From what parents tell me, Rugrats are not an acquired taste. Either you likes them or you don't likes them, as the babies themselves would say. But, for all the parents who look on with a bit of disdain while their little ones watch Rugrats, the latest game starring Tommy, Chuckie, Kimi, Phil and Lil may be worth something independent of the franchise taking up room on the marquee. It's that rare license game where all the pieces come together, and something good actually comes out.

The goodness will be apparent from the beginning of Royal Ransom, and I should mention that if you're a parent who happens to really dislike these characters but you still allow your kids to watch, you'll be hating Royal Ransom right away. The voices (which kids love) are shrill and repeat inane phrases again and again and again. This time, it's not because the development team couldn't think of anything else to put in, but more because kids respond well to things like this. Each of the characters I mentioned are available right away, and none of them seem to have any special advantage or skills. The entire game is like a series of mini-games and competitions that take skill in control, as opposed to special tools or gadgets. So, if you like playing Chuckie, you can see him in action the entire game. The voice acting and dialogue is excellent, and the music is always just right if you respond well to the music from the show. Best of all, there are tons of wacky sounds and you can unlock even more sounds during the game so that when you play through again, actions will produce different sounds. Good stuff.

Each of the many game worlds you play in during Royal Ransom are great looking, and if this were just level after level of Platforming I might be disappointed, since the typical Jungle, Snow, Desert type of approach is taken. What's different about Royal Ransom is what you actually do in each 'world.' One stage might involve running around on foot, but others have vehicles and most have some form of racing challenge. Always keeping it fresh, this mixed bag of gameplay lends a spirit of adventure and exploration to a game that could have felt very ordinary in the wrong hands.

Mini-games seem to be the only game in town when it comes to children's games. It makes sense. Kids have a short attention span, typically, and have very different abilities depending on their age. So, some games may take them longer to learn, some may never exactly be what they like, but with the spoke-and-hub concept that so many games have adopted, kids don't have to suffer through parts of some long level just to get to something they like and respond to positively. Royal Ransom is 'royal' in the sense that the hub for all these mini-games is a castle-looking object that Tommy's Dad created as a play area for the babies. The Play Palace 3000 is looking really nice until Angelica decides to take over when nobody is looking, sneaking into the castle and taking everyone's favorite stuffed animal with her. Yes, that's the 'ransom' part of the game. Unless you can lead the babies to conquer each level of the castle and depose the bad queen Angelica, the stuffed animals could be gone...at least until dinner.

Each level is completed by earning batteries, which can be the prize for winning a game or something you find while exploring. Each level of the castle is split into various stages, and completing all of the stages, earning enough big batteries, opens up the next level. Levels are broken into stages, and finding little batteries helps you open the doors to an individual stage within a certain theme. These 'worlds' usually contain about 3 mini-games, and the style of each game follows the theme of the world. So, in Jungle World you're racing crocodiles and in Snow World it's snowmen. Not to make it seem overly obvious, but that is where the target audience lives. Kids like racing, racing is a popular game style, so various race challenges are found in most of the worlds. Other challenges have you running around finding objects, entering different vehicles and even some zany battles. Completely bloodless, so don't worry. This game is brought to you by the letter 'E' for Everyone, after all. As it should be. Once you've deposed Queen Angelica, there are still lots of things to go back to Royal Ransom again for. Unlock silly sounds, open up secret characters and take on your friends in mini-games you can access without even starting the game over again. Over half a dozen mini-games make this a game that doesn't begin and end with Single Player. In fact, some kids might just find that for rental purposes, Multiplayer mini-games are the only thing going. Unfortunately, you'll have to spend some time playing the main game, since mini-games and locked items are only available at a virtual ATM in the game, where you can spend money you find in each level.

I was a bit surprised at how difficult some of the challenges are during the game, even on easier settings. 1 of 3 settings lets you dial down the opposition, but no adjustment seems capable of taming the pace and twitch-reflex style of the races. Fast and furious, these races might be too taxing for some, and since races are usually one of the necessary steps to unlocking a level, I could imagine less capable young ones hitting a wall. I couldn't really sense any adjustment in the AI when I would flub on a level, but some hinting was noticeable if I tried to do something the wrong way. And that in itself should tell you that Royal Ransom is less of a free-roaming adventure with 'do it your way' rules than a loosely connected bunch of mini-games that should offer little depth but lots of replay value.

The rules and controls for each game are explained right away, making it easy to pick up Royal Ransom without a lot of practice, explanation or reading. The item collection and purchase system might take some explaining, but kids can understand an Easter Egg hunt just fine. Or a 'treasure hunt' if Easter's not your thing... Racing levels might as well be on Atari 2600 for the level of complexity in the controls, and the same goes for any of the challenges involving a vehicle. Most of the trickiness comes in some less than perfect control and camera work that seems more like First Year film school than seasoned directorial talent. Especially when trying to jump or navigate platforms, the lack of any smart camera was frustrating, but there's hardly any big penalty for falling or missing a jump. It could mean spending a lot more time in a level, but if you or your kids like what's here, spending more time in any of the Royal Ransom worlds won't be a problem. And once multiplayer mini-games are unlocked and a few friends are turned loose on the old Gamecube, you'll have to pull the kids off this with a stick.

Light entertainment done well, Royal Ransom scores a hit. I especially like seeing the amount of 'stuff' thrown in, and the obvious care developers took in crafting a fun experience for kiddies. Any fool knows that with a license like this, kids will be lining up to take Royal Ransom off the shelf, so it takes a real classy bunch of guys and gals to put in the time and make sure the game is worth playing. Even if you're not a Rugrats fan, you might just find some good gaming here, especially if you're under the age of 10.