Pogo Island should be one of the Nintendo DS' best games. The concept of bringing the immensely popular online phenomenon to the world's most popular handheld seems like an excellent idea, yet Electronic Arts not only drops the ball, but tumbles along with it. Instead of shoving tons of games onto the cartridge, the developers delivered a measly five.
Granted, these five (Poppit!, Squelchies, Phlinx, Word Whomp and Tri-Peak Solitaire) provide short term fun, but by limiting the number of games, the developers trim the user base. Not everyone wants to play Word Whomp, nor do they care about the Bust-A-Move rip-off Phlinx. Slim pickings indeed.
EA tries to add some by introducing the story mode, Island Adventure, but it lacks pizzazz. Basically, the Pogo mascots go on a cruise, their ship runs aground and players must search for missing friends and recover boat pieces. To do this, they complete challenges by playing the aforementioned five games, as well as partake in micro-games. One of them tasks people with firing objects into three chests using a slingshot, similar to the mini games in New Super Mario Bros. Unfortunately, it suffers from unresponsive touch screen controls at times. Several swipes with a stylus fail to register, and everything moves too slowly to be enjoyable.
In order to determine which games people play, they spin a wheel, much like the ones at boardwalks and in casinos, except this one has a nasty habit of landing on the same games. Naturally, more options would solve this issue.
Outside of the single player component, gamers can compete against three friends via AdHoc (Word Whomp only) and send them Poppit! demos. Again, EA misses another opportunity. The ability to compete online via Nintendo's Wi-Fi connection would improve the game.
At least the developers reward people for playing Pogo Island. During the course of the game, players win tokens and upload them to their Pogo.com account. This winds up being the game's best feature, since it allows them to get their fix away from home.
Unfortunately, the simplistic 2-D graphics don't impress. EA revamped the games to differentiate them from their PC counterparts, but these new skins don't enhance the experience. As for the audio, the bland music and sound effects won't impress anyone.
Despite these issues, Pogo Island appeals to fans as well as gamers looking for a puzzle fix. It lacks depth, but so does online Pogo. People play to waste time and collect tokens, not to immerse themselves in rich, beautiful experiences. However, EA deserves a slap on its wrist for this unsatisfying appetizer. Then again, perhaps this is nothing more than a vehicle to bring new users into the Pogo family.
Final Score: 6 (out of 10)
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