Microsoft has just announced a UK street date for their good looking Viva Piñata sequel, Trouble in Paradise. It’s September the 5th, i.e. a mere couple of months away. Nice!

So what’s new about Piñata 2 and why buy this second iteration when the world did a pretty good job of ignoring the original? Hmm, well the massive indifference to the first outing is still a bit of a puzzler given that it was such a solid game. However the basic gameplay of Piñata #1 wasn’t especially broken thus it hasn’t been fixed here. Instead developers Rare have expanded the familiar design a garden and collect ‘em all action with 30 all-new Piñatas to bait, catch and find suitable homes for in your blossoming verdant paradise. All good so far.

Piñata Island itself has grown somewhat too, with the addition of the snowbound Pinartic, where Pengums and Polollybears roam, and the Dessert Desert where heat-hardy Titchmarshes may find Camellos and Jameleons basking in the burning sun. Players can add patches of snow or sand to their gardens now too, ensuring these new residents feel right at home.

Add to all that ‘approachable” difficulty settings, a variety of gameplay options and, at last, a co-op mode and you have what should be a very fine game indeed. Maybe a few more of you will give it a look this time around, eh...?