Tak is starting to become quite the popular character. He has his own show on Nickelodeon, little toys are being given out in McDonald's happy meals and even more impressive, a new game has been launched across several systems.  Which brings me to today's review, Tak: The Great JuJu Challenge.

Tak and Lok have been selected by their village to partake in the Great JuJu Challenge. The challenge involves competing against other tribes in order to get crowned champion and winner of the Challenge; the problem is the story of the game is mired in confusion. It seems that the game developers were taking for granted that anyone playing this title would already know the extensive Tak history, which for some will simply not be true. For instance, I know Tak is a TV character, and it appears that those faithful to the show will understand the game's already developed characters (as well as those who have played previous games), but as it is I think they failed to recognize those gamers who are new to the series and want something new to play. But for those who are unfamiliar, and this marks the biggest problem of the game; the storyline/presentation is not spelled out in an easy to understand fashion. I understand that I must win each of the challenges over the other tribes, who are decidedly more evil-looking, but where's the back story? Where is that gusto that makes you want to join Tak and Lok in their adventure over evil? In the first 15 minutes of play, players are introduced to probably 10 characters and they all seem to know each other, but to the uninitiated, it spells out a certain level of confusion. Who's this gal who disappears with magic? Why does this guy have a talking face on his belly? Why is this skeleton talking to me like I have partied with him in the past? All of these are questions that will make you wonder what's going on. Again, to those who simply have no prior Tak knowledge, it will all seem very confusing, and the game doesn't get any less as it gets on.

 
The loincloth, this years answer to summer shorts.
Light and airy, yet easy to wash and incredibly durable.

OK, well since this game is aimed at ten year olds, I guess I can forgive the loose explanations of the story and characters. But what I cannot forgive is the game's clunky character enhancement screen which has you positioning gems into a rock diagram that is supposed to represent the characters of the game. As you collect these little magical gems, you supposedly enhance your character's abilities. I didn't notice any sort of real difference. You can even add these items to your racing vehicle (see below) in order to trick it out a bit, but again, I couldn't wrap my noodle around the whole enhancement schematic. The game doesn't provide a decent enough explanation on how it all works and trial by error is simply inane. Simply put, the game really lacks any sort of tutorial for the behind the scenes mechanics of character development.  

The same could be said for the scenes between action, where a character pops on screen and (badly) describes what the next part of the challenge is going to be.  Grammar doesn't seem to be on the menu here and the instructions aren't all that clear. Maybe if there was some voice work and we heard the goofy broken English that I am assuming the characters speak with, it might have gone over better, but since I'm not sure, the gaming experience was made all the more frustrating.

 
Normally shooting chickens isn't much sport,
but when it's a guy dressed up as a chicken, well... 

The game does have decent graphics going for it and the game is set in a well designed 3D world where you are required to switch back and forth between Tak and Lok as they each have their specialty with dealing with the terrain. Since the view is from the 3rd person perspective, you can count on having decent field of view and the trigger buttons on the DS are always there to help take a gander around.  Levels have good depth to them and I was more then impressed with the use of structure and horizon to breathe life into the land. I also must note some shading going on that made me believe that the graphics team was the hardest working group on this project. And since the game features other modes of play like racing carts and mini-games, the visuals of the game are by far it's strongest point.

One of Tak's other redeeming features is its strong mini-game collection. This collection of around ten mini-games can be more fun to play then the decidedly less-fun main game. Using the DSs additional inputs you will find yourself using the microphone to blow characters around the screen as well as using the stylus for some unrequited fun. The multiplayer function on the other hand was not able to be tested as this appears to be one of those DS games that requires two copies of the game in order to play.

Some might complain that some parts of the game seem to lead you to nothing, and it's difficult to find out what to do next. I can see their side, but I offer this, Tak has some genuinely interesting puzzles and in-game play that I was impressed with how you must figure out where to go and/or how to get there. It may be as simple as lighting a torch, or punching a baby rhino so's to tick him off and break down an otherwise impassable wall.

Gameplay: 7.4
While Tak and Lok are similar in their controls they each have innate abilities that allow them to traverse the terrain, switching back and forth between them is as easy as touching the lower screen.

Graphics: 8.2
Nice 3D landscaping and good use of the systems ability to pump out 60FPS graphics make this the games strongest feature. Good use of color and shading.

Sound: 6.6
I know it's a kids TV show, why didn't they do voice acting? It may have helped the game unfold in a more presentable manner. The little soundtrack that does play does a decent job of floating along with the in-game action.

Difficulty: Easy
The Great JuJu Challenge isn't.

Concept: 6.1
It takes ideas from several other games and plops them all together, the idea is not new and it certainly does not raise the bar.

Overall: 6.3
The unfriendly bits clearly out weigh the good ones. Which is sad because it looks like there was real potential here with the decent graphics, too bad the overall experience left me feeling a bit drab. The whole experience just doesn't come together the way it should.