As part of the PlayStation 2's holy trinity of casual gamer friendly franchises, which also includes EyeToy and SingStar, Buzz! is one of those rare cases where being a one trick pony is exactly what makes it so appealing. The initial games were simple interactive quiz games, whose big gimmick was that they came with a set of special game show buzzer controllers instead of relying on the traditional DualShock controller. The Buzz! Junior games though are a slightly different affair - you still use the simple five button buzzers, but to play mini-games not answer questions.
As a sequel to Jungle Party this actually does pretty well, with a much more consistent range of mini-games than the original. There's no separate single player mode any more though, with computer controlled opponents simply filling in the gaps. There's also not much of a plot either, as you simply compete with other primary coloured robots at the Robot Academy. Thankfully this doesn't involve a two hour maths exam, but instead mini-games like rhythm action variant Octo Beat, hammer throwing (but with robots), Whack-A-Mole with aliens, and cybernetic basketball.
Few of the mini-games are genuinely original, and there are only twenty-five, but they are at least all entertaining. The only caveat to all this is that, unlike things like Mario Party, this is strictly for very young children. No one with an age in double digits is going to tolerate it for very long - but then that's largely the point, since so few games are aimed at very young kids nowadays. Particularly if you've already got the buzzer controllers from a previous game (or aim to use them again) this is actually quite an effective form of interactive child quietener.
Harrison Dent
