G4TV

To date there have been several attempts to re-capture that gaming lightning in a bottle otherwise known as Wii Sports.   Since the release of the Wii, it has been branded as the game console for “casual” gamers.  Trouble is no one outside of Nintendo appears to have a decent grasp of exactly what these legions of casual gamers want to play.

Sensing that there are beaucoup bucks to be made in this endeavor, Electronic Arts has been tossing all kinds of casual, family-friendly games at the Wii hoping that something will stick.  The latest effort is EA Playground, a collection of (you guessed it) mini-games aimed squarely at the schoolyard set.

Schoolyard Shenanigans

In EA Playground, players take control of a non-threatening looking youngling wandering about a happy little playground. In the playground, there are a number of other kids who challenge our hero to one of seven different mini-games.  The games themselves vary in quality, but they are generally a step up from drivel like Carnival Games and a notch below the stuff in Wii Sports.  Most games take advantage of the gesture-style movement capabilities of the Wii Remote.

And now, the Games

In Dodgeball, players use the remote to snap up any available ball and fling it at the other team using an overhand throw motion.  You can dodge by quickly flicking the stick to the left or right or you can attempt to catch the ball with the B button.

Kicks is a hybrid of soccer and volleyball where players keep the ball in the air while trying to score a goal in the opposing team’s net.  The strategy comes in passing the ball between your players and faking your shots.

Slot Car Racing uses the tilt controls on the Wii Remote to make your car change lanes as your race around the track, running over boosts, and picking up Mario Kart style power-ups.

Tetherball has players timing their swings to keep the ball from traveling too far down the pole.  You can also change the height of the ball to hopefully make your opponent miss.

In Paper Racers, you hold the Wii Remote like a paper airplane while you steer your craft through bonus items and around obstacles. Wall Ball plays like a handball version of Wii Tennis. And Dart Shootout plays a bit like the rail shooter levels in Raving Rabbids, except it’s not nearly as responsive or fun.

Waggle Waggle Waggle

All of the games play well enough. Despite some of the more advanced moves you can do in some of these games, it often feels like if you just randomly flick the Wii Remote, you’ll do just about as good as if you really tried.  Slot Racers is a good example of this.  As long as you keep hitting boost and steering randomly, you’ll probably pick up enough nitro packs on the track to stay boosted almost all the time, ensuring a win… except when the other cars mysteriously catch up with you or nail you will a slow-down at just the right moment.

In fact, most of the games here feel like they rely less on player skill and more on the computer AI purposely messing up.  Games like Wall Ball and Tetherball are tedious little exercise in perseverance while doing a repetitive task.  Once the game feels you’ve suffered enough, the computer player will miss and you’ll score a point. Even in Kicks and Dodgeball, the two best games of the bunch, there’s often little rhyme nor reason as to why you’ll suddenly be able to score a goal or nail the other player with the ball.

Stick it to ‘em

To add some longevity to the single-player game, players are charged with filling up a scrap book with stickers which can be won by playing the game or by purchasing them with marbles.  Marbles are the currency in the game and can be found lying around the playground or in the hands of other kids who will give them up if you complete a “dare” challenge.  The Dares are just rule variations of each mini-game.  Stickers also give you access to special abilities and moves in each game.  These abilities make the games ridiculously easy.  Any reasonably adept player will be able to breeze through the entire game in an afternoon.

That leaves multiplayer.  You do indeed get 4-player multiplay in EA Playground.  In this case it’s the saving grace of an otherwise forgettable game.  Since the computer AI is largely removed from the equation, you can look forward to some pretty intense games of Dodgeball and the like.

You’re Grounded

By now your lofty expectations of what kind of fun you ought to be getting out of Nintendo’s quirky little console are firmly in check.  Know then, that there is some fun to be had with EA Playground, but it doesn’t do much to rise above the glut of mediocrity that has made a cozy little home on the Wii.

Review by: Greg Bemis
Video Produced by: Tim Jennings