The Nintendo Wii was home to quite a collection of party games. These games were what helped bring casual and non-gamers to the console, making it one of the most sold systems to date. Unfortunately this also led to a plethora of games that became to hard to sift through to find the right one to play. The Nintendo Wii U is having the opposite problem, with not enough of these being released.

Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade is a valiant effort. All the games seemed catered to an audience that won’t care for polish or graphics; just how fun a game can be. That being said, this game collection can easily get frustrating when you cannot get to the next level. Services like www.iwantcheats.net are a lifesaver in such situations. Each game feels like it would be better suited as a free phone app rather than bundled and sold for $30. Most of the games doesn’t even use the Wii U Gamepad and the ones that do are either horribly unresponsive or boring. In fact many of the games only use the Wii-mote, making me wonder why they didn’t just develop this game for the Wii instead.

While there are plenty of party games that can be fun, there is simply no way to enjoy Family Party. I tried a myriad of ways to enjoy this, but the stale games and the creepy bear mascot destroyed any hope I had. This game might be good if you’re in desperate need for a stocking stuffer, but even then there are plenty of old Wii games that could fit that bill. It seems as though the Wii U has gotten it’s first piece of shovel-ware and while this won’t be the last, at least it was obvious about it.

Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade is available now for the Nintendo Wii U at a suggested retail price of $29.99 – we’ve provided some gameplay for you to check out – enjoy!