Unlike the film, the game version of Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas encompasses a lot of action, especially when compared to other titles in the kid-friendly genre. There are none of the typical puzzles or jumping levels, thus immediately separating it from the genre. As far as controls go, movement is controlled with the mouse, while fighting and combo moves are handleed on the keyboard. In essence, it’s "training" for pre-teens on their way up to more adult-themed shooters.

Adult players will find Sinbad to be an extemely short game, even with the difficulty cranked. For kids, however, the gameplay and levels should be quite challenging. The opposition ranges from sailors, guards and skeletons to Elementals, ghosts and Yeti, and there’s a chapter boss in each of the five chapters to round things out. The bosses each require a different technique to defeat (shoot with the harpoon, use your sword, use the environment, etc.), which ensures the gameplay won't bore the kiddies stiff.

Being a kids' game, Sinbad sports some obvious platforming elements. A good example is the need to attack barrels and boxes (crate bashing) to get health potions and other power-ups. The power ups are nicely varied, including items that turn you invisible, allow you to deal out double damage and summon skeletal warriors to fight at your side. Obviously, the most important item in the game is magic, and in some cases, you can’t progress to the next chapter without it.

Since it’s a kid-friendly game, Sinbad has relatively simplistic AI. Enemies will rarely flank you or attack from behind. If you repeat a single attack a couple of times, the baddies will stop dodging and just take their lashings from you. Sinbad himself can at times seem nearly invincible since his Spin Attack can defeat any enemy. In the end, though, most young gamers will like being able to move through the levels quickly and see progress through the story.

Sinbad’s graphics are as good as they get for this genre, with an engine that takes full advantage of the hyper-threading technology of the Pentium 4. Rich and colorful environments are in no short supply in this game, and there’s really no kids game out there that looks better.

The music is decent and really adds to the experience … for the first 10 minutes. After that, it becomes repetitive and annoying for parents. Children seem to overlook such things.Maybe it’s because they are so innocent, or maybe it’s that they haven’t developed any taste. Regardless, the music is purely for the younger gamers in your house. Those young ones who have seen the movie will also appreciate the voice-acting by Brad Pitt and Catherine Zeta-Jones, which is pretty good, even if it doesn't appear that frequently..

Sinbad: Legend ofthe Seven Seas is a great game for the 6- to 12-year-old on your shopping list, but it older gamers should pass on it. For $19.99, you can’t go wrong with Sinbad as a kid-friendly holiday gift.