Playground Reviews

• Great Wii Game For Younger Kids!!

  
  By AC2EGRJTJYVBA on 2007-11-01
  For teens and older, I think this game will get tedious pretty fast. However, I was looking for a good Wii game with simple controls (single controller) to play with my younger children. "Playground" makes an excellent addition to our Wii library of games and both the single-player and multi-player modes will get a good workout from us. This one is actually simpler than Carnival Games which I also recommend as a "kid friendly" game.
  
  Basically, you wander around the playground collecting marbles and challenge other children to various games to earn stickers to place in your sticker book. Many smaller kids will find this feature quite appealing. My favorite games so far are the slot cars, paper airplanes, and dodgeball. All are simple enough (at least at the beginning) for most children to play. For example, tetherball is exceptionally simple at the outset. As you gain experience and skills, you will unlock more advanced versions of the games and new games as well. The game increases in difficulty as you progress.
  
  As with most Wii games, don't expect stellar graphics quality. The Wii is aimed towards gameplay rather than graphics and this is another good implementation of the mini-game format for which the Wii is famous. One thing that does annoy me with the game is that although the text is in English, the children speak in Japanese. It's kind of cute, but for the price, I'd hope they'd have taken the time to re-dub the audio portions.
  
  Overall, I think my children will find this enjoyable and challenging. This is a wholesome videogame that I can recommend without qualms.
  
  

• Decent game, lack replayability

  
  By A1VJ6N5YWBDBWW on 2007-11-01
  The common Wii game problem is the lack of content. Playground has 8-9 mini games, but they are almost identical. Only really different and enjoyable game was the paintball shooting. Comparing the 8-9 game difficulty level, it's about as complex as 1 mini game in Rayman.
  
  So considering Rayman gives you 50 or so hilarious mini games, and playground offers 8 very similar mini games, this is really not a great buy. Rental game for party, but not a keeper.
  
  Like th 3 star rating, nothing is superb in the game, but nothing is bad. It's just bland. $40 could be better spend on something else.
  
  

• My 4-year-old and 7-year-old love this game!

  
  By A28IYX6VAVHQKU on 2007-11-30
  The four of us in our family have been playing this game for about a month and we have a great time with it. I can see how this game wouldn't be so much fun to play by yourself, but it's super fun to play against other people. I highly recommend this game if you are looking for something the whole family can play.
  
  

• Get tough on the schoolyard

  
  By A15LH0ZNB79DLT on 2008-04-17
  Playground has it's fun moments. It has an addicting quality to it's minigames as well. I liked it's layout of the playground and the total game dynamics, but I grew tired of most of the games after a couple days.
  
  Dodgeball, which could have been the selling point of this game, seemed to lack a lot of gameplay. The games just went to quickly and seemed lackluster. Games often took less than thirty seconds, and you never really got going in a game to make it feel like you were really playing.
  
  Wall ball was much the same way, quick games left me wanting more. In fact most of the games were this way.
  
  Kicks was an interesting twist on Volleyball / Soccer, and was probably the deepest game on the disc.
  
  Most of the games included special moves, which you bought with your marbles that you win from defeating your playground opponents.
  
  I kind of wanted to finish collecting everything, but with no achievement system, I didn't find myself wanting to fight through the eventual boredom of the single player mode.
  
  It's worth renting once, but I cannot recommend a buy for this game.
  
  

• Excellent for kids

  
  By ALGD8EFEQ10VV on 2007-12-30
  My 7yrs old and 5yrs boys love this game. I can understand why people say "maybe not for older kids" but for kids under 10 its great. Its not too challenging but challenging enough to where they can play. I recommend it highly
  
  
• Not must own - but no purchasing regrets
  By A3AGWRMHKLFLWR on 2008-05-29
  This game is suitable for the entire family. However, it's the 3 year old that likes it the best. We mainly play as a family - and it does hold everyone's interest fairly well.
  
