If each platform has a tendency to specialize in a few select genres, the Wii's specialty is unquestionably the "party" game. Thanks to the overwhelming success of pack-in title Wii Sports, party-style games promote having fun with family and friends while showcasing the system's distinctive motion-sensing controls by offering a variety of applications that incorporate multiple control styles. Squeeballs Party enters an extremely crowded market by emphasizing one unusual twist: its characters. Reminiscent of the '80s toy line Madballs, the bug-eyed Squeeballs are animal-like critters that apparently have to be tortured to get their seal of approval as toys.

Squeeballs Party includes more than 150 mini-game variants, but all are grouped under eleven core game types, most of which offer few surprises. From Wii Sports there are takes on golf, tennis, and bowling. From Cooking Mama, you have an assortment of fast-paced food preparation drills. "Crazy Lanes" calls to mind Super Monkey Ball, while both "Feeding Frenzy" and "Stampede" involve firing things at targets like in any of the Wii's first-person shooters. The nice thing is that these types of games are all on one disc, only require use of the Wii Remote, and keep track of your high scores. One of the best titles is the oddly cathartic "Paint By Squeeballs," which has you coloring pictures by firing a slingshot.

Yet one of the big problems with Squeeballs is that its characters don't fit the game's tone. Unlike the Raving Rabbids or the elves from the many Elf Bowling offshoots, the Squeeballs aren't deranged lunatics that want to hurt or ridicule you. They don't insult you with funny voices, and they are more cute than crazed -- which makes what you are doing to them bizarre. You literally send Squeeballs through a meat grinder in the cooking games, before adding salt, sautéing them, and feeding them to another character. They look genuinely scared, too, which is a little disturbing. The developers need to re-think how these creatures are marketed -- make them gross and rude, not cute and cuddly. Look to games like the Rayman Raving Rabbids series for ideas on how to create characters beaming with personality.

The mini-games themselves are merely adequate. All control fine, but few are activities that you want to play over and over again. Bowling, for instance, feels slow and the pin physics are off. The tennis-style games, which have you waving the Wii Remote like a racket to hit Squeeballs launched out of a ball machine, require little more than just waving your hand in the air, waving like you just don't care. One missed opportunity was leaving out a variant on billiards (or for that matter, baseball and basketball), which seems like a no-brainer. Since few titles require any degree of technique, the game's modest challenge limits its appeal to those 13 and under.

Considering its lower retail price compared to other Wii titles, Squeeballs Party is certainly worth a look for younger audiences new to this style of game. The difficulty curve is just right for children, some of the mini-games are goofy fun, and there is added replay value with the single-player challenge mode, which has you completing specific objectives in each game type to unlock additional variants for use in either the four-player party mode or the two-player head-to-head mode. Yet as a complete package, Squeeballs Party isn't strong enough to compete with the system's best party games, like WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Mario Party 8, or Wii Sports Resort. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The Squeeballs are expressive creatures, and the environments are suitably bright and colorful. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

While the Squeeballs will scream and "ooh" or "aah," they don't egg you on with funny dialogue. The voices should be a big part of the game's appeal. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The mini-games aren't particularly deep or taxing, but younger audiences will appreciate the variety of objectives to complete. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

There are two multiplayer modes and a single-player challenge mode that unlocks variants for each of the game's 11 activities. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide