With a cartoon license that really screams "Turn me into a game!" Avatar, the last Airbender has made the leap to all the major consoles. For those of you who do not know, Avatar is a cartoon series on Nickelodeon where the world is broken into four different nations, each representing the four elements. All was well until the fire nation decided to go to war with the other nations, and war has been unleashed across the globe. Each one of the nations has "benders" born unto its people; benders are people who have the innate ability to perform magic based on their nations element (i.e. water benders, earth benders, etc.) But, there is one, the Avatar, who has the ability to master all four of the magical elements. Only the Avatar is believed to end the global conflict. The fire nation however, believes if the Avatar can be captured then he can be forced to do their bidding, or merely die by their hands so they can continue their global conquest unchallenged.

Being the Avatar is a respected and powerful position; however, being 12-years old and otherwise lazy and more into having fun then training to master all four elements is, at best, a task our young hero Aang does not take seriously all the time. This fact is put out there quite early in the game as you control Aang from a dynamic third-person perspective that adjusts the viewing angle automatically. People will be standing around having conversations and do talk bad about the young Avatar behind his back, right up until you walk up to them and engage them in conversation. Then all they want is to either give you the same canned response that so many other characters give you, or they will want you to complete some sort of task for them. Apparently being the all powerful Avatar is not above helping out the common folk as you run around and find heating oil for old women or search for pieces of a machine or some other task that I wasn't quite expecting. These tasks are however exactly what you would expect of a game that is geared towards 10-year olds. I tried not to forget this as I liberated a couple of fire bender uniforms for a little undercover work.

 "EEEEKKKKK a spider!"

Running around each of the game's scenarios, you will find yourself engaging in combat with wolves, robots, fire nation soldiers and a few others. The control in the combat is a combination of you mashing the "A" button to keep Aang swinging his staff, or swinging the Wiimote around while holding a button down to engage a more powerful attack. I liked this idea as it was reminiscent of Zelda. Only after a while, you become a bit tired of using the same attacks on the bad guys as the fighting engine was not as filled out as I thought it could have been. In fact, towards the end of the game (8-10 hours) you are pretty much tired of doing the swinging attacks executed by the Wiimote. Add to this fact that oftentimes, the special attacks you swing around, do not engage and your poor character takes a beating at the hands of four or five fire benders. At first, I thought missing the special attack moves was a result of me not getting the proper coordination down, but I soon realized that the game simply does not register all of your efforts. In short, the games actions are hampered by a spotty response to the Wiimote's movements.

As the game is sort of a beginner RPG/action hybrid, your characters (you start picking up a team composed of characters from the show) will find items and gold and other goodies which can be equipped to improve your character's stats. Certain rings for example can increase a character's chi (which effects your ability to do advanced moves) as other items may increase your armor or focus or other attribute. Think of it as RPG lite, as this game is a stepping stone for other more advanced RPGs your child may graduate to in the future. Still, it's an easy learning process which is made even easier by the attributes showing whether or not a new item will increase skills or decrease them.

 
"My neighbor Totoro?"

The game does feature some voice acting, and even manages to employ the same voice actors who do the show, but they go about it in kind of an odd way. As you walk around, you can hear people talking, but when you engage them, they usually will only say "Hi" or some sort of other short greeting. From there, you select from one or two canned phrases and the conversation continues. This is the way new missions are acquired and clues are discovered. Then, when you leave the conversation another short blurb. It's weird because there are some cutscenes and obviously more speaking but eliminating 99% of the speaking while in-game conversations took place seemed unnecessary. The game's basic fight sounds and effects were reduced to short little noises that evoke no sort of originality. The sound in the game simply does not pass mustard.

Every once in a while when you are adventuring, the Wiimote will start to shake. When this happens, your innate abilities are telling you that something of value is near. When you walk up to the correct invisible are the screen prompts you to press the "C" button. Doing so opens up an on-screen canvas and the game challenges you to copy the symbol that appears. Using the Wiimote, you write in the air and try and duplicate the symbol. It's actually a pretty cool device and this sort of play is not used enough in my opinion. After your attempted copying is complete the game gives you a percentage score, based on how close you came to recreating the symbol (forgive me, it could be a language). If you scored well enough a treasure chest appears and you get to score some loot.

"That settles it, it's 2 on 4, you need to go get more guys."

Graphically speaking, Avatar doesn't quite copy the smooth-flowing animation of the television show and in fact is a mixture of the TV show and something else entirely. The game reminded me of a SEGA Sonic game with it's really bright colors and characters with very few emotions. The varying areas are all easily distinguishable and truth be known, each seamlessly blends from dangerous wilderness to city limits without load times as if to say that vicious beasts live just outside their doors. It's a comfortable look for the game, easy on the eyes and all. The wolves and other bad guys do not move as fluidly as I would have liked to have seen and in turn, Aang and his traveling group don't move and fight in the most delicate way. In fact sometimes the screen goes to a slow motion attack and even then, Aang skips framerates in order to make up the distance between his staff and a bad guy.

Gameplay: 6.2
It's easy enough to move around using standard controls, and the menus are simple in a "broad appeal" type of way, but using the Wiimote to affect the special moves is not an exact science and will ignore your commands. I liked the RPG elements and believe the game should have expanded this to include a broader range of mini-quests. Doing the wrong quest too early will force cutscenes and move the story forward whether or not you were done exploring.

Graphics: 7.0
It has an unusual look to it and even the cutscenes aren't completely animated like the show. Characters move a bit too stiff. Good job on the varying places you go and how the different locations are conveyed.

Sound: 6.0
It is a tasteless soup of sound. Even the destruction of a giant boss robot failed to bellow out the noise.

Difficulty: Easy
I had a pretty easy time playing this title and so did my 12-year-old nephew. It's not terribly long, could be beaten in a day.

Concept: 7.2
Seems to me that the thought process on this game was a good one.I liked the pseudo-RPG elements and the leveling up system was easy enough, but the developers failed to expand on some of the game's better ideas, the special moves by moving the remote, the drawing of symbols, all under utilized or improperly calibrated to the game.

Multiplayer: N/A
The title should have had an option to team up and fight your way through the game style title. I mean Aang has three additional friends who fight along side him. But as it is, there is no sort of multiplayer function.

Overall: 6.4
Avatar is a game that younger kids will want, but with the faulty execution of the special moves, could upset younger gamers. I was really hoping this would be the title that I have been waiting for so my son and I could adventure together (at the same time), but it was not to be.