Nothing more than a Mario Party mini game, Lunch A Palooza satisfies as much as two-week old moldy left overs that were originally nuked in the microwave for way too long. With no replay value, no RPG or leveling features, and a frame rate so bad it barely functions, this is one meal you will be glad you skipped.
In 2001, Super Monkey Ball was released on Nintendo Gamecube. Included were a few mini games, one of them being Monkey Fight. This simple but entertaining mini game put four players in a single screen arena with the goal of pushing opponents off the edge through use of special attacks like a giant boxing glove. Lunch A Palooza is a Monkey Fight knock-off only without any fun.
Instead of playing as a simian trapped in a ball, players take control of food with the goal of pushing opponents off the edge to score points. There are a few different modes, like King-Of-The-Hill and team deathmatch, but each variant is basically the same thing. Each playable food character has slightly different abilities, with the jelly blob being the most over powered, but all attacks carry no weight. Pressing the attack button sometimes does something, sometimes not. Sometimes an opponent will go flying with the speed of Superman, sometimes nothing will happen. Pressing the “X” button is supposed to allow the player to perform a twirl attack but was never able to get this to work. Even the rumble feature is sloppy and maddening with no way to turn off. The only thing more inconsistent than the empty attacks is the frame rate. Often dropping into the single digits, the game wants to break under its own weight. The sound effects are generic and annoying. Each match only takes a minute or two and when completed, it is back to the main menu.
There are unlockable characters and arenas but these are hardly enough incentive to suffer through the laughably dull gameplay. Even the rangetop in the background of the opening title screen doesn’t make sense as there are six burners but only three knobs. You know there is a problem when the coolest thing about this game is the arcade in the background of the one playable stage – I want to hang out there instead of playing with this food.
SCORE: 3/10
Not As Good As: Burger Time (Arcade)
Also Try: Organic Panic (Xbox One)
Don’t Forget About: Nice Slice (Switch)
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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