Venturian Battle Party

Venturian Battle Party is a party game for the Nintendo Switch. The host of the game is Lionel for the boards while Duke is the host for mini games, and Giuseppe Marino appears at the end of Boards to initiate an event the same as the Last Five Turns Event from Mario Party games.

Story
On a night outside of the Castlerex, Robert Jacob and his friends are gathered to watch the Hell Stars glitter in the clouds. As Robert peers though the telescope, he is shocked as he notices that the stars are being sucked through a tornado. It is then revealed to be Clip on a spacecraft, who is using a vacuum cleaner to suck the stars out of the clouds and into boxes. Upon witnessing this, Robert and theknights set out to kill him finally and save the Hell Stars. After they start their journey, a Dead Slender and Hag are seen coming out of the forest and follom them, as part of Clip's plan.

Before each board, there is a cut scene that features Clip admiring his collection of Hell Stars. A cannibal then runs over to him to show him the progression of Robert's group. Clip is pissed, but summons two of his henchmen to stop the group before they can take all the Hell Stars. Eventually, however, the group reach Clip's location, Clip Station, and must face the cannibal before battling Clip.

After the final battle with Clip, the player looks out from the ballpark at Clip's other platform, where the canisters containing all the Hell Stars burst and release them back to where they once were. As this happens, Clip and the cannibals are flying off. Clip is mourning over the failure of his plan, which he reveals was to decorate his fort using the Hell Stars. However, upon seeing the released Hell Stars, Clip is pissed and chases off the ones that fly to him. However, this only results in him falling out of his vehicle; the cannibals fly down to save him, before the reveal of his final and permanent death. Back at the Castlerex, Robert and his brothes are once again gathered around the telescope to admire the Hell Stars as they glisten in the night clouds.

Gameplay
In Venturian Battle Party, players walk through the board, taking turns rolling, moving from a starting point to an ending point. Instead of rolling a die with a 1-10 on it like in the previous games, players can only roll a dice block with a 1-6 on it; however, there are other dice blocks that can be collected, which includes a dice block that allows a 1-10 roll. Players collect golden ingots to win. While doing so, players must also avoid hazards, which deduct their current amount of gold bars. The player who collects the most gold by the end of the game is declared the winner, and earns a Hell Star.

New mini game types include 1 vs. 2 minigames against Clip, alongside the standard 1v1v1v1, 1v3, and 2v2 mini games in other party games. In this game, the minigames do not appear after every player has moved, but only when a player ends up on any of the spaces that triggers a mini game. Also, when receiving dice blocks, a mini game will pop up after as well. Unlike Mario Party games, where often only the winner(s) of a mini game receives a reward, all mini games are ranked from first to last place and generally all players receive gold, with players in a high position earning more.

During a party, there are two board events that are required to occur before advancing: Captain Events and Boss Battles. The former occurs whenever a player arrives on a Captain Event Space. The event differs for each board, but they all allow the players to earn more golden ingots, though the player that has started the event always has control over the event, putting them in an advantage state. As for Boss Battles, there are two Boss Battle Spaces on every board, one at a castle and one at the end. During the Boss Battle mini games, players must work together to kill a boss while attempting to increase their own individual scores, as the player with the highest score wins the mini game, which gives more gold ingots than normal.

Modes
This game has 5 modes in all. They are:
 * Party Mode
 * Solo Mode
 * Minigame Mode
 * Museum
 * Extras

Party Mode
Party Mode involves the players going around the board like with the previous games. The amount of Venture Points that the players will earn is determined by how much gold they have at the end of the game. However, if handicaps are used, the handicap amount will not count towards the Venture Point total; for example, if a player has a 25 Gold handicap, and finishes with 50 ingots, they will only earn 25 Venture Points. Notably, should a player end a game with less than 5 bars, 5 Venture Points are added regardless of how low their gold count is. This is independent for each player that ends with under 10 gold ingots (for example, a 4-player game that ends with gold bar counts of 105, 67, 60 and 3 without any handicaps gives a total of 237 Venture Points although the gold total is only 235).

Solo
The game's story mode, Solo Mode involves the players traveling across all six boards to kill Clip and save the golden ingots. Completing Solo Mode will award the player 500 Venture Points, and the gold bar grand total will also be added onto the player's Venture Point amount; for example, finishing Solo Mode with a grand total of 500 gold will award the player 1000 Party Points.

