up a game called Curious George, and unless it�s some kind of Seinfeld parody, you know

it�s supposed to be a kids game, right? It�s, like, everyone on the planet knows

that.

Everyone except Curious freaking George.

Released to a bunch of consoles back in 2006, Curious George is kind of a let down. To the

extent that a Curious George game can seem promising, this one does. It looks nice and

colorful, it has lots of actual platforming...not just kids platforming, which is always just

running around and collecting crap. But...it�s like Curious George didn�t get the memo

that Curious George is a kids game.

So what is this? Well, it�s a platformer, based on a Curious George movie that apparently

released in 2006. Completely unbeknownst to me. You play as George himself. The curious

one. And you run, and jump. And to be fair, this actually isn�t a terrible game, but

it is a terrible kids game.

See, problem number one with this kids game...is that it�s way too hard for kids. This thing

requires some surprisingly thorough platforming at times. With jumps that are so wide...if

you don�t double jump at just the right moment, you won�t make it. In fact, the

game relies heavily on that double jump, which would be great.

If it freaking worked.

I�m speechless. I have no speech.

So for some reason...you have, like, a millisecond-long window to hit that button a second time, for

the double jump. Which means it doesn�t work a lot of the time. And since a lot of

the game requires it to work, well...you press the button, you fall down, yada, yada, yada,

you throw your controller into the burning rubble.

And you know, it�s a shame. Because I actually like a lot of what this game is trying to

do. Curious George is a lot more substantive than most kids platformers. Again, when the

platforming works...it�s good fun. And there�s plenty of it. In fact, the game even references

Donkey Kong...implicitly, with the vines and bananas.

And explicitly. With the barrels and red girders. Kinda cool, and there are times when you can

tell its heart is in the right place. Too bad its controls are not. The double jump

is so frustrating, you�ll be begging for �serenity now;� the game is too tough

for kids, not that there�s anything wrong with that; and for the love of all that�s

holy, George...the card says �moops.