Burton's Bytes

Publisher: Buena Vista Games. Formats: Xbox, PS2. Price: £39.99. Family friendly? Yes.

WITH the White Witch of Narnia casting her icy spell over the cinema box office this Christmas it looks as though this game could become the first smash hit movie tie-in of 2006.

An action adventure based on the Disney movie - which elegantly captures the power of the CS Lewis books - Chronicles of Narnia has all the right ingredients for a classic game.

Firstly it borrows liberally from the film, utilising movie clips for the linking sequences and the voices (and likenesses) of the cast members. Sometimes the movie excerpts seamlessly morph into gameplay sequences; this considerably blurs the distinction between game and film.

Narnia also throws in a wide variety of gameplay, impressive graphics and nifty audio effects - so is it a hit or a miss?

If you're a parent, chances are you'll be familiar with the plot. For the rest, here's the scoop: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are four children who walk through a magic wardrobe that's really an inter-dimensional time portal that transports them to Narnia.

The foursome are part of a prophecy that says they will eventually overthrow the White Queen and restore Aslan, a lion, to his rightful place as munificent ruler of the kingdom. Of course, the wicked queen doesn't plan to give up without a fight.

Is it a light variation on Lord of the Rings, a thinly disguised retelling of the story of Jesus or just a rollicking good yarn? That's for you to decide.

The gameplay dynamic between the four kids is what makes Narnia on the PS2 tick. Each one has different strengths and, at various times, they can only accomplish a task by teaming up (easy enough to do, just stand them next to one another and press a button). Peter is the fighter, Susan can throw things (handy for knocking out evil bats), Edmund can climb poles and little Lucy can squeeze into tight spaces and thereby open seemingly inaccessible doors.

Edmund and Lucy can link up to break down barricades, and Susan can climb onto Peter to give her throwing greater range. Special moves can be upgraded by collecting the gold coins scattered liberally throughout the levels.

As well as the exploration elements, there are puzzles (fairly simple stuff), the constant fear of discovery (when a baddie comes looking for you all the characters must hide and you only have a couple of minutes at best to find a suitable spot), racing and fighting.

By all accounts the Narnia film is a special effects doozy (it uses the same team that were responsible for The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and the game looks pretty peachy as well. Of particular note are the reflection and lighting effects; the way the characters' mirror images can be seen when they walk across an iced over lake and the sight of fire cutting through the darkness are really excellent. The game's creators also had full access to the effects' soundtrack and the film's score so the incidentals are first rate.

It's just a shame then, that after a couple of hours, you'll start to yearn for something that's a little bit more challenging. The gameplay may be varied but it's also very generic. There's nothing in Narnia that even a moderately experienced gamer won't have seen at least a couple of times before. I started to hope that the next level would break out of this conventional straitjacket but the ending left me disappointed.

SOUL CALIBUR III

Formats: PS2. Publisher: Namco. Price: £37.99. Family friendly? 16+

THE fourth instalment of this legendary fighting series is the best looking - and most polished - episode yet.

Choose from a huge selection of characters (including several new ones) and fight to the death in beautifully realised environments.

This time you can select new characters who wield swords for an extra dimension. As ever, the game rewards the Soul Calibur student who is prepared to study their enemy.

Timing and strategy are essential if you are to be successful. There's no aimless button mashing here or easy-to-pull-off combinations.

The single player mode is great fun but the best mode has to be the "versus" feature that allows two mates to pit their fighting wits against each other.

As devastating a display of pugilistic power as you are ever likely to see for the venerable PS2.

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