Mini Game
Duke is the host of Mini Game Mode. Note: When finished, all game modes award 10 Venture Points, except for Free Play, which awards just 1 Venture Point per finished mini game.
 * Free Play: In the Free Play mode, the players can play unlocked mini games freely.
 * Step It Up: In this mode, players must win mini games to climb stairs. The player who reaches the top first win.
 * Garden Warfare: The players must get puzzle pieces to fill their gardens by winning mini games. The player who completes it first wins.
 * Choice Challenge: All the players choose three mini games from a group of five that they would like to play. These mini games are played and points are earned by placing in mini games: whoever gets the most points wins.
 * High Rollers: In this mode, the players must win mini games to roll a Die to pass through a panel floor, earning points based on the squares they pass over. The player who gets 500 points first wins.
 * Time Attack: The player must win 10 preset mini games as quick as they can.
 * Boss Rush: The players must kill a series of bosses to win.

Museum
The Museum is where the players can spend Venture Points to buy various things such as Hell Star space, game sounds, vehicles or extra game modes. They can also watch the credits. Once they return a constellation into the sky, the players can go to see it in the clouds.

Extras
In Extras, the player can play through various extra mini games such as Fort Clear, Polyester Soccer or an extended version of Hei Bowling. There is also a mode called Perspective Mode, in which the player plays through ten mini games that have a modified camera angle, making them harder to win.

Other Characters

 * Lionel
 * Duke
 * Giuseppe Marino
 * Heis
 * Shooters
 * Whittlers
 * Dlabs
 * Lutefisk


 * Pipipis
 * Custos
 * Espouses
 * Bottlenoses
 * Roboewes
 * Living Bullets
 * Goliaths
 * Acetoneons


 * Laser Sharks
 * Chuckit Cancers
 * Skimmers
 * Fruitbats
 * Grotto Crawlers
 * Cannibals
 * Flamethrower
 * Wyvefleas


 * Polar Bears
 * Stone Creatures
 * Snowlems
 * Kraken
 * Seafood
 * Oozes
 * Overbig Shark

Dice
Venturian Battle Party's items consist entirely of Dice, allowing the user to roll a specific number easily from a specific range of values. These can be obtained by landing on a Die Space.

ESRB
Platform: Nintendo Switch

Rating Category: T

Content Descriptors: Fantasy Violence, Language, Use of Tobacco

Rating Summary: This is a collection of multiplayer mini-games (i.e., “party games”) in which players compete against characters from the Venturian galaxy to collect the most gold ingots. Players roll dice to move around multicolored game boards: landing on certain spaces triggers combat sequences or boss battles (e.g., characters knocking each other into molten rock; pounding on an oversize earwig; shooting BMGs and Bira Guns at a huge Bacculite). Damage is indicated by flashing, realistic screams, colossal explosions, and/or falling to the ground surrounded by gadflies. The word "sh*t" appears in the dialogue. Certain characters consume tobacco products (i.e. cigarettes, cigars, hookahs, pipes, chew).

Common Sense Media
Review:
 * Age: 14+
 * Quality: *****
 * Description: Straightforward party game creates fun for fans of the show.
 * Platform: Nintendo Switch
 * Price: $59.99
 * Genre: Party
 * Release Year: 2018

Parents need to know that Venturian Battle Party is a vintage party game suitable for teenage Venturian Battle fans. Players engage in fast and uncomplicated games that the target demographic should be able to win. The game has some intense violence in the form of players killing opponents or hostiles slaying characters, but it is fantastical and none of the characters are never graphically shown dead. Some strong language such as "sh*t" is used, as is tobacco usage as in cigarettes, cigars, hookahs, pipes, and chewing.

What parents need to know:
 * Positive Messages: * This game sends the message that video games are inherently chimerical, though earnestness towards winning or losing is encouraged.
 * Positive Role Models: The characters, who engage in a steady stream of prodigious activities, are negative behavioral models.
 * Ease of Play: ** Players need to learn new controls for each of the 80 mini-games they encounter. However, the controls are always extremely intuitive. Succinct instructions and the ability to practice games before playing them in official competition mitigate severe anger and ensure players are always well prepared for the challenge. Multiple computer difficulty levels let players customize the challenge, though even the normal difficulty level can be resistant to beat.
 * Violence & Scariness: **** Expect standard Venture action. Players stab each other, shoot machine guns at a scary leviathan, get murdered by enemies, and fall into lava flows. It is extremely fantastical in presentation, and none of the characters appear to graphically die.
 * Sexy Stuff: Not applicable.
 * Language: *** Sh*t is sprinkled in the dialogue, alongside more profane words like "a**hole".
 * Drinking, Drugs, & Smoking: *** Giuseppe Marino smokes cigars, alongside other tobacco usage.
 * Consumerism: *** Players will encounter many Venture and Venturian Battle characters.