Review: Penguin Cup

*Patrick Star voice* Yay!  Extreme spots!

2014 has been a hit and miss year for parties.  But, when I heard there would be a Penguin Cup party, I was a bit skeptical that it would be turned around.

You see, while I respect those who enjoy and participate in sports, I can not call myself a fan of any of them - particularly not soccer (or what have you).  In fact, the only sport I fully understand the rules of is Quidditch from the Harry Potter series.

Even with putting my feelings for the subject aside, I felt it was still a flawed idea for a gigantic party; while soccer (or what have you) is the most popular sport in the world by a landslide and one that is enjoyed by both genders and all ages, creating a party with such a specific subject still isolates those who do not care for the activity.  This is a problem when Club Penguin tries to make their site accessible to everyone.  Music Jam, summer and water parties, and the Adventure Party are good examples of parties that Club Penguin created with everyone in mind; the subject matter was so broad that practically anyone could find something to like at the party.  However, a soccer party - or any type of party that focuses its sights on a subject that is so narrow - can not provide that type of variety.

However, I tried to keep an open mind.  And, while this party does have some flaws, I found it to be the best event of the year.

Why?  Well, because Club Penguin made the right decision and didn't shove the soccer aspect of the party down our throats.  This party was less of a soccer tournament and more of a celebration of the teams of Club Penguin.  Many of the rooms around the island had barely a hint of sports in them.

The rooms that were decorated were incredibly colorful and, for the most part, pleasing to the eye.  Each of the team rooms had neat little secrets and details.  Additionally, the Snow Forts and the Stage were overhauled in a neat way.  The new Stadium, which surprisingly and thankfully became permanent, had a sleek new design with cool features.  However, the Town and Plaza both felt messily and lazily decorated.  The interiors of buildings and other rooms around the island were left vacant, which is very disappointing but also very much expected these days.

The music was one of the best parts of the party.  While there was no particular stand-out in the new song category, all of the additions were pretty good.  The returning songs were also good picks, with particular attention payed to the Snow Forts Music Jam song.  The sound effects around the island were also welcome.

The items at the party weren't great, in my opinion.  Many of the ones obtained from the soccer game are forgettable and the trophy that we did get looks clunky and large when held.  With that being said, I was under the impression that only the winning team would get the trophy; I am very glad that that was not the case.

The soccer mini-game was pretty fun and bug free.  While not as expansive as last June's Scare Games activity, it still was a neat, competitive distraction.  Meanwhile, Aunt Arctic's appearance made sense plot-wise, but I think we can all agree that she is an overused party mascot.

The team aspect of the party was the best way to go art wise, but not event wise.  The Blue Team were destined to win, and while Club Penguin said silly, little things to ignore the gaping hole that was present from hour one of the party, there was no real interest in the standings.  Club Penguin has done this whole competitive event thing twice now and each time, there has been a clear, vast advantage to one team.  While the slaughter that took place this time was not as bad as OK's win last year, it still proves that this idea, while a pretty good one, is not a winner and shouldn't be implicated into parties going forward.

A final thing I'd like to note is that yet again Club Penguin overhyped the ending of the party.  While you could say that the competitiveness of the party was overhyped as well, the last newspaper to be released during the party had an article written by Cadence that said celebration parties would take place at various rooms.  When I logged in on results day, I figured that said rooms would be redesigned, with perhaps new music.  However, the Town and Plaza merely changed most of their banners (with a few odd ones here in there remaining a runner-up's color) to the color of blue.  While I wasn't expecting a grand overhaul and I do admit that it is not that big of a deal, I still feel that Club Penguin could have done a little more to reinvigorate the party in its final days.

In closing, the Penguin Cup gets high marks for being welcoming even to those who could care less about the World Cup.  However, its boring, predictable events prevented it from being a stand-out.  In four years' time - or perhaps even less -, I wouldn't mind seeing it again.  But I won't be getting into soccer anytime soon.

Score: 6/10

As Billybob would say, Waddle On!
- Chillin43