VIDEO GAME REVIEW 'Shrek 2' is one for the kids

Be sure to hone your jumping skills for this adventure.
By DEAN TAKAHASHI
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
"Shrek 2" is cleaning up at the box office. I haven't had a chance to see it yet, but thanks to my kids, I've had plenty of time to play the "Shrek 2" computer game from Activision.
This game is a walk-through of the film's twisted fairy-tale adventure. You get to play as Shrek, Donkey, Fiona or Puss-in-Boots. I played the PC version of the game, driving the character along as my kids watched alongside me and alternately giggled or told me to go pick up some coins I had missed. In this game, players try to foil the unkind plots of Fiona's father, the king.
Yes, this is another game in which picking up coins is one of the primary activities as you wander through a fantasy world. You also have to punch out a lot of bandits in the forests and castles where the game is set. You use the coins to buy magic potions that can shrink your enemies or make you invisible. But most of the enemies are so easy to dispatch with a few punches that you don't need the potions.
Making the jump
You have to solve a lot of puzzles and find secret stashes to make progress. Many of them are jumping games. With the Puss-in-Boots character, I had to demonstrate my skill at running and double-jumping simultaneously from one perch to another to get a potion at the top of a library. Naturally this took me about an hour, during which my kids left me and came back later to check in on my progress.
The Donkey character voiced by Eddie Murphy gets all the best lines. He tosses out comments that the kids don't get, such as "Who do we have to thank for that, Mr. Covert Ops?" or "Barn? Noooo. Donkeys don't do barns."
Shrek weighs in with his own humor, as in, "Oh, I took the scenic route. Met some really friendly fellows along the way." The content is suitable for kids 6 and older, but I allowed my 4-year-old to watch Shrek punch out the bandits anyway. For me, "Shrek 2" is tedious, but the kids love the exploration.
X"Shrek 2," for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and Game Boy Advance, is rated E for everyone.