THQ has teamed up with Nickelodeon to bring us Tak 2, The Staff Of Dreams. Now before you groan about the fact that this is a sequel, or based on intellectual property which is made to sell kids toys, give the game a go ' I was pleasantly surprised and discovered a great game for kids and grown ups alike. It's got all the fun stuff that kids love doing, such as running, double jumping, floating, and of course fighting, as well as some very clever puzzles to solve which may stump even the brightest 'kid', but with perseverance and correct timing, can be solved.

The original Tak was never made available for Xbox, so I don't really know the back story, but from what I can gather Tak is a 'chosen one' type warrior of the Papanunu tribe, and he and his friends saved a Moon Goddess' stones from the evil Tlaloc in the previous game. In this adventure, Tak starts off in the Dreamworld, and he's asked by a Dream JuJu (the Dreamworld Gods) to rescue a princess who's locked in a distant and dark tower. Clich'd it may be, but it sets up the action well enough as you journey through the 'real world' in order to see your shaman friend Jilboba's brother, known as JB.

The Dreamworld is brightly coloured, and kind of soft and spongy. As you jump and glide through the world, you make plopping noises every time you land on a surface. It's filled will all manner of creatures, but the JuJu, the mystical floating star thing guides you through the world, telling you how to combat them. At the end of every Dreamworld level there is usually some kind of boss that is easy enough to dispatch with your staff and bolas, but as well as find the princess, you have to figure out who or what the JuJu is and why they're being so helpful.

The 'Real World' is much like what you may have seen in the updated version of Pitfall ' lush green forest environments with streams and hazardous cliffs. The fauna residents of the real world, ranging from bears to skunks to boars and crocodiles all have a part to play in getting you to your goal, whether that is to help or hinder you. Tak is well equipped to fight with his staff, bola and JuJu magic but in spots of real bother Jilboba can shape shift into flea form and help by throwing him at animals and either biting them to get them to do some action, or put them to sleep so that they no longer bother you. In addition to fighting or avoiding animals, there are some puzzles that you have to solve with each type of animal. In one example, with a bear, you must lead it to honey so you can use his belly as a trampoline and is just one example of the humour found throughout Tak2.

On top of the animals you've also got to deal with the evil inhabitants of the forests that the Papanunu people call home ' the Woodies (no we're not talking about some evil version of a Toy Story character either). The Woodies will try to stop you from getting to JB's by setting nefarious puzzle traps that you have to solve, as well as simply just pummeling you. There are various types of Woody, from the foot soldiers that are easy to dispatch, to the Shaman that can bring other Woodies back to life and the brutish soldiers wielding massive clubs.

The levels in Tak 2 are varied enough to keep even the most ADD stricken child entertained, ranging from simple platform jumping and problem solving, to sailing down rivers in barrels. There's even a nod to Donkey Kong as you have to avoid falling barrels in one section and to add extra spice to the game, some arena and vehicle scenarios have been thrown into the mix. The arena combat is simple enough, but the vehicle combat involves doing jumps at speed, shooting and avoiding enemy fire all at once and is quite challenging. There are some rather nefarious puzzles that will tax your brain more so than other platform games, but they keep you hooked with a desire to beat the game just that little bit more. Kids might find the puzzles too tricky, but this is a problem with most platformers like Tak 2 and finding the difficulty balance to make games entertaining for all ages has never really been pulled off perfectly in any game.

There are a stack of items to collect throughout Tak 2, and these can be used to unlock various minigames which can be played by one or two players extending the fun after the fairly lengthy single player levels have been completed. To unlock the various minigames, you collect magic gold scrolls on your journey through both the Dream and Real worlds, plus you can simply mix ingredients such as fruit, crystals and bugs and hope for the best.

The characters in Tak 2 are all very colourful and cartoony and the levels are bright and expansive, although they're very linear as like most other platform games, there's only one real path to completing your goals. The Xbox isn't pushed to its limits with regards to the graphics and at times Tak 2's mutliplatform heritage does shine through but it's never glaringly ugly. There are issues with the camera not being able to show you what you need to see at times, although these camera problems are encountered with most 3d platform games, so it can be overlooked as it isn't a game breaking flaw.

The music in the game is all original, and suits the action well, although it's no where near the quality of Voodoo Vince for instance. The voice acting is superb however and one of the coolest things about Tak2 is its humour. Patrick Warburton (Seinfield, the Dish) wonderfully portrays Tak's half-witted friend Lok, and the scenes with him are absolutely hilarious. There's all manner of wacky silliness going on throughout the whole game, but it never devolves into being too childish or demeaning. Even such an obvious joke with the bad guys being called 'Woodies' is not acted upon, and this restraint is refreshing as it shows the designers are aware that penis puns aren't the only things that make people laugh.

The game is unapologetically aimed at kids, and some may find the hand holding a little tedious earlier in the game, but it does drop off towards the later stages. However, despite the handholding, there is something wrong in that the game doesn't save at checkpoints or anything, so if you forget to save and then quite your game, you will lose all your progress! This oversight can lead to frustration if the game isn't saved often so be sure to show your kids how to do it and remind them often or no doubt you'll end up replaying large portions of the game yourself numerous times for them :-)