As Luc Besson's animated movie arrives in the UK, Atari releases the adaptation on the current-generation...

Finally released in the UK today (having launched in France as long ago as last November), Luc Besson's feature length animation Arthur & The Invisibles is getting the videogame treatment thanks to Asterix & Obelix XXL developers, Etranges Libellules. After trying to discover his grandfather's lost treasure in their back garden, a boy called Arthur is transformed into a millimetre-tall troll-like creature called a Minimoy, where he's given the task of rescuing the a whole city of the creatures from Malthazar, a rogue Minimoy-turned warlord. Malthazar, now going under the name Evil M, has dastardly plans to flood the Minimoys' city, and so Arthur heads out with two companions, Betameche and Salenia (the Prince and Princess of the Minimoys), to save the day.

A platform adventure with plenty of puzzles and variety in gameplay, Arthur & The Invisibles is (perhaps rather surprisingly given the fact that it's a movie licence) a solid and largely fun fare. Throughout the course of the game, players get the chance to control the three Minimoys, each with their own unique skills. Thanks to his original human form, Arthur has the ability to climb, Betameche has a rather handy knife that can fire out energy bolts at enemies and obstacles alike, and Selenia has a knife that can cut down the thorns that block some of paths along their way.

Right from the start of the adventure, when the title sequence plays out and Betameche tutors Arthur (and the player) in the game's control system, it's clear that Etranges Libellules have aimed to recreate the cinematic experience of the movie. It's a stylish affair that obviously borrows heavily from the look and feel of the film; an almost ethereal light permeates through certain sections of the gameworld, and the addition of an 'occasionally' dynamic camera system helps to create the desired cinematic effect.

Of course, being a platform adventure game, players will find themselves making leaps of faith as they traverse their way from the Minimoy city to Evil M's hideout of Necropolis. Inevitably, barriers and obstacles stand between Arthur and the two Minimoys, locked doors and retracted bridges providing many of the challenges along the way. The main solution to these frequently occurring problems are the flagstones dotted around the linear paths of the gameworld. Ranging from the straightforward (where one or more of the Minimoys must find and stand on them) to the slightly more complex (re-build fallen totem-pole stonework), despite the fact that they do pop up quite often in the adventure, there is enough variety in the gameplay in between them to avoid soul-destroying repetition. However, barriers are the least of the Minimoys' worries, as Evil M also commands an army of Henchmen who'll try to capture them at various points.

During these encounters with Evil M's Henchmen, players also have to keep an eye out for the two other Minimoys, as their capture by the creatures ends the game. If a Minimoy is bundled into a cage, players will have to jump on top of the mini-cell holding the troll, and unhook the rope linking it to a soon-to-take-off mosquito. It's during these circumstances that the largely colourful world of the Minimoys takes a rather monotonal path, draining the colour from the screen and making perfectly clear the serious nature of the would be abduction.

A platformer wouldn't be a platformer without collectables to, erm, collect, and Arthur's adventure with the Minimoys is no different. It turns out that mosquito eggs are good for your health, especially if you're a Minimoy, so it's up to players to collect enough eggs to use when any of the three protagonists need an extra dose of life. Additional Egg Bags can be found dotted around the entire gameworld, enabling the trio to carry more eggs as the adventure progresses, though a lot of these have obstacles in their way - a not so subtle cue for more puzzle solving. Minimoy Runes are also dotted throughout the gameworld, each representing a letter in the alphabet. Like Jim Henson's Sesame Street, it's a lesson in definitions, and pretty early on we learn that T stands for Treasure...

Besides general platform-based gameplay, Arthur & The Invisibles is filled with puzzles that break up the adventure, creating a good sense of variety. That said there are puzzles that appear frequently enough to air on the side of repetition ever so slightly. Using contextual commands, puzzles will have players quickly tapping the controller's face buttons in a range of activities from unlocking gates that block their path, through to hypnotising guards. One of the more memorable sequences sees the three Minimoys travel across paths of sharp stones thanks to the help of a Yeti-like creature called a Mogoth. Balancing on top of the creature, player have to ensure the three Minimoys don't fall to their doom with more contextual button tapping, they'll also have to lean heavily to one side to avoid obstacles from time to time...ok, so perhaps that doesn't sound particularly enthralling, but overall it (along with the other activities) really does help to create a fun mix throughout the overall adventure.

But the Minimoys' adventure doesn't just take place on the garden floor. In a bid to help Betameche free a bunch of creatures called Mul-Muls, Arthur finds himself behind the reins of an enemy's mosquito, shooting down other mosquitoes using homing missiles (probably made of pollen grains for all we know) or the Minimoy equivalent of a machine gun. These sequences (another has Selenia loading water drops onto a catapult to put out fires) continue the co-operative gameplay between the three characters, even when they're separated from each other. For instance, the mosquitoes that Arthur shoots down are trying to capture Betameche, whilst the fires put out by Selenia block her brother's path...so a lesson in life, and how working together helps overcome great obstacles!

Despite being an adaptation of a children's movie, Arthur & The Invisibles does suffer from a couple of frustrating elements that would certainly put off some kids, especially those suffering from ADD. Early on in the game, there's a distinct issue of travelling, where gamers have to retrace their steps to get an item 'forgotten' by one of the other Minimoys. This thankfully becomes less of an issue later on; instead, the light-frustration is directed more towards a sometimes-dodgy camera, and one-hit kill bombs that have a nasty habit of landing on the Minimoys' heads just at the wrong time. There are also occasions when the frame rate drops quite drastically, often during delicate platform jumping; the sort where making a wrong move ends up in a long fall and the inevitable aggravating death of the character. Those complaints aside however, the inaugural adventure of Arthur & The Invisibles (a sequel movie has already been commissioned) is a solid affair that fans of platformers and the animation itself will no doubt enjoy.