This, ladies and gentlemen, is the game with which Microsoft tries to take the Xbox 360 more mainstream. Freed from the shackles of launch year, where the gaming line-up traditionally targets the hardened gamer, for its second Christmas the firm pinned many hopes on this bizarre diversion from the house of Rare.

Rare, you may remember, were the brains behind the N64 classic GoldenEye, and even further back were the champions of 8-bit machines under their previous guise, Ultimate Play The Game. Yet when Microsoft bought Rare, the theory was that it would weaken Nintendo and really strengthen the Xbox software library.

Only that hasn't happened. The few games that have trickled out - Perfect Dark Zero, Grabbed By The Ghoulies, Kameo et al - haven't come near Rare's previous standards, and many pundits were arguing that Microsoft had wasted its money.

It might be time for those pundits to eat their words.

Viva Pinata is a rarity, you see. It's different, a bit brave, and while it doesn't always reach the level of its ambition, it's nonetheless a fascinating game. And, oddly, it starts with a bit of gardening. Because the aim here is to put together a garden, using your key tools of a shovel, seeds and a watering can, and then attract piñatas into it.

So at first you'll tidy up the initial mess, plant some grass seed and get things into a decent state. Do that, and curious piñatas gradually start to wander in. If they like what they find, and it's up to you to discover what each species warms to and to tailor things to suit, then they'll stay. And while you can't make everyone happy - although there's an encyclopaedia that can help you understand what each species strand wants - the idea is generally to attract as many piñatas successfully to your little space in the world as possible, and then to look after them while they're there.

Once they've moved in, then you're encouraged to get them to breed. This isn't too tricky at first and if you find that two of them fall for each other, it's off for a 'romance dance' (again, assuming that the necessary demands are in place to facilitate this; as the game progresses it gets much, much more difficult). That's in keeping with the family-focused theme of things. Sadly, the romance dance triggers an eventually tedious little mini-game, which is arguably the weakest point of the whole package.

Viva Pinata is a surprisingly easy game to get the hang of though, courtesy of a useful, if hardly comprehensive, mini-tutorial, and the simple concept. But it does get quite tricky and very deep. For instance, some piñatas simply won't take to each other, and you're constantly fighting a finite budget.

There are also sour piñatas to watch out for, who will come in and attack your garden's residents. This may result in them falling ill - which necessitates costly medical attention - or dying, which is bound to traumatise some of the game's younger audience. Finally, there's also the fact that the game encourages you to experiment and try lots of different things, some of which will work, others won't. If you don't try things, though, your chances of discovering the very rarest piñatas aren't high.

Bluntly, it's utterly engrossing. Casual observers may wonder what all the fuss is about, but a couple of hours with Viva Pinata simply flies by. It's genuinely fascinating and replete with many variables. If anything, aside from the aforementioned mini-game, the only fly in the ointment is that younger players may struggle with it as it gets more complex. It's as easy to use throughout, but getting results becomes increasingly challenging.

Still, this is an immense achievement, and easily one of the most interesting games we've seen for a while. It marks a terrific return to form for Rare, a potential landmark in Xbox 360 software and a great way to lose potentially weeks and months of your life. Even if your mates will wonder what all the fuss was about...

Verdict
One or two niggles aside, this is one of the most interesting, addictive and different games we've seen for a while. You'll get top value for money out of it, too.

Company: Rare

Tags: viva piñata ultimate play the game goldeneye perfect dark zero microsoft xbox grabbed by the ghoulies video games