Finding Nemo

With all the wholesome feel-goodness and eye-popping visuals of the Disney movie, Finding Nemo is surprisingly fun. Yeah, it's filled with stupid, button-mashing races and annoying slider puzzles, but there are some clever mazes and problem-solving challenges as well.

The 3D adventure follows the hand-wringing story of the young clownfish Nemo, who gets collected by a diver, and his dad, who is, of course, trying to find him. Levels are seamlessly connected with cut-scenes that carry the story along, and players are gently eased into mechanics, learning such important skills as guiding the fish to swim through hoops of bubbles (a trick you must perform repeatedly throughout in order to collect all the minigames).Players control Nemo, his dad Marlin, or the forgetful royal blue tang fish Dory, sometimes using each fish's strengths cooperatively to achieve goals. Typical underwater thrills include spiny foes, electrifying eels, and shark chases. Gameplay is formulaic and a bit uneven, sometimes challenging and sometimes laughably easy: One level late in the game takes one minute and 40 seconds to beat on the first try. That said, while the game is short, it's fun to go back and try to beat your playtime for each level and collect all the items.

Finding Nemo will probably make the hardcore puke, but it's not designed for them—it's a kids' game. Adults who can't normally beat a typical platformer may even get into it too. The rest of you have other fish to fry.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Xbox Nation.