Jak and Daxter

THE BAD:
It's shorter than a compressed atom. Well, okay it's not quite that short, but still...

SUMMARY:
The Graphics are of a high quality, and the loading times have thankfully been kept as short as is humanly possible with this game. Think of the Gameplay as being about 30% Crash Bandicoot, 30% Spyro The Dragon, 30% The Legend Of Zelda and 10% Super Mario 64.

The Storyline begins thus. Jak has been advised by his old friend Samos the Sage not to visit the mysterious "Misty Island", about half a mile or so off the coast of Sandover Village, Jak's home-town.

So Jak, our Link-like main Character, and his best mate Daxter head off to Misty Island, completely ignoring the green old geezer. Once there, they witness a strange, slightly old-looking man (with a case of Darth Vader-style Asthma) and his teenaged-looking sister (which makes you wonder how long their mother waited between having them!) announcing their plans to a group of "Lurkers" (that's Jak & Daxter language for "weird mutant thing which is usually trying to kill you"). As they attempt to escape, one particularly nasty-looking Lurker (it had to be!) detects the duo and chases after them. Jak is forced to the edge of a pool of "Dark Eco", - a toxic substance which appears to have some connection to the man and the woman whom you witnessed before. Jak accidentally knocks Daxter into the pool as he defeats the Lurker. Daxter flies back out...but he has mutated into the most annoying creature since Crash Bandicoot...

They duo return to Sandover Village, where they contend with a not-particularly-pleased Samos, and Daxter reveals his feelings for Samos' daughter, the transportation technology obsessed genius(ess?), Keira. Now, how someone so green can be the father of a pink-skinned girl is beyond me, but nevertheless, the adventure proceeds from there.

Overall, a recommended game. It's a Naughty Dog game where the main Character isn't an orange marsupial, the main villain doesn't have a large "N" symbol tattooed onto his forehead and the game's rivalling advisers aren't badly-animated masks. Rejoice!