The Nintendo 3DS, by nature of its unique design, is home to not only games, but a whole slew of titles that don’t necessarily fit into the traditional view of what a videogame is. Utilizing the touchscreen and stylus, drawing programs are a perfect fit for the platform, and Disney Art Academy is the latest drawing addition to that category. As a way to learn how to draw featuring familiar and beloved Disney characters, it works great, but it’s not something I can really classify as a game.
How to Draw Disney 101
Disney Art Academy is extremely effective as a learn-to-draw tool. I’m a terrible drawer, and I was able to use the tutorials and tools to create things that actually looked close to Disney characters. I recognized a lot of more advanced drawing and illustration tools that I’m accustomed to seeing in graphic editing programs, such as layers, one-click undo (with the shoulder buttons), and different brush types. There were also really neat little insights into all of the little details that go into Disney character design. As an art class, it’s pretty good.
As a game, not so much. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say this isn’t really a video game so much as a program that will teach you how to draw. That’s not a bad thing, but the “game” aspects of this title aren’t very substantial. There’s a very shallow overarching story, and I’m not really sure if there’s even a fail condition. My eight-year-old son, who has very little patience at times, told me he just drew things and didn’t follow the tutorials, yet still was told he did a good job. It’s nice that the game won’t criticize you at all, but at what point does that stop being a game?
The response of the 3DS’s touchscreen was fairly good, but it’s not a very high-precision input. When you get into some finer drawing, you just don’t get as much pin-point accuracy as one would typically want when working with graphical editing or drawing. Still, for a younger player just looking to learn, it does the job well enough.
Something we all found was that Disney Art Academy didn’t hold our interest for very long. At most we’d complete a tutorial or two at a time. None of us felt a real pull to “keep going”, and I fear that a lot of players could play it only once or twice then never come back, unless they were REALLY into drawing. My six-year-old son tried it for a while during a trip in the van to visit family, but didn’t stick with it and hasn’t asked to try it again. Now, my kids do tend to gravitate more towards action games, so take their feedback appropriately, but it does illustrate how this is much less a game than it is a tool.
Disney Art Academy seems to skew pretty young. My 12-year-old son played it a bit and told me that he didn’t feel like it was meant for his age. Having played it myself, I certainly couldn’t argue his point.
The GamerPops Recommendation
It’s important to understand what Disney Art Academy is before plunging in. It’s a fantastic way to learn how to draw, and the use of familiar characters will make it an engaging experience. But don’t come in expecting a full-fledged game so much as a course in how to draw. If art class isn’t your thing, this will not be for you, but for those who take to it, you stand to come out of the experience with much better drawing and art skills than when you started.
A review copy was provided to GamerPops.
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