Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance (Nintendo DS)

Based on the new Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV show, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS: JEDI ALLIANCE (not to be confused with the recently released and similarly named Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels for the Wii) sees players taking on the roles of six different Jedi, including fan favorites Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, and Ahsoka Tano. Two Jedi are selected for each mission, and players switch between them as they battle and work together to solve environmental puzzles.

The narrative concerns a new threat that takes place during the franchise's now well established Clone Wars. The Jedi stumble across a fearful, lightsaber-wielding woman clad in red who has at her disposal a seemingly limitless number of "sisters" whom she regularly sics on the player's characters. Working in bands of two, the Jedi follow her from planet to planet across the galaxy in an effort to discern her intentions and discover the root of her power.

Jedi Alliance's shtick is to let players control pairs of Jedi, but it doesn't work as well as one might hope. For starters, there is no functionality to support a pair of players working co-operatively. You can only play alone, switching between Jedi as necessary. It's a major oversight, given the game's theme. What's more, Jedi Assists -- special attacks that happen when the player targets a foe that a computer controlled Jedi is currently fighting -- are so unspectacular as to be unnoticeable. It feels more like your ally just stands around and watches while you do all the work.

That said, if you view Jedi Alliance as being a single character action/adventure game (which is what it feels like in the end), it can be a lot of fun. Intuitive touch screen controls make navigation and fighting a snap. And the game's many puzzles -- which involve hacking terminals by selecting falling shapes that match security symbols, using the stylus to draw a shape shown on the upper screen to cut holes through doors with your lightsaber, and swiping the stylus in specific patterns to help Jedi pull off amazing, Force-assisted acrobatics -- are compelling distractions. It's no game of the year, but it's certainly passable entertainment for young Star Wars aficionados.