As much as I love Star Wars, the games have not always been up to snuff. Let's be honest - some were real stinkers. While I enjoy all the Star Wars movies, almost all the games I encountered for episodes 1-3 just didn't excite me. I may be showing my age (and bias) though towards the "Classic" trilogy. However, my godchild really liked Lego Star Wars for the Gameboy, so I thought I'd get the game for my son and see what he thought. (We played it on the XBox.) What a great great decision!

Lego Star Wars is basically a 3D platformer. It is set in the Star Wars universe of the second trilogy (episodes 1-3). While these weren't exactly the most light hearted of movies, the game takes a very light view of the movies, adding lots of humor where the movies were overly serious. Everything in the game, from the people to the ships and the environments is built with Legos. So when you blow something up, you see a lot of Lego blocks break apart. That by itself is fun as I'd never smash my own Legos in real life. (Although my son has no qualms about doing so.) Get killed by a droid? Instead of seeing a morbid dead body you see a bunch of little Lego pieces.

The game takes you through the movies, each movie being broken up into chapters. As you play, you gain access to new characters and can purchase them for use elsewhere. There is a setting outside of the movies where you can simply run around and have fun. As more characters become available, you will see them running around, having fights, etc. You can run up to any of these characters and take them over. My son and I had great fun fighting each other as Jedis, or simply goofing off.

Characters are generally divided into three groups: Droids, "Shooters", and Jedis. The droids don't typically do much - but are required for certain puzzles. Shooters are characters who just have a blaster. They are pretty good for getting through large groups of enemies and can also use a grapple to move over obstacles. Jedis are, as expected, the most fun group. Along with being able to swing a lightsaber around, they can also use the Force. The Force is used in various places to get solve puzzles, or sometimes just as a way to get extra money.

What made the game most enjoyable though is the multiplayer aspect. My son and I played the entire game together, each of us using different characters. At many points during the game we had to stop and think about how to proceed. The puzzles don't normally take long to solve, but it was fun to work on them with my son. There were a few parts of the game that were a bit hard for my six your old, but the cool thing is that he could simply drop out - let me handle it - and then jump right back in once the hard part was over. Also - my son took great joy in "accidentally" shooting me every now and then. (I still think he was out to get me...)

One final note. The third movie of the prequels had a few elements that were a bit "intense" for younger kids. These scenes are (in general) not carried over to the game, and I do not think a parent needs to worry about them here.

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The Tony Hawk skateboarding game franchise now has multiple titles available for just about every gaming platform. Recognizing that the atmosphere, intensity, and language of these games if often inappropriate for younger players, the Tony Hawk team and Disney paired up to create Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure. The combination of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater engine and known loveable Disney characters is a sure win, right? Well, maybe not.

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure allows kids to skate around worlds, earning points and solving puzzles so as to open additional worlds and unlock additional skaters and accessories (skateboards, apparel, and so on). Worlds are based on Disney themes, Buzz and Woody skate around Andy's Room and Pizza Planet, Pumbaa and Timon skate around the jungles, Tarzan and Jane skate all over Clayton's ship, and so on. The worlds are vast, and there are lots of them. Skating and exploring the worlds will entertain kids, at least initially. To complete worlds puzzles must be solved. These are usually a series of objects to be retrieved by skating up to them.

Each skater (both kid skaters and Disney character skaters) have different skill-levels, although there seemed to be no real difference between them in actual game play. It is also possible to create your own character, with extensive control over clothing and body characteristics (this feature was a big hit).

Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure is definitely targeted at the pre-teen crowd. The screens, the animation, the characters and their catch-phrases, and the rather juvenile humor are all designed to appeal to the young (as opposed to the young at heart).

Taking this into account the game has several real problems.

For starters, game play tends to be too difficult for young players. Not being able to complete missions will really frustrate kids, and my kids really did have a hard time completing missions. The skateboard moves have cutesy names (which differ based on the character you are playing as), and the characters responses to falling flat on their faces or butts will amuse (the first dozen or so times), but learning those moves will likely be beyond the capabilities of the players that this game will most appeal to, by which time those amusing responses will have started to become downright annoying.

