I played some Fuzion Frenzy 2 this weekend. I saw it was coming out so I rented it because I always had a good time playing the original Fuzion Frenzy when I had friends over. The original Fuzion Frenzy was not known for its great graphics, and the controls were a little odd at times, but it made up for that with fun mini-games that could be played over-and-over by just about anyone. So, when I saw Fuzion Frenzy 2 was coming out and would be playable of Xbox Live I thought it should be pretty fun. Turns out I was very, very wrong!

Not only does Fuzion Frenzy 2 continue the tradition of lousy graphics, but the controls are even worse this time around. I always had issues with Fuzion Frenzy’s controls because any of the mini-games that require an attack would not let you move (hit, kick, or shoot depending on the game) while the attack was occurring. It was annoying, but you got use to it. In Fuzion Frenzy 2 they have continued this tradition and added movement penalties to many of the mini-games. So, if you try to hit someone and just barely miss, instead of just trying to hit them again you stand there as they get away. Additionally, if you get hit, if you accidentally miss and hit something electric, or if you miss a jump and fall into anything you can’t move for a couple seconds which gives your opponents an even larger chance to get ahead.

If these were the only issues I would probably be able to ignore them like in the original, but they are not. Most of the mini-games are not nearly as fun as the original. Maybe I just need to spend a little more time with the game to find the new games that are the best, but I just can’t bring myself to play that long. Moreover, Fuzion Frenzy 2 comes with some of the mini-games locked so that you have to unlock them by playing through matches. I find this really annoying for a game that is designed as a party game. I don’t want to have friends over, then not be able to play all of a game because I have not gone through previously and played matches to unlock everything.

In addition, Fuzion Frenzy 2 does not reward the best player like the original Fuzion Frenzy. Fuzion Frenzy 2 adds a multiplier reward system that you can use to multiply your score at the end of the round, but in every match I played the player in last always got the largest multiplier and the players in second and third get ones that allow them to reverse another player’s multiplier. So even if you win a round the other players can make you actually get the least points.

If you plan on playing this game despite my warnings, be prepared to play with the sound turned off because after 2 minutes you will have heard ever single sound clip that the announcer has to say. I’m pretty sure I can count the number of things he says on one hand.

Finally, Fuzion Frenzy 2 has one of my largest pet peeves. It has a lot of useless cut scenes between matches. After a round ends it takes almost 2 minutes to start the next match, and that is if I repeatedly hit A to skip the cut scenes. Instead of keeping the game play going by going straight from one round to the next it tries to add a “story line” feel to the game by “traveling” from one event to another.

The only people I can see playing the game for more than 20 minutes are the few Achievement Whores who will do anything to raise their game score. If you fall into this group you are in luck because the achievements Fuzion Frenzy 2 has can probably be completed in a single Saturday afternoon.

I give it 2 Thumbs Way Down. The game play is simply not fun enough to compensate for the bad controls, lousy graphics, and annoying cut scenes. I wonder if the original Fuzion Frenzy is backwards compatible because I’m sending Fuzion Frenzy 2 back to GameFly before I get mad and do the world a favor by break the game in half.

[Update]
I just got off the the phone with a friend of mine, Eddie. He’s is an avid gamer and a big fan of the original Fuzion Frenzy. Here is the extent of our phone call.

Jigsaw: Hello
Eddie: Hey, did you rent Fuzion Frenzy 2?
Jigsaw: Yes. Did you check it out?
Eddie: Yes, did you like it?
Jigsaw: Not really…
Eddie: Good because I hate it and was going to feel bad telling you if you liked it.
Jigsaw: Nope, I did not like it either.

Turns out that he and his roommate had a couple girls over last night so he thought it would be fun to try Fuzion Frenzy 2 with them. After a couple rounds they quit playing the normal matches and just went in and played the remakes of the mini-games they like from the original Fuzion Frenzy.

The thing is that we both rented Fuzion Frenzy 2 wanting and expecting to like it. The Xbox 360 does not have any good party games yet. So, the fact that this was going to be not only a party game, but a party game you could play over Xbox Live makes it a real shame. A shame that is is so lousy because it had so much potential.