Review: EA Playground (NDS)

When a game claims that spit-balling, trampolining, and bug-catching are 'classic' playground games, it makes you wonder what sort of school the developers went to. There is no British Bulldog, Kiss-Chase, or Tag, but with a title clearly aimed at younger gamers, can EA bring back those fond memories of break time? Unfortunately not, and you would probably have more fun in double-science than playing EA Playground.

EA Playground hardly pushes the DS to its limits. It's a truly basic game, with simple graphics that wouldn't look out of place on the GameBoy Advance, and annoying music that grates as it strains through the stereo speakers. Comprising of only nine mini-games, it can hardly be considered value for money, especially as Nintendo's own 42 All-Time Classics manages to fit 33 more games into the cartridge, and make the majority of them playable online. The nine games are all themed around playground activities, comprising of football, dodgeball, RC-racing, skateboarding, spitballs, hopscotch, basketball, trampolining, and bug-catching. It's a strange selection of games, with an obvious American influence.

You are the new kid in school, and spend your day trying to earn the respect of your peers by beating them at their own game. There are four  areas of the playground to explore, and you move your character around, talking to the other children. Some you can challenge straight away, and some won't talk to you until you've beaten other kids at their chosen activity. Not only do you have to beat the kids one-on-one, but they will also set you 'dares', asking you to perform to a particular standard, scoring a certain number of baskets in the basketball challenge, for example. Doing so earns you a sticker and some marbles, which can be used to buy power-ups and items to be used in the games. Once you have beaten each game, it's unlocked for you to play in the Quick Play mode, for those occasions where you might fancy a quick game without the need to patrol the playground. Each game comes in three degrees of difficulty, which also have to be unlocked in the main game.

The games themselves are a bit of a mixed bunch. Some take advantage of the touch-screen and some of the DS's other features, whereas some just use button controls. Some are reasonably designed, like RC-racing, which is reminiscent of the classic racer Micro Machines and offers some degree of entertainment, but the majority are ruined by their ridiculously easy difficulty, or poor design. It won't take long to unlock all the games and their difficulties because they offer no challenge. The only obstacle to overcome is some of the individual faults of particular games. The hopscotch rhythm game, for example, involves you repeating a series of notes back in the correct time and order. There is no gap between each repeat, and so the tune that you are meant to be repeating often begins the exact moment you have finished the previous one. This is not a problem to begin with, but as the game progresses, it often means that you miss the first few notes of the tune and repeating it is a tough task. The bug-catching game is also poorly designed, and has you avoiding bees to catch butterflies. The bees swarm the screen, and the imprecise control means that it is near impossible to miss them. They are little problems that could be remedied with some effort in the development, but the impact on enjoyment is huge.

It is important to bear in mind that EA Playground is aimed at younger gamers, and when the skateboarding game's main mechanic is doing a dot-to-dot puzzle on the touch screen, it's made painfully clear. It's hard to think that anyone over the age of six would be kept occupied with it for more than a few hours. There is a great deal to unlock, and if you can bear to play, it will take some time to fill the sticker book. You can play against four friends over local wi-fi, but each player has to have a copy of the game. Only a couple of the games would actually make this a worthwhile activity, and with so few games available, it's astounding that this number isn't higher. Some of the concepts are good, and with a little more time and effort, EA could offer a compilation of nine good games, rather than a couple of bearable ones. Unfortunately, as the bad games severely outweigh the average ones, you are left with a very dull playing experience.

Due to its target audience, it's understandable that EA Playground is easy, but it's inexcusable to have games that are only made challenging by their bad design. On the whole, EA Playground does little to stimulate or entertain; the graphics are distinctly average, the mini-games are not fun, and although you can play them with friends, it's doubtful you will more than once.

Rating: 3 / 10

Words by Chris Thornton