Macromediocrity's hallmark is the re-skinning of adult games with kid-friendly art and calling it children's software. The MySims line is a double mashup as it takes an adult brand ("The Sims") and blends it with other adult style fare, in this case "Airplane Arcade Action". It is woefully lacking in humor and a surprisingly difficult game to play.
We've seen this type of game before, even sharing many of the same mechanics, in first party titles from Nintendo.
You would have thought that with such well trodden material EA would have focused on adding a bit of humor or something to make this more than a quick-pick-up-and-play game.
One of the biggest problems is that the airspace is very small. It is very easy to fly out of bounds and then have trouble figuring out how to get back. At the same time, locating your opponents and figuring out how high and in what direction they are flying is unreasonably difficult. I've played adult flight sims that were easier. Heck, I've flown real planes and they were easier to manage than these.
There are fantasy elements to the entire MySims line that will appeal to tweens who are too young for kids games and not quite ready for teen/adult action. MySims SkyHeroes (on name alone) will be a magnet to those who dream of being the next Top Gun.
On the other hand, parents looking to spend their limited holiday dollars carefully in favor of games or books that develop thinking skills. Along those lines, you might see if you can find a used copy of Ace of Aces, a book based game that simulates World War I dog fights. I found one on Ebay for just $12, though they occasionally go for much more.
