It's hard to pinpoint when children's entertainment began its decline into madness. I'd point to the Smurfs, but whatever the timeline it's clear the Muppets are from a golden era of innocent entertainment long passed. Fans of the Muppet Show are a lot older now, and they're probably just dying to pick up a game for themselves and the wee ones that showcases familiar faces instead of the Barneys and Pokemons of the world. There's little doubt Muppet Party Cruise, a collection of mini games, is targeted at just such an audience.

The opening scene introduces the familiar cast of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Animal and a few others. The framework for the game is a vacation, a cruise, and the Muppets are all going together. More characters show up later and most favorites from the old show make an appearance of some sort. Some of the voices are a little off, especially Kermit's, and there's no excuse for that. Kermit has been around forever and his voice carried on even after Jim Henson.

To get right to the short, competition-based games of Party Cruise, you'll choose "Short Cruise" from the menu. From there you can pick among the many, many short games available. Others are grayed out and must be unlocked later (for a total of 30). Immediate options include Shuffleboard, radio control car racing, using dune buggies to bump beach balls around, shooting Bunsen burners at what look like germs, a derivation of whack-a-mole, and so on. There's variety, but some of the games overlap themselves. They're all quick, easy to play, offer simple instructions and remain competitive and engaging after multiple rounds.

The long form of the game, Long Cruise, unfortunately is too ponderous to enjoy. Players take turns moving their characters around a board to collect keys and choose games for competition. It's difficult to view the board from a good angle because of the 3D environment and lack of a good zoom angle on the camera, so it's difficult to have any sense of where you're supposed to go. Players end up just going to the nearest flashing thing or closest door. Combine the confusion with a terribly slow progression between turns and you've got a game structure that just isn't worth the trouble. Time with friends is much better spent just picking a game to play and going at it.

But it's only through this longer, less enjoyable mode that you can unlock the other games and move up onto different decks in the ship (the Muppets start in steerage after leaving the reservations in the hands of Pepe the Prawn). If this portion of the game was simply avoidable without losing out on other mini games - which are fun - it would be easy to ignore. But if you want to play all the mini games you have to put some time into the Long Cruise and that's the biggest drawback to Muppet Party Cruise.

The good news is some of the mini games are perfect for young children. Some are more complicated than others, but there are several playable by kids. For every one that requires careful timing and coordination, even to beat the computer, there are several that ask you only to shoot or bop or push the other things on the screen. And it's all done without any real violence, the adventures of the road runner and coyote are far more violent than anything here.

Muppet Party Cruise is a nice package of competitive mini games for a group of friends of any age. Up to four people/kids can play at once (on the GameCube and with the multitap add-on if you have a PS2) and the games are fun, colorful and entertaining for short periods of time with friends. The same can't be said for the longer version of the game, and you have to play it if you want to unlock all the mini games. Similar party games are available without any of this one's drawbacks. But at a budget price of $19.99, your decision may depend upon how much you play a party game like this. If it only comes off the shelf once in a while, or for small children, it's a much better deal than other party games out there going for $50.