EA Playground - DS/DSi

Electronic Arts is set to take you back to your childhood. No, don't worry, you can put aside lingering fears of Beefy Bob, the lunch money thief. It's rose-tinted nostalgia that EA is gunning for here.

In EA Playground, you'll wander out into the school yard in search of fun, exploration and friends. The game lays out a series of challenges aimed at a family audience in a bright and cuddly package. Frankly, it's a fair bit cheerier than our collective memory of the schoolyard.

Players make their way through the playground, moving to different areas where they'll find assorted playground games going on - some of them you might have found in your own schoolyard experience. Players go along, collecting the playground's currency of choice - marbles - and trading them for stickers to boost their abilities.

The DS version features dodgeball, hoops (basketball), hopscotch, RC Racers (cars, racing, 'nuff said), bug hunt, kicks (re-worked footy), skate and sketch (dot-connecting skating madness), spitballs (blow into the microphone to fire them!) and trampoline.

Go on, show Beefy Bob you're not afraid anymore. more