Whether you're young or old, it's highly probable that you've read and loved H. A. and Margret Rey's Curious George children's books at some point in your life. Curious George has captured the hearts and imaginations of youngsters everywhere for over an amazing sixty years and counting, and as hard as it is to imagine, this year marks the curious little primate's theatrical debut with the early-February release of Universal Pictures' and Imagine Entertainment's full-length animated feature film, plainly titled Curious George. As is standard procedure for any animated film these days, a licensed videogame has also been released to tie in with the movie, and thanks to Namco Bandai and Monkey Bar Games, the style and humor of the Curious George movie has been faithfully captured in this fun, albeit extremely simplistic, platform adventure for the younger generation of gamers to enjoy.

Based on its film counterpart, the Curious George game unsurprisingly stays faithful to the film's core plot every step of the way. While in search of a long-lost artifact in Africa that he hopes to return to America to help save his museum workplace from being shut down, the iconic Man with the Yellow Hat meets an adorable little chimp named George, who follows him back to the big city. As usual, George's insatiable curiosity leads to all sorts of lighthearted misadventures, but when it counts George is there to help The Man with the Yellow Hat in his time of need.

To what should be the delight of those who may have missed the movie earlier this year, and to the probable dismay of those who did manage to catch the flick in theaters, the game follows the film's plot without giving much of anything away. Extremely brief movie clips deliver the game's storyline and tie everything together, but unfortunately this limitation on the storytelling doesn't give the game the most cohesive feel. The best-case scenario with gamers in mind would have been to release the game in conjunction with or after the movie's big-screen debut, so more story material could've been used to beef the game up a little more, but with the need to get the game to market beforehand to build hype prior to the movie hitting theaters, it's obvious why more of the plot wasn't revealed. I appreciate the refrain from spoiling everything, but in looking at how it affects the game it's hard not to feel that more should have been included.

Playing along to the scarce film content, you control George through thirteen stages of basic 3D platforming, taking you from the jungles of Africa to the big city of America and everywhere in between, including an apartment building, museum, construction site and more. In typical form, George can swing from vines, jump and double-jump between platforms, slide along tree branches, crawl through vents, climb fences and shimmy along pipes, with the controls and camera streamlined to provide kids an accessible and intuitive gaming experience. Gameplay and objective hints are in abundance to meet the same goal, which unfortunately only makes the game that much easier for seasoned gamers to complete.

Even more simplified are the game's four mini-games that spring up along the way, consisting mostly of dumbed-down and overly easy rhythm-based challenges that have George dancing to entertain onlookers or pop balloons or bubbles (there's also a firefly capturing mini-game). These games essentially just add some variety to keep things fresh, but it's hard to see even the game's target audience being challenged by these. Although not mini-games, there are certain stages that also add to the gameplay variety, such as one level where you steer George down a river on a lily pad, or another where you guide him along as he floats in the air using a handful of balloons

Monkey Bar Games have done a super job at infusing the license's charm into the gameplay though; being the inquisitive monkey that he is, George is awarded Curious Points for interacting with various objects in the environments! Curious Objects, as they are technically called, run the gamut from suitcases, toolboxes, fish tanks, lamps and teakettles to bushes, toilets, faucets, TV sets and dresser drawers. With these Curious Points you can head to the main menu's Gift Shop to buy all sorts of nifty unlockable treats, including the four mini-games, new outfits (hats to be specific), concept art, movie clips (the same ones used throughout the game's storyline) and hilarious videos of the game's voice actors during their voice recording sessions. Before being able to unlock these goodies, however, you must first collect at least 80% of the bananas in each level, so as long as you keep up with your banana collection duties you'll be unlocking Gift Shop items on a consistent basis. It's good that these bonuses have been included, considering the fact that the game can be breezed through in no more than five hours tops, although the younger, casual gamers who will mainly be playing this will likely get much more time out of it than that.

Kids game or not, one thing any gamer has to acknowledge is Curious George's excellent use of cel-shading to authentically convey the animated film's art style and presentation. The job Monkey Bar has done in animating George and bringing him to life is outstanding, and watching the quality and fluidity in animation as George explores his curiosities and engages in mischievous acts is sure to put a smile on anyone's face. Less impressive are the simple and blandly textured environments, but the beautiful use of bright colors works wonders at masking this minor deficiency, as do some fairly spiffy particle effects for environmental attractions such as waterfalls.

The audio is another high point; although it's a considerable shame that the actors from the film don't lend their voices to the game (David Cross and Frank Welker being the exceptions), the replacement cast does a fine job at mimicking the actors from the film rather impressively. As can be seen in his unlockable voice recording session in the Gift Shop, Frank Welker's performance as George is outstanding. Just like watching George's adorable animations, listening to him giggle and emote as he's taking in his surroundings is enough to make your heart melt. On the downside, the soundtrack is quiet and completely forgettable, and for some mysterious reason the film clips only have the voice acting and leave out any of the original sound effects for everything else that's going on in the scene - it's very strange.

Curious George is available at a budget price, so it is a little easier to recommend to fans of the material and young children, because, in all honesty, there isn't anything drastically wrong here other than the extreme simplicity and conventionality to it all. But because of the game's simplicity, it's hard for me to give thumbs up on a purchase to anyone other than parents looking for a wholesome, family-friendly title to feel comfortable giving to their young children. Platformer lovers who are also fans of the license are likely to get a kick out of Curious George for the short time that it lasts, and I don't think anyone can discount the game's beautiful presentation, but in the end I think going with a weekend rental is about all that most gamers will get out of this.

Reviewed by Matt Litten for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).