Thank you Microids for sending us a review code!

Honestly, I’ve been warming up with this generation’s licensed kids’ games in recent years. From PAW Patrol Grand Prix to Microids’ own Smurfs Mission Vileaf, there are a ton of great family-friendly titles for kids and parents to enjoy together. Garfield Lasagna Party aims to be one such title, acting as a Mario Party clone for fans of the Nickelodeon iteration of the lovable lazy cat. Other than some serviceable minigames, there’s not much to justify the purchase outside of a select few.

Garfield Lasagna Party pits up to four players together as they select Garfield, Odie, Nermal, and Arlene to play the main Lasagna Race mode. Want to play as someone else from the series? Well, too bad; these are the only four you’re getting. Based on the length of time you want to play (the longest of which consists of 32 turns, one for each minigame in the package), you’ll be on a circular map in a race… to get the most lasagna. (Ah, so that’s why it’s called Lasagna Race.)

You can acquire lasagna by winning minigames, but there will also be plenty of opportunities to get them within the board itself or through items. There are chance spaces that can give you good or bad outcomes, and players can use items to throw off your roll. I appreciated the use of this mechanic, as it gave players an incentive to try and spend coins they earn to sabotage the rolls of others. However, other than this wrench in the system, players will each land on spaces depending on the number they got. After all four players have taken their turns, a minigame will pop up; you get more lasagna if you place first, though everyone gets some regardless. This is in line with later Mario Party games, as they awarded gifts to everyone in minigames, no matter if they lost.

Honestly, as much as I think Garfield Lasagna Party wanted to be different with its movement mechanics, the rest of the board is dull and lifeless. Each turn stretches out movement to a snail’s pace, and while it’s admittedly fun the first time playing, after you get through one full round, there’s not much else to do here. The board is fundamentally the same every time with randomized spaces each time you boot it up, with traversal being flat and linear. It feels like Ludo/Sorry in that moves feel generic after a good half hour.

The presentation is also generic, with no voice acting from the characters. If Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl taught me anything, it’s that the addition of voice acting in a licensed game can make or break it, and here it feels like a very missed opportunity. The game didn’t crash or have any slowdowns, but there isn’t a reason to utilize any next-gen graphical features here. Sure, the models look bright and cartoony, but they don’t stand out from the competition. Oddly enough, the music was surprisingly fun (if repetitive), and some tracks go pretty hard with the jazz instrumentation. There are no unlockables or progression, which is good for younger audiences that want everything in one neat package, but at full price, there needs to be more of a reason to play the main mode.

On the flip side, the minigames are above average in quality. The other two modes are Lasagna Challenge and Lasagna World Tour; they’re virtually identical because you just pick and choose minigames to play. A lot of them copy the Mario Party formula, with games reminiscent of the classics. A lot of them are fun to play repeatedly, like one where you have to run away from the character with an alarm clock (who’s trying to dump it on you), or one where you have to run away from dogs. 

There were some confusing additions, such as one where you have to aim a pie catapult or slice a pizza just right to get the right amount of toppings each slice. The latter minigame was utterly unfair as the computer would basically cheat and do well regardless of difficulty. While the minigames do save this game from being a bust, they aren’t worth $39.99 alone.

Like every good Mario Party clone, Garfield Lasagna Party is suitable for all ages, but I struggle to see if older audiences will stick with this title. The only thing of note is a little cartoon violence with no blood or intense actions. Even if characters are gone, they will still be present and act as downed instead of dead.

If you are a Garfield fan or want something to distract your younger kids, Garfield Lasagna Party might be for you. However, if you’re expecting a good Mario Party clone, you’re better off looking somewhere else.