The Polar Express (PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox)

THE POLAR EXPRESS re-creates the story as presented in the movie and expands it by creating interactive Mini games and puzzles inside the movie scenes.

Activities include outplaying a wry jack-in-the-box in a game of tennis, and defeating a railway car full of toys in a food fight.

The Polar Express video game has all the trappings of a great children's video game: terrific graphics, seamless integration of video sequences from the movie with the gameplay, memorable characters, and whimsically fun games and puzzles. It's too bad this well-conceived game is hampered by a poorly designed "save" feature. Instead of letting kids savor their victories, multiple activities are tied together with one "save" point. Frequently, the last activity is so difficult that children must replay it several times, forcing them to repeat the previous three or four activities as well.

Several of the Mini games are extremely difficult to win. Although targeted at younger gamers, the frustration level will be too high for kids ages 5 to 7. Older, more experienced gamers will find this challenging game interesting to explore, although they will suffer some frustration from the forced repetition.