I haven't played a very good game in ages - well, let's say I haven't reviewed a good game in ages. I've being playing plenty of good Xbox 360 games in my spare time, which I suppose makes up for the hard time I've had just recently with reviewing rubbish. I wasn't very enthusiastic when it came to playing and reviewing The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer - but to my shock and surprise, this game turned out to be one of the most enjoyable hack-and-slash numbers I've ever played. Some elements are simple enough for kids to enjoy, but I got a lot of pleasure out of the whole double team element, which runs through the entire game. Happy days are here again!

In Rise of the Underminer, you go through many mechanical (mostly underground) levels as a team of Mr. Incredible himself, the big strong guy who lets nothing get in his way, and you also get to play as Frozone, who was famously voiced by Samuel L Jackson in the Incredibles film. Frozone is the most exciting character of the two, because of his neat abilities, such as being able to freeze things solid and ride his snowboard for a short period of time. Of course, Mr. Incredible has his uses too; he can throw objects, perform ground slams and it's always nice to have brute strength on your side when things get tough. You can switch between these characters on the fly if you're playing single player mode - awesome if you ask me.

What makes this game even more awesome is the really cooperative relationship between Mr. Incredible and Frozone. There's a robot in the distance firing missiles at you. Make Frozone freeze these bullets in mid air and they drop to the ground encased in ice - switch to Mr. Incredible and have him pick the ice-coated missiles up and lob them back at the enemy in question. There are plenty more displays of teamwork like this too - such as freezing robots so Mr. Incredible can pick the robots up and use them as projectiles. These things are really nice to discover and add a lot to the overall gameplay.

Both characters can upgrade their moves and status. By gaining experience from killing things, you gain points to spend on things like health, or moves like Power Punch for Mr. Incredible and Freeze Ray for Frozone. There are five things you can upgrade for each of the two characters, one of those five being special moves. Upgrading the special moves allows you to carry more specials at any one time. You can earn specials by killing certain enemies marked with orange circles above their heads. Kill enough of these and you can watch either Mr. Incredible or Frozone unleash their devastating special attack on the entire area.

Cooperative gameplay with a friend is excellent, and recommended if you can get hold of a second player. You could effectively go through the game again with a friend and I doubt you'd get bored - especially when you combine your powers like I mentioned above. Who is this game aimed at though? Well, I enjoyed it, but I found the game a little too easy and linear for my tastes. The controls are nice and simple, which means even the littlest player should be able to pick it up and play it, while the older adolescent player will be able to enjoy the team work elements and the upgrade system to its full potential.

The level design isn't excellent, but that's because the levels are a little repetitive, with some new levels being rehashes of previous ones. With that said, there are a few creative elements in here, such as gaps in levels that Frozone has to bridge with his ice and big steel doors in the way for Mr. Incredible to prize open with his manly muscles. While I don't go round saying "wow, what a nice looking beam of light," the levels and objects are functional and aid the small story that runs through the game. Character design is good, but again, the robots are a little on the repetitive side too - however, both of our super heroes look fantastic and stay true to the films.

The sound department is on the hit and miss side for me. The Underminer comes out with phrases throughout the levels and during the pause menu that irritate me to the point of wanting to smash the TV. "You can't stop me," or "Hurry up; I have a world to conquer!" - said in the most annoying voice ever. While these phrases might make you laugh the first time, after hearing them over and over again, you're only going to hate them more and more. Saying this, the conversations between Mr. Incredible and Frozone are comical and sometimes informative - and most of them are area specific, so they might talk about sinking platforms and how rubbish they are when you're actually jumping from sinking platform to sinking platform. Clever. The voice acting in game and in FMVs between these two characters is superb too. Sound effects and music are apparent, but don't really leave much of an impression for me to talk about them at length.

The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer is worth a purchase for sure. Obviously younger audiences are going to enjoy the game more than older players, but for any self-respecting Incredibles fan, the story and the teamwork gameplay is enough to warrant a look. To infinity, and beyond! Oh, hang on…

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).