In other words, the players who would have the skills to master the moves so as to complete missions and advance in the game won't want to play this game because it really is juvenile. And kids who know and love the characters and worlds will find the game too troublesome and frustrating.

The other aspect of the game that is highly inappropriate (considering the target demographic) is the amount of in game advertising. And there is nothing subtle about it. One mission involves obtaining Nokia ring tones in a specified amount of time (going so far as to provide the exact phone model number), and another involves delivering food for MacDonald's to win a pair of red clown's feet. Product placement is one thing, this goes way beyond what I'd consider acceptable.

Ironically, the youngest players in our household were the ones who liked this game the most. No, they've never completed a mission, and no, they don't even care to. They just like pushing buttons on the controller to make Andy and Tarzan skate around and fall off, and laugh hysterically at the silly one-liners.

If you are looking for a serious skateboarding game, this is decidedly not it. If you are looking for simple entertainment using well known Disney characters, then this may fit the bill initially, but kids will get frustrated by it quickly, and it is sure to join the stack of games they don't play.

Note: This game is also supported on PS2 and GameCube. As per company provided product details the game should be identical on all platforms, however we've only played it on Xbox, and this review is based only on the game as played.

This is an old game, but one that has stayed "in rotation" at my house since we picked it up a good year ago. If you aren't watching cartoons with your kids, shame on you, but if you are, hopefully you are watching SpongeBob SquarePants. This is - without a doubt - one of the funniest cartoons out there - no matter what your age. Despite that - I wasn't actually sure I should pick the game up for my child. Licensed games don't typically translate so well, a lesson my children will surely learn as they get older.

However I was very surprised by the game. It is not only fun, but challenging as well. Both my son, my wife, and I all played the game, which really speaks to how entertaining and approachable it is. At a basic level, the game involves a plot by Mr. Krab's nemesis, Plankton, trying to take over Bikini Bottom with robots. Things go slightly awry when the robots decide they no longer need to follow Plankton's order. SpongeBob and his friends have to help save Bikini Bottom from being overrun by the malicious robots. As you play the game you will run into pretty much everyone from the cartoon, all voiced, as far as I can tell, by the actual voice actors.

The game is a classic platformer, very much like Super Mario 64. There are a variety of levels and optional challenges you can take while playing the main quest. Your main objective is to defeat the robots, but you reach your goal by capturing Golden Spatulas. As you gain more spatulas, new realms open up to you and allow for more freedom to explore Bikini Bottom. One of the best parts of the game are the various races you do. I don't want to ruin the surprise - but the race in Sandy's dream made me laugh out loud. (Mainly because it confirmed what I truly think of Texas.)

The game lets you take on the role of SpongeBob along with Sandy (a squirrel from Texas) and Patrick, SpongeBob's not so intelligent starfish friend. Each character has a different set of abilities. SpongeBob learns new powers as the game progresses. Compared to Kameo, the multi-character aspect of this game is much easier. You pretty much are forced to change characters where you have to. This makes the game somewhat simpler.

My son was playing the game at four. While he has not been able to beat the final boss (I can't do it either!), the game is very large and he has gotten many hours of enjoyment from it. (And as I stated above, both myself and my wife have played it quite a lot as well.) The game requires some quick reflexes. Like Super Mario 64, there are levels where very precise jumping is required. Another thing I noticed was that the 3D aspect of the game took my four year old a few days to get used to. In general camera control is acceptable, but it does take a new game player some time to get used to. I would probably recommend it for six year olds at minimum, but as I said, my son played it earlier. The game is rated E for Everyone, and I certainly agree with that rating.

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Note: This game is also supported on PS2, GameCube, Gameboy Advance, PC and XBox platforms. This reviewer played it on the XBox.

On the surface, Tiger Woods PGA Tour '06 may not seem like a game for kids. Sure, there are no guns, or violence, or even adult themes, but for some reason people don't view this as a kids game. Maybe it's because people think you need to understand how to play golf to enjoy the game. It could stem from the increasing complexity of the controls of sports games in general. I think that Tiger Woods PGA Tour '06 can be as fun for kids as any other game, even for kids who do not know a thing about golf.

