Shrek 2 (PlayStation 2, Xbox)

SHREK 2 is a linear game with 11 levels, which roughly parallel the plot of the movie --Shrek and his wife, Princess Fiona, journey to the Land of Far, Far Away to meet Fiona's less-than-welcoming parents. It's an action/adventure game full of typical platform gaming challenges, including collecting items, fighting a host of baddies, and solving puzzles. You play as a team of four characters, with the ability to switch constantly among the four. Since each character has special abilities, gameplay requires figuring out which character should tackle a given challenge.

Another interesting aspect of this game is the ability to play cooperatively. At any time in the game, additional players can join the fun by simply plugging in a controller and hitting the "start" button. Friends can go in and out of the game without affecting the linear progression of the story for the main player.

Shrek 2, the movie, charms most viewers with its use of fairy tale puns and humor. Basing a video game on this witty movie, with its endearing characters and unique settings, would seem to be an easy recipe for creating a top-notch video game for youngsters. Unfortunately, Shrek 2 fails to deliver the humor and cleverness we have come to expect from this license. But the game does have some unique aspects that may make it worth exploring.

If you don't mind having your kids play a video game in which they spend a lot of time beating up bad guys, you'll like this game. It encourages kids to work together to figure out challenges. Once finished, kid-testers thought they would not play it again, so they suggested renting the game instead of buying it.