It stands to reason that the graphics in Napoleon Dynamite The Game are sweet. Probably the best I've ever seen. Freakin' sweet might be more on target. Okay, I'm affecting Napoleonic style, but the truth is that this game does look sweet. It is full of cut-paper effects that look straight out of a Trapper-Keeper. This fits the style of the movie and keeps the game from seeming too slick for its own good. The underlying mechanics are very slick, but never at the expense of setting the mood. There isn't any spoken dialogue during gameplay, but the captions are hilarious. Pure Napoleon Dynamite magic. The characters from the movie are depicted as stick figures with oversized heads and the heads are photo cut-outs of each character's face. Most other objects are similarly pastiched, including objects and settings for the main game. It might seem like this approach would fall short in comparison to polygonal wizardry, but it never does... makes us wonder why more games haven't tried the same approach. It takes a creative spark like Napoleon Dynamite to get the game designers' juices flowing.

Without much to offer in the voice department, it was nice to find some good music in Napoleon Dynamite The Game. All the music, like the graphics, seems very "un-gamey." Instead of buzzing techno or electronica, we have bouncy, jaunty tunes that recall the movie. Licensed, big-budget songs were a staple for the movie, as owners of the soundtrack know - you won't find Cindi Lauper or The White Stripes featured here, but the artists selected to perform music for Napoleon Dynamite The Game did a nice job recreating an 80's vibe and the light, quirky feeling of the movie. The very best thing that can be said, which you've likely gleaned already from previous comments, is that Napoleon Dynamite The Game shines with creativity and an effort to make something true to its source, but also distinctive as a gaming experience. What might have become just another tedious collection of mini-games is instead a very engaging game, with or without the license. For fans of the movie, the attention paid to the little details will make this a must-buy.

It's hard to say how much crossover there is between the Napoleon Dynamite demographic and the typical DS player. At this point, I would like to imagine that Napoleon Dynamite has gone completely viral, which may explain why we're seeing a 2007 game for a 2004 movie. The style of play here is mini-game mania. We've seen lots of mini-game collections, and games for kids tend to overuse this mechanic. The worst sin is the collection of mini-games that involve similar mechanics like seek-and-find over the course of five or ten games, plus a few variety games tossed in for good measure. This often comes with licensed games looking for the shortest path between Movie and Game. Napoleon Dynamite The Game takes a totally different approach and finds the perfect balance between Movie and Game. Gamers will be pleased to know that each mini-game has some real integrity, with or without the DS touch-screen controls. All games play out in the Napoleon Dynamite universe, which is a markedly weird place. The great thing is how everything weird is just weird in the context of adult life - when we were in middle-school in the 80's, we all knew at least one of these kids. Speaking as someone that was probably 80% Napoleon, complete with fanny-pack, it all just feels so right.

There are only two ways to play Napoleon Dynamite The Game, but still plenty of depth and challenge. The so-called Notebook Mode lets you withdraw into Napoleon's private world of hungry llamas, hot dance moves, playground games, and ninja survival. The point in Notebook Mode is to just experience life as Napoleon and succeed in each game to move on to the next. Later, you'll be able to launch any of the mini-games in Survival Mode as a bonus feature. Other bonuses include unlockable content such as character costumes that add to the fun factor, but don't do anything special in relation to the way you'll play the mini-games. The difference between the two modes is that Survival is exclusive to a set of games that you'll first have to unlock in Notebook Mode. Playing survival is all about enduring as long as possible with the odds mounting against you as the level of difficulty increases. The replay value of Napoleon Dynamite The Game is somewhat limited without multiplayer options, but anyone that loved the movie will want to keep this and break it out periodically for sheer cult appeal.

