South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack

NA release: 12th October 1999
PAL release: 31st October 1999
JP release: N/A
Developer: Acclaim
Publisher: Acclaim
N64 Magazine Score: 83%

The second South Park game, this one is a quiz show with a handful of minigames. N64 Magazine loved it, yet it got panned elsewhere. One immediate problem with the game is that it allows you to play on your own, but has no CPU opponents. So you answer questions on your own, play minigames on your own, and win at the end because you’re the only person competing.

The questions are, for the most part, general trivia, with a bunch of subjects based on things mentioned in South Park. The problem is that this was still very early on in South Park, so there wasn’t a lot to choose from. This means a whole category of questions on things like Worcestershire sauce, even though it was involved in one episode and never mentioned again. Even better, one of those questions was wrong, as it claimed that “England” wasn’t where Worcestershire sauce was invented.

The minigames are a mixed bag. A couple are slightly fun, others are tedious. There’s one where you have to follow a bunch of directional presses that takes ages and is more a test of how long you purposefully mess up to end the game. And with only around 20, you’ll see repeats pretty quickly. It does a good job capturing the look of the show, but it’s not very funny – in the end, just a really basic quiz game.

Poor

But, even with these problems chalked up, Luv Shack will still make a top grade Chrimbo pressie. It’s a triumph of simplicity and design, and offers a significantly different playing experience to Mario Party. In fact, it’s the perfect companion piece to Nintendo’s game and, as a bonus, has a fabulous South Park ‘feel’. As Cartman might say, this kicks ass.
Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #36

Remake or remaster?

Jackbox gets the silly quiz show format down much better.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack