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Hmmm, better late than never with a review for an Xbox launch title, I suppose! :( Seeing as how it's been a while since Fuzion Frenzy has appeared on store shelves in November along with the Xbox, we'll cut straight to the chase and start doling out the impressions of this multiplayer party game.

Indeed, Fuzion Frenzy itself wouldn't waste any time getting players to take part in the 40+ mini-games that are available total. There's no board game to move around in as per the Mario Party series, and no cards to draw ala Sonic Shuffle. All players need to do is choose their characters (we didn't see any difference in the way any of them played), set the number of games they want to play in all, and the game automatically starts choosing the mini-games for you. The mini-games themselves are quite varied in terms of controls and objectives, and because the characters don't really have specific strengths and weaknesses, it's all a matter of the players' own skill to achieve victory. The variety is respectable, with free-for-all and team-based games available, though the fixed camera angles in many of them may confuse players.

New players may find themselves falling behind in terms of orbs needed to win the game, but a special wildcard comes in the form of a free-for-all match that appears every four mini-games called "Fuzion Frenzy". Fuzion Frenzy allows you to bet a number of orbs that determine how many orbs you'll start this special match with. Bet more to start with more and get an early lead, but lose them to another player and you'll fall behind fast. This match is a nice way to even things out since it's quite simple to play, but it's just not as fun as the other mini-games and you may find that the potential to turn the tide of the game so quickly with just this Fuzion Frenzy match alone makes the other mini-games a little redundant. Nonetheless, skilled players will know what to look out for and how to rack orbs up quickly, so it's not entirely an balance-shifting mini-game.

That's of course if you choose to play the regular game mode. You and your friends can of course choose to play whatever mini-games you want from the mini-game mode, so if you find the way the regular game tends to group similiar mini-games together every few matches a little monotonous (aquatic mini-games will primarily appear in the dock areas of the regular game journey, for example), you can choose to mix things up even more by selecting mini-games to play. This method of choosing games will certainly help the multiplayer experience last longer since the regular game tends to end all too quickly!

The sights and sounds of Fuzion Frenzy are more than adequate for a party game, but the graphics tend to be a little dark with all the colors going to the lighting and particle effects (which are actually quite good). It's a shame that you'll notice the framerate drop quite often, which is a little surprising given the great potential of this powerful system. They certainly don't show the Xbox's best. The sound really fits the party atmosphere of the game though, with an overall techno and hip-hop feel to it. Voice acting is a little jarring, with accents that seem a little heavily forced, but then again the game just isn't the same without the fruity trash talk.

Fuzion Frenzy succeeds in presenting itself as a fully-fledged party game for the Xbox, but with so many other strong Xbox titles with a multiplayer element (four player or not) we're hard pressed to recommend it on its own. However, Fuzion Frenzy is easy to learn and players should get into it quite quickly, so it's not without merit. It makes a fine rental for the Xbox assuming you have more than two people over who all want to play at once!

Overall Score: 75%

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