There are far too many mini-games to detail each one and they are too diverse to lump under blanket categories. The idea of a three-second mini-game is not at all what the developers set out to create. Most of the games have multiple levels and are demanding in that they each expect you to learn two or three new control schemes. At first this can be disconcerting and a bit frustrating since you only get a few seconds to scan the controls before beginning a game. The end result for me was excitement and anticipation of each new game; other players may be frustrated and lose interest if they can't get the scores they want or master the controls. In defense of Napoleon Dynamite The Game, the control schemes are pretty simple. Usually it's not much more complex than pressing a few buttons at the right time or manipulating the stylus as a touch-screen control. In most of the game, it was even optional to use the stylus, so players don't have to feel trapped. My favorite mini-games were those that translated touch-screen mechanics into interesting (and relevant!) concepts like the Toy Drag game. This was straight out of the movie and not something you might think translates to gaming all that well. It ends up being a lot of fun to play as you drag the toy around behind the school bus, trying to cause maximum devastation. Other games like Trampoline Jump or Football Toss involve well-timed taps on the lower screen, so don't rank as well in originality but are still much fun. My vote for the best sequence is tied between Save Nessie and Pegasus Flight, both awesome with a very retro feel about them. The quality meter is high when you realize that licensed games have in the past been satisfied to submit something like Pegasus Flight as an entire game while Napoleon Dynamite The Game offers it up as part of a big collection of sweet mini-games. Life is good.

Just as Napoleon Dynamite wasn't necessarily a movie for kids, the game has a level of difficulty that will confound the younger gamers or at least challenge them. It's interesting that there isn't an adjustable difficulty option anywhere. Interesting and disappointing, since this would have made Napoleon Dynamite The Game accessible to a wider audience. The hardest thing to get right, it seems, is the touch control and timing. In some mini-games, Tetherball being a standout example, the touch-screen controls feel sloppy and the alternate button-controls make things much more difficult. What the developers got right in almost every case were the actual touch-screen mechanics. They are fun, creative, and much more interesting than their alternate button controls. The best implementations are those in Toy Drag where almost anything goes on the touch-screen, compared to Tetherball where you have to tap a really small target moving quickly. The same mechanic applied to a larger target would have been fun, or a more forgiving mechanic at the very least... The majority of the games are accessible and reward the diligent gamer; practice, as always, makes perfect.

We've tipped our hand for the most part with mechanics, but it's worth mentioning again that the sheer range of control options across each mini-game is impressive. Twenty-five mini-games doesn't necessarily sound impressive when we've had other collections with many, many more. The difference is that most of these mini-games really are more than just mini-games. The space-shooter equivalent called Pegasus Flight is as much of a free-standing, side-scrolling, retro shooter as you could possibly want - if it were developed further it wouldn't be crazy to suppose it could almost stand on its own. Compare the rhythm-game button-pushing mechanics of Napoleon's Dance Competition game to any of the old-school rhythm games (and some of the new ones) and you won't find Napoleon Dynamite The Game needing any huge handicap. The way these mini-games play wouldn't suffice as stand-alone versions since there are some rough spots with the touch-screen controls and even some examples where the control scheme feels contrived. As much fun as there is to be had with Dance Competition, the rhythmic sequences are sometimes awkward to pull off on the DS and don't make for an especially cool beat against the music. There were other games like Toy Drag where some mechanics were introduced that felt unnecessary. The standout mini-games for us were those that didn't try too hard to throw everything and the kitchen sink in for controls. Simple forms like the shooter-games (Pegasus Flight, Wolverine Hunt, Bow Hunting) and the sport games (Dodgeball, BMX Bike Jumping) elicit the most fun with the least frustration.

The mini-games here wouldn't be bad choices for some multiplayer action, the lack of which ends up being the biggest flaw of Napoleon Dynamite The Game. The entire collection of mini-games is great, more fun than you'd expect to have since this genre (mini-game collection) has been pawed over thoroughly at this point. You can nitpick individual mini-games, but if you like Napoleon Dynamite, you'll have a blast living in his weird world again on your DS. Well worth it as a rental for other folks...