There are several modes of play available, including Rivals Mode, PGA Tour Season Mode, Battle Golf and Traditional Games.

• 'Rivals' mode would be similar to a 'career' or 'campaign' mode were you play against other 'golfers' controlled by the CPU. In this version of the game you face golfers, both real and fictional, from the past and present. As you progress through the game, you unlock other golfers and new courses, some real and some created in the minds of the EA Sports engineers.
• PGA Tour Season mode allows you to play through up to 30 years of PGA Tour events.
• Battle golf pits 2 players against each other in a match play event where the winner of each hole removes a club from the bag of his/her opponent, or adds one back to their own bag.
• Traditional Games lets you play against others, or by yourself in a variety of game formats, including stroke play or match play.

There is a 'Play Now' option on the main menu which will help you get out and playing quickly. This is configurable so that you may specify how many players will be playing, which course to play and which golfer to to play as. My kids prefer navigating through the menu so that they may pick there own golfer and course. As you may have guessed, more often than not, they want to play as Tiger. This is a great idea for kids playing for the first time because Tiger is, by far, the best golfer in the game. If you have four players, they can each choose Tiger, each with different clothes to make it easier to know who is who out on the course.

For most kids under 10, I would recommend playing stroke play under Traditional Games. For those unfamiliar with the term, 'stroke play' is when you add up your strokes for each hole for your total score. This is also the scoring method used during most professional golf events.

The game play could not be simpler. By default, the swing is controlled by the left thumb stick. You simply pull the thumb stick back to start the swing (the backswing), and you push it forward to complete the swing (the follow-through). That's it. It's that easy. There are ways you can get more complicated with the swing, like 'powering up' the swing by pressing the white button during the backswing and pressing the black button when the ball is in the air to put spin on the ball which controls how it will react when it lands. However, to enjoy the game, kids don't need to use any of these controls.

You have the choice of playing 11 licensed courses, as well as quite a few courses that were created just for the game. The 'real' courses tend to be easier to play than the 'fantasy' courses, and for first timers, I would recommend playing St. Andrews. Its has a wide open layout, very little water, and not one tree on the course. This makes it easier to recover from poor shots, which, in turn, gives you a better chance to shoot a good score. If kids can play well from the start, they will stay interested in the game. At least that's how it was with my kids.

My only complaint about the game is putting. There is a grid that appears on the green that is supposed to help you see whether the shot is uphill or downhill, or if it will break left or right. For me the grid and arrows that appear are confusing, and I often misinterpret this information and 'misread' the green. My kids, however, don't even notice the grid, nor do they re-adjust there aim to take into account that they may be putting uphill, or downhill. Yet, they both enjoy the game quite a bit.

One feature of the game which has kept my kids occupied longer than I thought possible is the 'Game Face'. You can create your own profile, which allows you to track your scores and accomplishments throughout all modes of play. While creating your profile, you have the ability to design your own golfer. You can choose more details about your golfer than you could probably imagine. From clothing styles and colors, to club selection, to height and weight, to facial features, you can control every physical feature of your golfer. My kids have spent time trying to see who can make their golfer look the funniest, and can be heard laughing about it all the way upstairs. Fortunately, you can bypass most of this or only choose to alter a few features, such as hair style and color.

To give you an idea of how kid friendly the game can be, my youngest son, who is 4, scored 3 strokes under par the second time he ever played the game, and my oldest son, who is 7, almost beat me last week. With the kids playing as Tiger, and I as my profile character, the game is almost even because Tiger is a better golfer than my character, and the kids often out drive me off the tee. While knowledge of the game, and how it is played is not essential, an interest in golf is definitely a plus. My kids' interest in golf has actually increased since they start playing the video game on a regular basis.

Note: This game is also supported on PS2, GameCube and XBox 360. As per company provided product details the game should be identical on all platforms, however we've only played it on Xbox, and this review is based only on the game as played.
Screenshots shown are from Xbox 360 version.