Video Game Vintage Title: Fuzion Frenzy 2

Fuzion Frenzy 2

Fuzion Frenzy 2 is a multiplayer party game for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to the original Fuzion Frenzy, which was a launch title for the original Xbox.

Fuzion Frenzy 2 Gameplay

Like its predecessor, Fuzion Frenzy 2 is a multiplayer game in which players choose colorful characters and compete to win a tournament made up of various mini-games. All six of the original characters - Dub, Geena, Jet, Naomi, Samson, and Zak - make their return, although in most cases with new and different character designs. Up to four players can play, with any positions not filled by humans occupied by computer-controlled opponents of configurable difficulty levels.

While the original title had players playing in various zones on a single planet, Fuzion Frenzy 2 sets the action across seven different planets. The effect on gameplay is similar, as each planet has a certain set of mini-games specific to that planet's environment. There are roughly forty different mini-games, although many of these must be unlocked through play (at a rate of one per successful victory).

Discarding the orbs of Fuzion Frenzy, the new game instead directly awards players points after each mini-game based on their performance. Additionally, players who finish first in mini-games are given a special item which increases their attack, defense, or health during the final stage on that particular planet. At the conclusion of this final stage, the player with the highest cumulative point total wins the planet. Afterwards, all point totals are reset and play continues on a different planet. Tournaments end when a pre-determined number of planets (chosen during game setup) have been won by a single player.

Reception
Fuzion Frenzy 2 was universally not as well received as its predecessor. Many felt that Hudson had taken the series in an unwelcome direction, providing a "value title" at nearly full price. The announcer, DJ Varcanno, added between the mini-games (in an effort to lend the title a game show-quality) was criticised as unnecessary, and the card system was felt to give too much weight to luck, meaning that players who consistently won mini-games were not guaranteed to receive the highest number of points.

GameSpot and IGN gave it a 7.0 and 6.0 respectively, with the introduction of online play (via Xbox Live) welcomed as a worthwhile inclusion. Other review sites and magazines had lower opinions, with Game Informer granting it the dubious honor of "Worst Game of the Year" and G4's game review show, X-Play, giving the game 2 out of 5. With a relatively poor presentation and less-inspired mini-games, reviewers were disappointed that the sequel failed to deliver improvements over the original.