Remember that bad TV game show called Hole In the Wall where contestants had to stand in awkward poses to fit through a moving wall?  Tetsumo Party is exactly that and nothing more, like a single Mario Party mini game published into its own product.

Using only the trigger and shoulder buttons, each input is assigned to a limb and the player only has a few seconds to occupy a specific pose before the incoming wall makes contact.  Even though this is a simple casual game, multitasking skills are required as the player will need to eventually change limbs simultaneously in order to succeed. After a few rounds, however, there is nothing more to see or experience so the entire game grows stale quickly.  The only saving grace are the optional objectives assigned to each character. While these objectives, such as passing through a set number of walls or eating X amount of pieces of sushi before game over, unlock Achievements/Trophies on the Xbox One/PS4 version, they do not unlock any addition incentive from a gameplay perspective. Randomly, items will appear next to the player which can be collected if a corresponding limb makes contact.  The little squares, which the game calls sushi, can be collected to unlock a handful of new playable characters. Unfortunately, there really is no replay value as the game doesn’t keep track of high scores of any kind, either locally or online. It can also be tricky to line up certain poses since the cut outs don’t always exactly line up with the player’s framing, providing misleading frustration.

Other than the one musical track on the main menu, there is nothing else in the audio department other than Rayman-like “ooohs” and “ahhhs” after a player fits through each wall. The visuals are also blocky by design, as if they were cut out of construction paper, but provides some basic level personality.

Even though Tetsumo Party is a low cost game, only costing $5, it could be worthy of a purchase when it eventually goes on sale for $1 or lower.  Multiplayer is included, so everyone can try to compete for a higher score and complete the optional objectives, but this title is a one-trick pony through and through. There is a lot of mindless repetition and gameplay can get frustrating, but this is one game to play with your friends for about four minutes while you wait for dinner to finish.

Also available on PS4, Switch, and PC.

Not As Good As: Jetpack Joyride

Also Try: playing the Millennium Fair mini game in Chrono Trigger to get the Crono doll

Wait For It: an actual sumo wrestling game

By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com

Twitter: @ZackGaz