Somewhere in the great beyond, suit-and-tie people will be judged by their contributions to the good of mankind, and the quality of the games they sold us. I'm of the opinion that most people who have created license games will burn in an eternal hell created just for them, probably just a room with no windows and a copy of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial always at hand. But, the folks who put their name on the new Rocket Power game, Beach Bandits, should feel confident they have earned their wings this time around. Not only is this a great license game, it's just a good all-around game.

Based on the quality of the Rocket Power Game Boy franchise, we had high hopes for this Gamecube release. Sure enough, it offers a high level of graphic sophistication. As a game that brings in action/adventure, arcade and extreme sports elements, there might be some allowable slippage in quality for one of the represented genres. But, even if one piece became the focus of the entire game (e.g. Rocket Power Racing or something like that...) we'd be happy to play around with Beach Bandits for a while. The simple and colorful presentation is deceptive, and the lighting effects you'll see along with some of the special effects during sports challenges show off the engine's flair. The game worlds aren't huge, but they look awesome, are fun to explore and are populated by a wacky cast of characters. The music and sound isn't terribly inventive, but the voices are authentic and the cut scenes are inspired. Much of the incidental voice acting, such as the cheers and jeers you hear while taking part in challenges, is very weak and repetitive. Why an otherwise 'smart' game can't create a more organic and player-responsive sound environment is beyond me, but that pretty much goes beyond the scope of this review.

School is out for Summer. I know, that's hard to hear now that it's November and we're all painfully aware that kids won't be out of school until next June. Well, I guess if you're a parent, you're probably pretty happy about that. But for Reggie, Otto, Twister and Squid, the beginning of Summer means plenty of time on the sand at Ocean Shore. The harsh reality is that someone took off with the beach sand, leaving Rocket Power and all the other vacationers high and dry. Literally. Strangely enough, a land developer from Golem Industries (Mr. Golem himself) shows up to announce new and exciting stuff on the way from his company, and testify he'll be helping solve the mystery of the missing sand. But, when our team discovers a rogue robot under the pier with a Golem Industries' logo on it, they know something is afoot. It will take cunning skills and some talent in eXtreme sports to expose Golem for the fraud he is. Well, he's innocent until proven guilty, so the kids will have to tread lightly while they investigate.

The 'investigation' forms the major theme of Beach Bandits, and you're part of a linear quest through several areas to uncover the truth about Golem. At any time, you can switch between members of the team and also change what they're riding. The ride will often help you uncover clues, and certain team members will be especially helpful in solving the riddle of Ocean Shore's missing sand. Once you get a little outside the boundaries of civilization, you'll start finding that little runaway robots are the least of your worries. Compared to the dangerous, shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later kind of robots, the little scampering vagabond you saw under the pier is a pussycat. Luckily, you have some skills you can use to solve puzzles to defeat enemies or take them head-on with your hockey puck. Special attack-pucks can be gained during the game, but a good hard blast with a normal puck is enough to send most robots spinning. At least 4 distinct areas with sub-levels can be played, and after you finish a level you can also come back to it later for a replay. But, the goal is to wade through dexterity and mind puzzles to find the missing sand and save Ocean Shore from a bad tourist season. If you ever get a little tired of this action, you can cash in tokens from the game over at the Arcade for a little simple fun or tackle a free-skate session with a friend in the limited Multiplayer Mode.

Learning the different possibilities for the skating/boarding section of the game is handled well by a long introduction that teaches you the moves before you have to compete. So, no problem getting the basics there. Controlling characters around the gaming world is so flexible that it offers folks who feel good with a certain sport a chance to use that almost exclusively. Still, there are puzzles or challenges where you'll need to know everything pretty well, which may take a few times if you haven't played many skating or boarding games.

As mentioned, the engine is solid, but I found a few instances where I managed to get stuck in a corner or in a tight space on a board or my skates and had to switch to foot travel to get myself unstuck. So, the turning/jumping features aren't especially responsive in the way we've become accustomed to for actual dedicated eXtreme Racing games. Still, everything is way above par when you pull out the pieces and look at how well executed the different parts of the game are. Controls are solid, and the strangest thing about how Beach Bandits was put together is the lack of a very strong auto-camera. The manual camera is great, and obviously a lot of people gripe and moan about the lack of an adjustable camera in the 'big kid' Platformers, especially. For a game that is definitely targeted to younger gamers, some presence of a strong auto-camera, even if it could be disabled or toggled on and off, would have been nice. Still, watching the Rocket Power team skating backward is a nice touch that might not have been obvious without a lazy camera.

The presentation of this game is true to the franchise, and a step above what you might expect for just any old license game. The sense of exploration and excitement kids get from the Rocket Power team is encapsulated nicely in Beach Bandits, and there are plenty of brain-twisting puzzles to accompany the raw sports action. Plus, every bit of Beach Bandits shines with strong visual treatment and design. The fun factor is high, the characters are cool, and any kid who likes the show will have a blast putting Reggie and Otto through their paces trying to solve the mystery of Ocean Shore's missing sand.