Everyone loves the circus, right? From exotic acrobats attempting death-defying stunts to leisurely elephant rides, the circus has always been a crowd favorite to take children to. Well if your childhood aspirations were to become a dangerous lion tamer or a human cannonball, then Majesco Entertainment has the game for you – Go Play Circus Star allows for players to compete in over a dozen of famous circus events with friends and family.

Working in a circus that eventually ends its road trip at the Las Vegas Stadium (only four venues included), players have the chance to participate in events such as: trapeze, silks, unicycle balancing, lion or tiger taming, tight rope, rola bola, pony dancing, mile-high stunt diving, knife throwing, human cannonball and juggling, among others for a total of 15 mini-games. Before you jump into the action, you’ll be required to select from one of the six circus avatars to call your own. Unfortunately, there’s no customization of your own avatar.

As with any real life circus, the object is to please the crowd and your spectators. In a friendly manner, if you aren’t able to keep them cheering, they’ll throw tomatoes at you in dissatisfaction. If you can keep them cheering, then the more money you’ll earn to unlock new events to play in. It isn’t an extraordinary hard game since it’s aimed as a family affair, but don’t expect to breeze through the game without a few hang-ups. You’ll be filling up your trick meter and unlocking the rest of the events in no time.

While the idea of a circus game as a multiplayer title is great in theory, not many Wii owners will be a fan of the exclusion of simultaneous gameplay. Players have to take turns between events to try and best one another. Another shortcoming is that the controls aren’t as tight as they could’ve been with troubles in the guiding of your human cannonball, directing your pony to perform tricks, and precision of throwing knives. Outside of the Wii remote controls, the attraction that should be worthy for Wii owners to pick up a copy of Go Play Circus Star is the Wii Balance Board compatibility. Several of the games, such as tight-rope walking, have Wii Balance Board controls, so this inclusion should entice gamers looking for new games to use their peripheral with.

Graphically speaking, this isn’t going to light up the video game world for gorgeous visuals – but then again, it never was intended to. The art style is too plain and generic to state that the development team captured the essence of a circus aesthetically. There are a handful of costumes to apply to the six avatars, humorous gags that happen during events, and decent animations of stunts performed to round out the rest of the visual department. 

Is Go Play Circus Star a title that warrants a purchase? The answer is: yes; especially, if you have a family and would like a new game to play as a group. The Wii Balance Board compatibility is surely an asset that is worthy of notice.

Gameplay: 7.0
Nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to compiling a list of mini-games to play with friends.

Graphics: 6.4
An avatar/character creator is needed if there’s to be a sequel.

Sound: 6.5
It, at times, sounds like an authentic circus. For the most part, the music is dull.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 4.5
A collection of mini-games on the Nintendo Wii is not a new concept.

Multiplayer: 7.0
Having no simultaneous gameplay is a letdown.

Overall: 6.8
The entertainment value of Go Play Circus Star heavily relies on if you have friends and family to play with. There’s no online multiplayer to keep you playing when there’s no one to invite over. So if you have kids or siblings, Go Play Circus Star is an adequate rainy day distraction.