Disney's Meet the Robinsons on the Nintendo DS, starts out like a whacky Indiana Jones movie. I snap a picture of myself next to King Tut, and then things go horribly wrong. I haven't seen the movie yet (This is typical for us since we see movies mainly when they come out on DVD.), so I don't know if this is from the movie, but in any case, it sure is a kick. What this does mean for me, however, is that I got to find out if Meet the Robinsons can stand on its own two feet as a video game.

My first indication that the game isn't meant for younger children is that the opening screen advises you to read the manual. They're serious, too. There's a lot going on with Meet the Robinsons, and I didn't have the faintest hope of success without reading the instructions. As I perused the box, I saw that the rating is E 10+, so at least parents that are careful readers will know it's not suitable for the younger set. That being said, my daughter just turned 7, and she adores playing Meet the Robinsons. She keeps begging to play and has tried to sneak off with the game. I can only fend her off so long - telling her that Mommy needs her saved game intact so she can finish reviewing the game doesn't carry much weight with an impatient child.

I'm playing Meet the Robinsons as Wilbur Robinson. He seems to be a rascally sort of boy-wonder. Providing support for Wilbur as he tries to recover the time machine he managed to lose and fix the errors he's created in the past is the trusty gold family robot Carl.

The controls have a taken me a little bit to get used to. My dexterity being what it is, I don't think I've played a game where my character can run a straight line between point A and point B. Oh, well. I do like that the game takes care of Wilbur jumping and climbing. If it's jumpable or climbable, just steer into it, and he does it all without any input from you. I am still struggling a bit with the camera angle. I like that I have some control using my stylus on the touch screen, but I still end up running sideways relative to the camera quite a bit. It's an appreciated touch that you can double tap the middle of the camera adjuster to have the camera re-center itself behind Wilbur. I would be lost without that feature.

Wilbur starts out with some great technology at his fingertips, and if you do it right, the gadgets only get better. Wilbur begins with his Robinson Scanner, Robinson Disassembler and his Charge Glove. The Scanner lets him check various objects for info or scan the scattered Robinson Family Photos to learn instructions for creating new inventions. The Disassembler breaks things down into some combination of four different types of parts, which Wilbur can collect and use. The Charge Glove lets Wilbur blast his enemies.

Wilbur has 26 different gadget/gear options, so I'm not going to go into all of them here. The little manual that comes with Meet the Robinsons is most definitely your friend in this department. As you learn new plans, you can go to the Robinson Monitor Station to make new gadgets, upgrade existing gadgets (each one seems to have three levels of power) or make Energy and Health Kits. Health keeps Wilbur up and going, and Energy keeps those important gadgets functional. You can hotkey three gadgets at any one time. If I'm exploring, I'll have my Scanner, Disassembler and Charge Glove. In combat, I have the Disassembler, Charge Glove and a Health Kit. My choices may well change as I upgrade gear, but that works best for me now.

Meet the Robinsons makes excellent use of the DS stylus and touchscreen. I can select things with my stylus and quickly tap to scan or deconstruct them. My control pad steers me around. Camera controls are always available on the main screen, as well as my health and energy bars, three hot-keyed items (also mapped to the X, Y and A buttons), and my backpack, which holds any other gear (hitting the Start button also opens my backpack). The other nifty thing is that hitting the Select button brings up a mini-map layer. I can see the layout of the area and a little square showing where Wilbur currently is on the map. I can quickly close the map (which I easily see through) by hitting Select again.

Along with looking for things to disassemble and photos to scan, there are Robinson Logos scattered everywhere. I can increase Wilbur's health by collecting the Logos, and apparently, I get bonus gadgets if I collect all of the Logos.

Small Spoiler Ahead (but it is just the opening sequence) ...

The main game begins with aforementioned trip to King Tut. Wilbur gets his snazzy picture and then accidentally triggers a trap that causes the tomb to start collapsing. There are a few cut screens, then the order to hurry up and escape! I managed to run Wilbur through, collecting Logos and disassembling everything I could select. I was surprised that I could disassemble some of the plants, too. Go figure. I kept my little map up on screen, and it kept me moving in the right direction, even as my camera angle woes had me a little disoriented. In spite of my best efforts, I know I missed at least one Logo as I was exiting the tomb, so I have no idea what nifty gadget I might have gained. I hopped - well, Wilbur hops - into the spacecraft at the last minute, the ancient tomb collapsing behind me (oops, my bad). Carl, the family robot, is there to chide me for goofing around with the space-time continuum (yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever). Then we find out that some big meanie - with a classic villain mustache (prime for twirling) and a bowler hat - has just stolen the time machine I had temporarily borrowed without permission. Double Pout! And drat even! Just because I forgot to lock the door doesn't give any miscreant coming along permission to abscond with my already absconded property. Luckily, Dad Robinson has a spare time machine parked in the garage. I'll just borrow that one, too. He'll never notice ...

Aside from my intriguing adventures with Wilbur, I can also choose to start a game of Charge Ball. This is a cute little mini-game that, astonishingly enough, doesn't have to be unlocked through game play. Basically, I feel like I'm playing pong using Wilbur as the paddle, except that you have to get multiple hits on the opponent's side to break through blocks before the goal even becomes visible. I can guide him with the stylus or the control pad to hit the ball and protect my goal. Other objects bounce around the screen that can also change the game play, like splitting the ball into multiple balls. Each game is a best-of-three kind of thing. It's fun. If I wanted to play Meet the Robinsons, and I didn't have enough time to commit to the story, Charge Ball is a nice diversion.

The Darker Side of Meet the Robinsons

There are a lot of conversational cut screens in different parts of the game. As far as I've been able to determine, there is no way to skip this part in subsequent visits to the game. You can tap through them as fast as you can, but that's about it.

I still struggle with the camera angle vs. the direction I'm trying to make Wilbur run. If he's standing still, I can adjust it bit by bit with the stylus, but this is unacceptably slow when you're in the midst of combat.

There is only ONE save game. To me, this is one of the worst issues with the game. If you have more than one person in your household that wants to play, you either need to share the same game (and trust the other player not to mess you up), or you'll need multiple cartridges. Not good.

You can only choose to save your game at the Monitor Station. It will give you a warning about overwriting your current save, and then it will ask if you want to take a break. If you tell it yes, this will take you back to the opening screen of the game. Short of turning off the DS and starting over, this is your only way to get back to the screen that will let you select the Charge Ball mini game.

The Bottom Line ...

In spite of the issues I've mentioned, I really am enjoying playing Meet the Robinsons. The game is designed for the over-10 crowd, but my 7-year-old daughter is enjoying her game time, too. Does Meet the Robinsons work even if you haven't seen the movie? Yes, it does. This is a fun game, and if anything, it has made me want to see the movie as soon as I can. Wilbur is a wicked little mad scientist, and I can't wait to play the next chapter and see what he does next.