Game: Playground
Genre: Minigame
Platform: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS (Reviewed on the Wii)

Last week I posted a trailer for Playground that sparked some excitement in me. While there have been several minigame compilations since the Wii first started breaking expensive television sets, none have been able to meet the brilliance of Wii Sports. I hoped that finally one would.

There are several games included with varying levels of complexity. From the basic but addicting tetherball to the more complex and surprisingly fun dart shooting, Playground brings some good ideas to the system. The single player dart shooting game is actually incredibly fun and EA has found the perfect level of sensitivity for the controls (except for reloading, which developers keep deciding to map to shaking the remote – the stupidest choice they could make).

As a matter of fact, there are few things to actually complain about when it comes to the controls. Even the flying in the paper airplane games feels exactly as it should and executing complex maneuvers mid-flight couldn’t be easier after a game or two.

There is also one game that is more anticipated then the rest of them combined: Dodgeball. Ah, the wonderful game of throwing things at people. EA made a great choice when deciding how to control Dodgeball and must have realized something other developers haven’t: the Wii remote has a D-Pad. Even Nintendo seems to have forgettin with Tennis in Wii Sports. Dodgeball is very, very fun and if it is a major reason for buying Playground then consider your purchase a valid one.

 

There is a single player campaign that is more elaborate then it needs to be. It involves collecting stickers and marbles while wandering the worlds largest and most expensive looking playground ever made. Playing Playground made me realize exactly how different my childhood was from the kid in the game. That is unless I missed the part where the fat girl hits him in the face with the dodgeball and he cries not because of the pain, but the embarrassment. Then they hold it over his head for the next few years and she keeps bringing it up and making him feel like crying all over again.

Well, kids can be cruel.

Speaking of a character, EA decided not to use Miis. Instead there are a handful of multicultural children to choose from. I was disappointed because the art style used could have been adapted to Miis. There has to be some way for developers to upscale the Mii system without asking anything of the player. Wario Ware for the Wii added more shading to them which did wonders, it is a shame no one else is taking the system Nintendo made and running with it.

The multiplayer is very fun but, again, it is no Wii Sports. All of the games have two-four player options that can give a nice splash to any party.

Playground doesn't give what it looked like it would but anyone looking for a new Wii party title should give it a try - who knows if it will bring back memories of crushes and noogies and turn out to be a worthy addition to the Wii library.