Out of Any IP That They Own, I Wish Rare Could Take Another Shot at Viva Pinata

When someone thinks about the developer Rare, their first thought may quickly shoot to the Bird and the Bear. But not me. While I have some nostalgic feelings for Banjo-Kazooie, it’s mainly because I played their games later in my life. But one game that instantly stole every moment of free time from me, while becoming one of my favorites of the genre, was Viva Pinata. A quirky, colorful, and just plain lovely little game that put me in charge of running an island full of candy-filled creatures. And I wish, more than anything, we could see this franchise make its return.

There Was Something Just Plain Magical About ‘Viva Pinata’, and I Want It To Come Back

While Rare may be spending all of its time refining Sea of Thieves into the penultimate pirate simulator, I can’t help but look fondly back on my time with Viva Pinata as the ultimate Rare experience. Its fantastic visual style, combined with an easy-to-understand life simulation gimmick, was paired together expertly to create one of the most iconic experiences of the Xbox 360 era. And one that seemingly still won’t leave my mind, even 20 years later.

Was Viva Pinata the most in-depth life simulation game ever made? Absolutely not, by any means. It was generally much simpler than most other games of the same genre. But I think that’s what made it memorable. Rather than focus on the menial, it allowed you to get creative. It wanted you to feel like you were the caregiver to these adorable little creatures. And you could even help them get a little… funky, if you catch my drift. Look, we’re all adults here, and we know that when one Pinata loves another Pinata, they may want to start a family together.

I remember walking into a GameStop back in the day and finding the Collector’s Edition available to purchase, pre-owned. It came in a cute little package — a rounded case filled with a bunch of extra goodies, with Horstachio adorning the outside of the case. It instantly caught my eye, and while I knew nothing about the game, it instantly became a classic.

I guess I never REalized That ‘Trouble in Paradise’ Was An Actual Sequel, So I’m Partially To Blame

I also remember that Microsoft and Rare were pushing Viva Pinata to become the next big thing. There was an animated TV show, too. Albeit, one that I never really watched beyond the commercials that would frequently air on TV. But there’s one thing I do remember: a wonky mini-game collection that didn’t do the franchise any favors. And to be fair, I always thought that Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise was the mini-game collection. Today, I was proven completely wrong.

After doing a little bit of digging, especially since I was feeling a bit nostalgic about one of my favorite old titles, I wanted to find out if Viva Pinata was backward compatible with the Xbox Series consoles. Only to find out that Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise was included in Rare Replay. And that it was a genuine, proper sequel to the original game. I’m not sure if I may have just glossed over that fact back in the day. Or if I was in my “Yuck, colorful games aren’t cool!” phase, but I’m righting that wrong now.

As I’m writing this, I’ve got Rare Replay downloading onto my Xbox Series X. I need to jump into Trouble in Paradise and fix the mistake I made back in 2008. While Rare may not be working on any new projects in the franchise any time soon, at least there’s a game that I didn’t even know existed. And I guess that’s better than nothing. I just know that they’d knock it out of the park with the technological advances we have today.