EA Playground

Do you recall the days of old when you dominated everyone else during lunchtime sessions of childhood chivalry? Remember when you could take on any challenger, be him the biggest boy in class, or the girl that beat up everyone else? It didn't matter what the challenge was. From dodgeball to basketball, you would prove your worth and win no matter what. Well, EA Playground lets players relive these simple victories in life that you used to cherish so much on a daily basis.

The game launches you into a playground of vast... or not so vast activity. You are given nine different categories to participate in, ranging from Dodgeball to Bug Catching, and you are expected to claim the top spot in each one. In order to add a (tiny) bit of depth to the mini-games, each one has a three tier difficulty level. To locate each new challenge, you simply wander the field until you come upon a child with a star over their head. If you approach a child who is too high for you to challenge, he or she will gracefully shun you and send you back to their inferior classmates.

Once you defeat a competitor, you will receive a marble as a temporary certificate of victory. You can then take your hard-earned marbles and trade them in for stickers to place in a book. The stickers work as abilities to enhance your honed playground skills. These skills will be needed against the higher-tiered champions in order to win and claim the title of champion for yourself. Additional marbles can be hunted down around the playground by approaching different inanimate items, such as a bush or a pole. Although this creates some desire to explore, the reward is not all that worth it.

Mini-games are slightly rewarding, but do not tend to overly excite. RC Racing is a solid top-down racer, and will garner a lot of your attention due to its higher entertainment factor. Other games, such as Dodgeball and Bug Catching, are mediocre at best, although each and every game puts the D-pad, stylus, and face buttons to good use. Spitball adds slightly to the gameplay by requiring players to utilize the air-hole on the front of the DS. Although mildly fun, this feature may or may not make people around you think you are crazy.

Each mini-game contains its own special design and purpose, but none of them are overly remarkable on a system that is known for innovative gameplay. This is where EA Playground falls short on the playground of Nintendo DS games. Nothing leaps out at the player and says, "I'll keep you entertained for hours." Even the character models are mild mannered and become quite bland after extensive play time.

The lack of multiplayer sharing within one cartridge is also a huge letdown, but not as gigantic as the missing WiFi support. Games such as the Trampoline Jumping Challenge could have easily added immense entertainment to a multiplayer aspect, but with the requirement of a cartridge for each participant, expectations fall short. EA Playground pushed itself in the dirt with this lacking feature.

Overall, EA Playground can be expected to entertain for a few play sessions, but will undoubtedly become mundane and boring if played too frequently. The game is obviously directed at a younger Nintendo DS audience, and will satisfy the short attention spans of children around the world. But if you crave in depth gameplay and strategy, you might want to avert your hard-earned marbles elsewhere.

Gameplay: 6.5
Although mildly entertaining, the nine mini-games quickly lose their thunder. The added tiers for each challenge help, but only slightly.  

Graphics: 7.0
The younger audience will more than likely love the style EA followed when designing Playground’s children, but the cute and cuddly concept might not fly with older gamers.

Sound: 5.5
The lack of spoken dialogue throughout nearly the entire game is a slight letdown. The game would have much more appeal with children bantering at each other while competing in Trampoline Challenges.

Difficulty: Medium
The only reason I select medium is due to the age group this product is aimed at. Children will find challenges and entertainment in most of the game’s aspects, although an adult could easily complete any of the mini-games.  

Concept: 7.5  
Going back to childhood roots is a decent idea, but the presentation was obviously garnered toward the children of today. I wish the game appealed more to my own inner child.

Multiplayer: 4.0
Multiplayer is the biggest letdown of EA Playground, due to the lack of WiFi support and the need of more than one cartridge for local competition between friends.  

Overall: 6.0
Obviously directed towards the children here and now, the presentation and lasting appeal of EA Playground does not grab hold of any adult’s hand any more firm than a child itself. Lack of depth and WiFi support are main players in Playground’s elementary school mediocre offering.