Review: 'Wedding Dash 2' is almost identical to the original

Many computer game sequels, especially those accessible, try-before-you-buy "casual games," tend to play similarly to their predecessors, but PlayFirst's Wedding Dash 2 takes the cake, if you can pardon the pun.

Despite a few minor additions, this time-management game is virtually identical to the original, therefore those expecting more might decline the invitation.

Quinn, a bridesmaid-turned-wedding planner extraordinaire, is approached by a brash billionaire who says he's been following her success and invites her to compete against other wedding planners in a new reality TV show. The winner will have the honor of planning his daughter's exclusive wedding.

Quinn accepts the challenge and begins to manage weddings in a handful of spots around the globe, including Niagara Falls, the rainforest and an ice palace, among others.

But while the style of the wedding varies slightly based on the background graphics, the core game play is the same.

Like last year's game, Wedding Dash 2 challenges our heroine to take care of guests at the wedding, including seating them where they want (or don't want) to be at a table, serving them food they request and taking their gifts and handing them to the bride and groom.

You'll also have to take care of "incidences" such as shooing away pigeons that get close to the chef and dealing with choking guests and screaming kids. You have to click on the guest's body for your mouse clicks to register, though it would have been convenient if you could also click on their speech bubble, too, which indicates what they want.

As the competition heats up, we also see acts of sabotage, including waitresses with a broken leg, food tampering and stolen tables. A new character, Joe Wright, takes photos of guests at the wedding, and once in a while Quinn's friend, Flo, from the popular Diner Dash games, will help out, too.

Different kinds of guests will arrive, too, such as slow-eating seniors, attractive women everyone wants to sit beside, a mother and daughter who need to sit side by side, dysfunctional twins, inebriated uncles and social butterflies.

Wedding Dash players might remember the bawling Aunt Ethel, who is also back again.

If you make the minimum amount of money at the end of the function, you advance to the next level and get to choose from some upgrades such as a faster waitress or chef, more plates and more comfortable chairs.

Mess up and you might unleash Bridezilla or Groom-Kong, which could get ugly. Yes, the game is quite funny, whether it's the comments the couple makes, the animation of the dancing guests or the potentially disastrous scenarios you'll encounter.

Before each wedding, Quinn must also read the couple's requests pertaining to food, cake style, flowers, decorations and so on. You'll have three choices to make before each wedding and you have a chance to win up to $300 that goes toward the minimum amount of money you must make at each reception.

Along with the main Career mode is a secondary game type called Endless Reception, where Quinn must manage a never-ending stream of guests and the action gets faster and faster with each level.

Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World isn't a bad game at all, but despite a few new locations, guests and scenarios, it's basically the same game as the original.

With only, say, 10 percent new content, it's a shame we're expected to pay 100 percent of its asking price. At least you can play the game for free for 60 minutes before deciding if you'd like to stay for the affair.

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