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DONALD
DUCK'S PLAYGROUND
US Gold/Sierra, £9.95 cass, £12.95 disk
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Donald
Duck's Playground is one of the first of the batch
of said releases, and is aimed at children between the
ages of 7 and 11. It basically attempts to teach a child
the value of money and how to use it, although the currency
used is as foreign as the program -- ie American. The
explanation given on the poster instructions supplied
with the game seems to adequately justify this apparent
flaw though. Donald is actually quoted thus: 'It makes
learning more fun, introducing children at an early
age to other people's cultures'. Doesn't quite sound
like the duck I once knew, but then I suppose he's matured
with age (after all, he must be well over 50 by now).
The
player has to help 'Nunkie Donald build a playground
for his three nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie. But first
he has to earn enough money to buy equipment by working
on any of four different jobs. According to the instructions,
this teaches the child the concept of 'labour for pay',
which is fair enough. The jobs all require some manual
dexterity with the joystick and involve object matching
in one form or other. For example one of the jobs is
at the Product Market and has Donald sorting fruit and
vegetables chucked from the back of the market truck.
The 'product' is thrown from the right-hand side of
the screen and Donald must be moved to catch it. The
fruit must then be matched up with the correct box and
placed in it to earn cash.
Perhaps
the most impressive and appealing aspect of Donald
Duck's Playground is the graphics. Overall they
are of a very high standard, with plenty of big, bold,
colourful characters that are easily identifiable. Combined
with the jolly music and sound effects, Donald Duck
is a program that should appeal to a majority of budding
young gameplayers. Although I don't think it has a great
deal to offer on the educational side.
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