  Pros:
  lots of different activities
  slot car racing - multiple prizes/attacks, great game
  nerf game - my personal favorite, too hard for 3 year old (aiming issues)
  games very short (e.g. paper airplanes) so can play many rounds
  Up to 4 players simultaneously
  
  Cons:
  Does not use miis
  dodgeball and tetherball not so great (hard to control)
  No staying power - definately does not get played as much as Mario Party
  Does not encourage kids to get up and move around
  
  
• Fine for younger kids, Terrible for adults !
  By A1BECXST6DPOEI on 2007-12-03
  I recommend this game if you are a parent who worries about their child playing some of the more crazier games on the market, and it's also a good game to play along with them. If your child has already been corrupted by violent or action packed games then don't even bother with PLAYGROUND because they will hate it and hate you for buying it. And if you are an adult who likes to get together with friends to play multi-player party games, YOU will hate it & hate yourself for buying it. Depending on how much of a gamer the kid is, it's probably good for ages 5 - 11, great slumber party game. Not hard to play, games are not very interesting, lots of little challenges that unlock things keep you busy, but gets boring quick. Recommended for younger kids who aren't big gamers or picky about games, if possible rent it first.
  
  
• Great fun for all!
  By A3GRBJMPKAOJM6 on 2008-01-08
  Playground by EA is one of the best games I've played in years. The game is fun in single player mode, but the true excitement comes from playing multiable player mode. The game offers 7 sub-games (dodgeball,slot car racing, paper airplane racing, tetherball, wall ball, kicks and dart shootout). Four of the games allow up to four players to play at the same time, while the remaining games can olny be played with two players. None of the games require the nunchuck so if you only have the Wiimotes don't worry. The game is not complicated and will be easy for children to pick up(my five year old plays it with ease).
  
  
• Good for the younger kids
  By A3P431E2QZA311 on 2007-11-29
  Bought this for my 8 year old. He really seems to enjoy playing this on his own. Seems to be just the right level of challenge. Not too easy so that he's bored, but not so complex that he would get frustrated with the level of difficulty. I think this is a great option for the younger crowd.
  
  
• Great for young kids
  By A3AM5FX1EJQKO9 on 2007-12-31
  The controls for this game are simple enough that my 3 year old can play most games on his own. I found the multiplayer worked great as a party game. We had some friends over and got almost everyone up and involved. Not recommended for older kids, but my 3 and 5 year olds love it.
  
  
• Playground Rocks
  By AKKFA4UAX11AO on 2008-02-23
  What I like about this game is that you earn new character skills and not simply outfits. The series of Playground games are a lot of fun. I bought it for the dodgeball but all of them are great. Tetherball, though sounds pretty simple, seems to be one of the
  hardest games, at least for me. Graphics are great and the game gets progressively harder. Lot of fun and endless enjoyment. Highly recommend it for the whole family.
  
  
• Playground
  By A1CSHQ7LT0SJ12 on 2008-01-08
  Purchased this for my eight year old nephew for Christmas. It was the hit of the Christmas party for all of the children and adults as well. They kept playing all evening. Would purchase it for any Wii player!
  
  
  
• Nice game for 4-8 age group.
  By A2XAKGRUHIE2ZA on 2008-03-02
  Retiree here. I just purchased and played the easiest version of each minigame. I purchased this so that my 4 1/2 year grandson could have an easy game. Rayman was too difficult. He found Endless Ocean boring. Though this game does require some use of the buttons in all minigames, (at least if you want a good score), it will still be his favorite game. Tetherball and slot cars are probably the easiest game. Dodgeball is probably the most fun, but more difficult. Wallball is a nice game, but like dodgeball, on the more difficult side (for a 4 year old). I would rate each minigame in the package, entertaining. I think it's a nice 4 star game. Simple games with minimal instructions can be very nice. Another plus. I think he can play this game without damaging the TV or himself. Update: My grandson now plays and loves slot car racing.
  
  
• Not fun at all
  By A1PFTBI5BPNZCG on 2008-03-08
  I did not like this game at all. My boyfriend insisted we try each game, and I couldn't wait until it was over. I gave it two stars, because he kind of liked slot car racing and dodge ball, but we won't play it again.
  
  
• Cute game, gets boring quick
  By A2MNBAYH6N1XLH on 2008-01-28
  At first glance the game is fairly entertaining. After you get into the second area, you realize that everything is basically the same. Same challenges (dares), same events, etc. Not much change. It has a learning curve of about 15 minutes, and a times-up-for-fun factor of about 30 minutes. The games are quite fun and interactive, a lot more so than I expected. But again, too repetitive for my liking.
  
