Chicken Run

Unlike the Colonel Sander's recipe there are no secret ingredients here, just a keen attention to style and basic video game concepts.

The gameplay is engaging, and you can withstand the (s)loading times if the rewards come at the end of them. Its biggest drawback then is its shortness.

Combining some light strategy, action and a lot of item hunting, Chicken Run captures the subtle qualities of the movie it's derived from (which was also an unexpected hit).

Unfortunately average sound, extremely short gameplay and lack of a multiplayer keeps this from being all it could have been.

The gameplay of CR is innovative and exciting to play through, and since expectations were probably fairly low anyway (who puts faith in a kid's game to be great), it's a pleasant surprise.

The game mechanics aren't necessarily simple enough for the kids to grasp easily and subsequently enjoy fully. The various minigames that dot the disc are often amusing, but the game's questionable mechanics detract from its overall quality.

While Chicken Run isn't an exceptionally awful game, it reeks of unfulfilled potential, most notably in the gameplay, which is highly monotonous and downright frustrating.