Games: Wild Thornberrys: The Movie; Disney All-Star Sports: Soccer

Wild Thornberrys: The Movie, GBA (THQ), £24.99

You might have noticed that the Wild Thornberry phenomenon is now on the silver screen. The plot of the film seems pretty straightforward: Dolittle-esque girl can talk to animals, which is fortunate since her dysfunctional family includes a plummy David Bellamy type who travels the world photographing nature. Stirring stuff.

This uninspiring concept has nevertheless spawned a fairly decent action/puzzle game for the GBA, although neither the gameplay nor the graphics ever stretch the little machine's facilities. This is not a game with great depth, and at times the mini-games seem to be an unwanted step back to the days when puzzles were a crude test of joystick waggling. Driving the Thornberry-mobile through the veld is just one example of a poorly-executed section of the game.

The counterpoint to all this is the simple charm of the game. It has our heroine encountering a range of entertaining characters, and the frustration is somehow diminished by the good-naturedness of it all. But whether that charm is reason enough for spending £25 is highly debatable.

***

Disney All-Star Sports: Soccer, Gamecube (Konami), £34.99

As quirky soccer sims go, Disney has the genre sewn up with this one. Funny cartoon characters, magic abilities and unpredictable pitches create plenty of amusement, and a welcome break from the kind of footie games that have been flooding the market. Underneath the glitz is a very competent bit of 3D engineering, although not up to the level of its po-faced peers. Silky-smooth throughout, and with a cracking two-player mode, this is a nice one to rent for a weekend.

***