One complaint with the original game is thankfully being addressed: the difficulty in attracting the most exotic piñatas to your garden. Particularly for younger players where the nitty-gritty of cultivating a garden proves a little daunting, the new "Just for Fun" mode enables you to play with piñatas without having to worry about coaxing them into your yard. The trade off comes in not being able to earn any achievements while playing in this mode; additionally, you can't ship piñatas off of the island. Another way of bringing piñatas into the fold involves scanning special cards via an Xbox Live Vision camera. Bar codes located on these promotional cards allow you to insert rare piñata into your game. Rare has yet to determine how they want to distribute these cards, although the thought is that cards can be released as magazine inserts and as give-aways.
Given the unrecognized gameplay of the first game, Trouble in Paradise is a second chance for the adorable cast of papier-mâché creatures to rocket into popularity. Rare has wisely not altered the fundamental gameplay dramatically, opting instead to throw in new piñatas, environments, and a few welcome features. Core issues, such as the camera, still remain, however. A few months separate now and the game's September release, so hopefully these problems get ironed out to make Paradise a carefree destination.
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