved Disney's Party 2.

Gameplay: 4.2
Can the gameplay category still be used if the amount of reading outweighs the amount of playing?  That's certainly worth thinking about, because what we have here is a game that doesn't feel much like a game at all.  It's a board game, so you might not expect much, but other game developers have taken this simple, child-based concept and put it to good use.  Everyone loves Disney, so it's a real shame to see all of these great characters go to waste in a party game that doesn't live up to Disney Interactive's standards.

Graphics: 5.9
Cartoony all the way, but some of the Disney-themed locations aren't half bad.  The Disney characters look okay, but they're not fully rendered (i.e., they look slightly blocky).

Sound: 6
The new Disney voices aren't as close to the original as some of the previous Walt Disney impersonators have been, but they're not nearly as annoying as the voices in most party games.  The music isn't too bad either.

Difficulty: Easy
The hardest part of Disney's Party is trying to suffer through all of the text messages.

Concept: 5
Disney's Party would have gotten a higher score if it had not been for all of the reading involved.  Honestly, who came up with that?  It's a crazy idea, so please, if a sequel is to be made, scrap it and replace it with something more interesting.

Multiplayer: 3
Here's a game for you and your friends: see who can stand to play Disney's Party the longest.  The person who's still awake the end of the game wins.

Overall: 4.1
It's hard to believe that Disney's Party is a Disney game.  It offers none of the qualities of a Disney game, and will disappointingly give the player – young or old – nothing but grief.  There's a limit to how much patience a person can possibly have.  No one should sit around and play a game for an hour just because it might get interesting.  Or because it might become fun.