Party Pigs: Farmyard Games (Wii)

The Wii's latest party game, PARTY PIGS: FARMYARD GAMES, is a compilation of nine self-explanatory track and field mini-games, including: the 100m dash, 110m hurdles, long jump, high jump, hammer throw, javelin, 100m diving, high diving, and turnip toss.

Activities related to speed have players shake the Wii remote and nunchuk, while those involving jumps or poses require players to perform quick swiping movements. Players can engage in either single events or collections of events in groups of up to four players. Activities and group events are unlocked as you progress. It takes about 90 minutes to unlock all events and competitions in the game.

Party Pigs looks nice enough. You can choose from a sextet of porky protagonists, all of whom are remarkably ugly yet oddly appealing, thanks to little details like their pot bellies, tusks, buck teeth, hair curls, and nose rings. The events are very accessible; most can be mastered within minutes, though engaging in multiple speed events one after another will likely leave your forearms burning. Harder difficulty levels increase the challenge.

What we've been given is acceptable. The problem is simply that Party Pigs is ridiculously short. With just nine events -- none of which takes longer than a minute or two to complete -- and nothing in the way of a story or ongoing career, it feels unfinished. Developer Destineer had the courtesy of making it a $20 budget title, but that's still much too expensive for what they've delivered. There are plenty of longer, better party games available for the Wii.