Video Game Reviews by Jeb Haught

DEVELOPER: Traveller's Tales

PUBLISHER: LucasArts

SYSTEM: Sony PlayStation 3 (Xbox 360, PC, Wii)

PRICE: $49.99

ESRB RATING: Everyone

REVIEW RATING: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

The spunky spelunker with the classy brown fedora is back to tackle all four movies in "LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues." Developer Traveller's Tales has managed to build upon the original by stacking an in-depth level creator on top of the exciting adventure as well as adding new abilities to many of the playable characters.

Instead of having one "hub" for the entire game like its predecessor, this title offers one for each movie that each contain their own puzzles and items to collect. This lets players launch into any movie scenario with minimal effort and also adds a bit more length to the game. If someone gets stuck on a level, they can always move to a different one and come back later, which is an option many youngsters will appreciate.

This title features different levels from the trilogy than the first game, but the original had the most exciting ones! Fortunately, the emphasis is on the "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" movie, and the game plays much better than the movie. One fun new element is fighting against giant boss enemies and watching your little LEGOs scurry around trying to survive.

With a heavy emphasis on combat, "LEGO Indy 2" offers new abilities to most characters, but I still prefer playing as Indy himself. No other character can target items and solve puzzles with a whip or grab enemies and toss them around. Still, combat gets rather repetitive after a while due to the simplistic nature. It's like playing a hack-and-slash game without the hacking and slashing.

One area that received a huge makeover is the cooperative game play. With drop in/drop out play, a second LEGO enthusiast can join in and leave the game at any time. What is really cool, though, is the fact that players are no longer "tethered" to their teammate, meaning they can travel wherever they want. If a teammate gets far away enough to "walk off-screen," the game simply switches to a split-screen mode instead, which is simply brilliant.

Despite some flaws, "LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues" is a wonderful family game that offers more entertainment than all four Indiana Jones movies combined.

'Dragon Ball: Raging Blast' Won't Reinvigorate Franchise

DEVELOPER: SPIKE

PUBLISHER: Namco Bandai

SYSTEM: Sony PlayStation 3 (Xbox 360)

PRICE: $59.99

ESRB RATING: Teen

REVIEW RATING: 3 stars (out of 5)

Anyone familiar with the Dragon Ball franchise knows it packs the most powerful pint-sized pugilists in the universe who regularly duke it out in epic, planet-destroying battles.

"Dragon Ball: Raging Blast" features effects-ridden melee fighting that looks just like the anime it's based upon, but bad camera angles make combat very disorienting.

Over 70 characters from the Dragon Ball universe make an appearance in this gigantic game, including favorites like Gohan, Frieza, Vegeta and Cell. There are also Super Saiyan versions of some characters as well as fusions of two into one, and they all feature some of their signature moves. "Some" being the key word here because most moves for each character are generic punch/kick combos and dodge/teleports.

I'm not saying these moves are lame, just that many of the characters play the same despite their unique styles of martial arts. However, it is cool to fire off super attacks with a simple flick of the right analog stick. This lets players map up to four super moves that are accessible during each fight. Unfortunately, the ultimate move requires players to push in the right analog stick, which usually leads to accidentally triggering a super move instead.

If constantly changing camera angles don't make players dizzy, they can play through many modes like Super Battle Trial, Online Battle, World Tournament and Dragon Battle Collection. The last mode includes many classic sagas from the anime and an interesting "what if" saga that explores several possible battles that never happened in the series. Sadly, any hope of understanding what's going on in any saga is shot down by brief intros and boring text back-story.

"Dragon Ball: Raging Blast" is true to the anime, but the flawed combat system won't draw any new fans.

REVIEW SCORING SYSTEM

5 stars = Must Have

4 stars = Very Good

3 stars = Above Average

2 stars = Bargain Bin

1 star = Don't Bother

RATINGS KEY

Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)

E: (Everyone)

E10-plus: (Everyone 10 and older)

T: Teen (13 and older)

M: Mature (17 and older)

To find out more about Jeb Haught and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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