Then again, it's unlikely too many grown-ups would play a game based off a kid's movie anyway, so all of this is a little beside the point.

G-Force shows off some of the best presentation values we've seen on the DS. The cutscenes look terrific, and the adorable in-game depiction of Darwin provoked coos from a friend who saw us playing. The 3-D environments aren't exactly teeming with detail, but they capture the feel of the various buildings you sneak into, and we rarely encountered graphical glitches (once in awhile, objects will overlap without colliding). The enemies look just menacing enough to give kids a mild fright without also giving them nightmares. All that's out of place are the guys in dark clothes with machine guns who march through the halls in some of the cutscenes; that's a bit threatening for a kids' game with guinea pigs, no?

The sound is great as well. The cutscenes feature some well-done voice acting from the film's cast, and the music captures the spy theme perfectly. The sound effects fit the mood too, even if they can get a little repetitive. Given the limitations of the DS speakers, no game can provide a top-notch audio experience, but this one comes close.

When it comes to controls, even more serious-minded action titles could take inspiration from G-Force. Overwhelmingly, you push buttons instead of scribbling with the stylus, use of which is limited to pulling up the goggles, checking the details of your mission, and solving the hacking puzzles. Moving, jumping, and thrashing enemies with the whip feels remarkably natural, and even complicated moves (like double-jumping and then boosting, or navigating between columns of heavy wind) become second nature quickly. The camera does a decent job of staying behind you when it needs to, and when it fails you can adjust it with the shoulder buttons (which fill in remarkably well for the second joystick a console game would have access to).

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Once again, there is very little challenge here, and the gameplay is a bit repetitive. Most adults won't find this game to be a good use of their time. However, thanks to the eye-catching cutscenes, cute characters, and decent-sized campaign, G-Force will keep a lot of kids occupied while they're out of school this summer. Does this mean the fundamental rule of movie games (that is, they're awful) no longer applies? No, but G-Force is definitely one exception to this rule.

By Robert VerBruggen
CCC Freelance Writer