The Backyardigans
SCORE: 87
The Backyardigans on the Nintendo DS surprised me. This little cartridge teaches kids colors, numbers, drawing, and following a pattern. With all of this educational value, it got an ‘E’ for Everyone rating, instead of an ‘EC’ for Early Childhood rating. I would have thought the ESRB would bestow the ‘EC’ rating. There are three stories included in The Backyardigans. They are pirates, space, and super heroes. If you have seen the television show then you have some idea what these little characters are about. 2K Play incorporated quite a few features of the Nintendo DS for this game.
Visually speaking there are a lot of bright colors used in The Backyardigans. I love how this game teaches kids colors as well. Numbers are also represented visually, and that is another lesson kids can pick up. The characters are doing different things, but none would fall under violence in my book. Pirates having a sword fight with what looks like telescopes never make contact with one another. Super heroes, and villains who shoot or throw things at one another also never connect. So in my book The Backyardigans is safe for children.
2K Play impressed me years ago with verbal instructions in their games. Too many developers/publishers produce children games with written instructions only. They forget that not every child can read. The Backyardigans contains verbal instructions. They are usually easy to follow. I found there can be some problems with the repeating certain words back. For some reason we had problems discerning the first word spoken at times. A written instruction as well would have been appreciated.
The Backyardigans contains the three episodes, and they are also remixed for additional replay value. On top of that, any of the mini games can be played by themselves over and over again. I went through all three episodes in an hour. It took children longer than that.
The game play was kept basic in The Backyardigans. Touch screen controls are what was used most often. There were also specific spots where verbal commands were given to the game. The children I let play The Backyardigans had fun with it. The Backyardigans is very forgiving when mistakes are made. The game has the player try it again.
I love to see kids games
come to market. They diversify our industry, and improve the image of
the video game industry. The Backyardigans teaches shapes, sizes,
colors, and following instructions. I can see a lot of kids enjoying
this franchise for years to come.
- Paul
Graphics: 85%
Sound: 90%
Replay/Extras: 82%
Gameplay: 89%
Family Friendly Factor: 90%
System: Nintendo DS
Publisher: 2K Play
Rating: 'E' for Everyone
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