It’s been over a year now since Sony launched its motion-based technology called the PlayStation Move and since then many game developers have thrown in their lots. We’ve seen sporting games, virtual pets and sharp-shooters but every once in a while a game comes out that epitomizes motion gaming and Carnival Island is one of those games.

With over 35 entertaining carnival games, plenty of unlockable characters and an exhilarating party mode, you won’t have to wait for the circus to come to town to have some magical family fun.

The stage is set on an old neglected Carnival set atop a magical floating island. There are four booths or sections to the Island each with five games and a collection of challenges. You are tasked with bringing life and colour back to the dull and derelict surroundings by playing your way through the various stalls and unlocking an entourage of friendly mascots to cheer you on in your endeavour.

From an aesthetic point of view, the game has a bold cartoony style with some bright and colourful anime-inspired movie sequences. While Carnival Island may not be the best showcase for the latest graphics or amazing high quality textures, it still manages to capture the thrill and feeling of going to a carnival with its vivid backdrops and vibrant show-stopping attractions.

Carnival Island is essentially a collection of party games but what really sets it apart from other mini-game collections is the distinctive game modes. For larger crowds, you can show off your skill in party mode, or for a more intimate visit to Carnival Island, you can play through the challenges one-on-one. Finally, when everyone’s gone home and all the candy floss is finished, there’s a fanciful singleplayer mode waiting to be discovered where you can discover the mystery behind the enchanted floating island.

So what kind of games can you expect to play in Carnival Island? You’ll find everything from shooting cans and flipping coins, to the more peculiar frog bogging - which involves launching our amphibious friends onto targets for points. It does the basics really well, starting off with simple mechanics and then adding variations and complexities as you progress. Each game is easy to learn and difficult to master with the ‘Hero’ challenges sure to keep you trying ‘just one more time’ to unlock those achievements.

A large chunk of the games are variants of ball games, but luckily there is a lot of diversity ranging from bowling to basketball. The shooting games have a strong Western gun slinging feel to them with bandit shaped cardboard cut-outs, Saloon-style bottle pot shots and back alley skeet shooting. Then there is coin flicking and ring toss which take some level of skill but prove rewarding when done right.

Now, let’s talk party mode. With support for up to four players at a time this has got to be one of the quickest ways to culture up some good clean fun. Choose from either a random blend of games in party mix or put together your own set of challenges for some tailor-made fun. Carnival Island allows you to use as many Move controllers as you have or, if you’re a little short on hardware, you can simply share the remote in a pass-and-play fashion. What really amazed me was how each time playing party mix, I discovered different variations of the mini-games that I’d never seen before – the replayability is strong with this one.

In addition to being a very well-rounded collection of mini-games, Carnival Island also tries to get a little creative with the PlayStation Eye in the fun house mirror booths. During the story mode, you will unlock warped and distorted mirrors as well as some hilarious photo cut-outs to experiment with. If you’re feeling really brave you can even post your pictures to Facebook. Whilst not counting towards any points, this is just the kind of innovation that would have been great to have seen more of in Carnival Island.

In terms of what to expect from motion control, think of the precise accuracy of Sports Champions combined with the fun-loving, pick-up-and-play appeal of Start the Party. Magic Pixel Games certainly spent a great deal of time ensuring that it got the controls working as effectively as the studio could – it may not seem like a big deal but it’s great to see game developers taking full advantage of the Move controller. Small things like the colour of the orb changing to correspond to the player in control or flashing in a series of bright lights when you’ve beaten a challenge.

By far the most attractive feature of Carnival Island has got to be how responsive the motions are in almost all activities. Whether you’re tossing hoops or looking down the scope of an air rifle, the Move delivers consistent feedback with every throw and turn. Together with a great party mode and a bucket load of variation in gameplay, this is one family collection not to miss out on.

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