  
• Not just for kids
  By A2NAVMJBTEDEX6 on 2008-03-10
  We've had this game for over a month and much to my 20+ son's amazement all his friends really love it. I got it for the aarp crowd but seems like the whole family loves it. Dodge ball is super but takes pratice in multi player mode. slot cars and dart wars are great fun. The kids like it better than beer pong. Good! Easy to learn for littlins as well as us oldies, and great fun for all. It was worth the price.
  
  
• Fun for all ages, good multi-player action
  By A13B29SPKPOAZE on 2007-12-24
  I was a little worried that this game would be too "kiddie" for me but once I started playing I found out that it was "kiddie" but still fun. And when my staff came over to play they loved playing dodgeball and slot car racing! The single player mode is a little repetative at times as you go aroudn the playground beating the other kids at their sports to unlock games and characters but the multi-player expereince is fun. Its easy for everyone to pick up and bee ok at in a manner a minutes. There are litteraly only 4-8 movements to learn for each game. If you liked Wii Sports you will enjoy this game. I only wish that you were able to unlcok more options for the multi-player games, as it is you can only unlock characters and not different levels or tracks.
  
  
• Not bad - a little hard for toddlers
  By A2GRLLJC2JK9FN on 2007-12-29
  Got the WII for my 4yr old for xmas - and thought this game would be Great! It is ok but he does need help with the game. They are good family games tho and I am glad I bought the disc.
  
  
• Fun Game
  By A312ATTTC6C6GC on 2008-04-29
  Playground is a fun game that echoes back to childhood games like dodgeball, wall ball, and soccer. While there are not a lot of games on the disk (maybe 8 at most), they are very fun to play with a small group of family or friends. It's definitely a fun game worth the price.
  
  
• Great Family Game!!!!
  By A1UR1BHOWYVSJ3 on 2008-05-17
  Just rented this game and we will be purchasing it. It's a family game and really good for the 5-9 year olds. Simple and easy with lots of action and fun. Great to play with the kids. A+++++ much much better than carnival game.
  
  
• Fun for the entire family
  By ATID3BFZH8QZV on 2008-05-20
  This game had caught my eye a while back and I'm so glad I decided to purchase this. My 5 1/2 year old son, husband, and myself all love and enjoy this game. I like the range of mini games you can play and how you can unlock new and different games in each area. For my family I think our favorite is the dart gun game. Lots of fun, I highly reccomend this game.
  
  
• A Blast for the kids!
  By A12GH3CAQ6W9HF on 2008-05-21
  The first time I saw my kids play this was at a friends house and they loved playing dodge ball and the paper airplane race. Now they have the game and are playing just about all the sports on there and very well. They love the soccer/volley ball combo game. The slot race game could be a bit longer but it's a bunch of fun even for you parents especially dodgeball against your kids! We play mostly the free play, because I have 3 kids they usually won't allow anyone to play the single player mode to often that seems like fun as well. I would really get this for your younger kids, they will love it.
  
  
• Great for kids, dull for adults
  By A1H4KGCID2M1U3 on 2008-05-31
  The ideas are there, the backgrounds done well, the idea of marbles that you have to collect forces you to explore & the types of games are original.
  The nerf darts shooting (at cans, targets & other kids), stock car racing & paper air plane racing are first person view or the camera is right behind the car/plane to keep it exciting.
  All the other games (dogeball, handball, tetherball, volleyball/soccer combo game) have the camera view in the audience, which to me makes it more dull in my opinion.
  You can do story mode single player to unlock different backgrounds/game tracks. For the beginning, you only have playground & when playing it's always the same track. You can also do quick races as single or multi player & choose any game, your own rules: goals needed, level of difficulty, length of game, track (if unlocked), etc.
  
  
• great family fun
  By A3GMRYV7VAYK5Q on 2008-06-03
  This is a one person game that everyone in the family can enjoy. My five year old loves this game, and jumps around like a rabbit on uppers while he plays it! My 3 year old likes it also, but isn't adept enough with the controller to play any of the games well. I think it is directed more for children 5-10, but call us kids at heart, both my husband and I enjoy playing the games. If it was just us, I doubt I would have gotten it, but with kids, it is a great choice. Everything so far in the game is non-violent and based around things you might play on a playground.
  
  
• Fun as a two person or one person game.
  By A35JT5YPZGX1T3 on 2008-06-15
  This is a really fun game if you like competition. The tetherball is great as well as several of the other games. There are a lot of games to choose from and they vary in different areas, so I think everyone could find something they like. Great for pre-teens and teens too.
  
  

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