Shrek the Third begins much like the first movie did - with lavishly illustrated manuscript pages of a fairytale book. You actually hold the DS sideways to look at the beautiful pages, just like a book. The text sets up the initial story and is pretty straightforward; then Donkey butts in and adds his own funny narration. He has his own little spin on how he accidentally turned Merlin into a parfait (yes, the delicious dessert type of parfait).

Okay, I lied. Before you get to the pretty pictures, you do have to decide if you're playing single player or multi player (with up to three players), and there's even a nifty demo mode. I think the demo mode is an awesome idea, and more game developers should think about it. With your DS and one game cartridge, you can broadcast the demo to up to 15 other DS systems at one time. Each of those people can play through the tutorial level as many times as they want - without having to have their own cartridge. What a great way to let your friend decide if they like the game enough to go buy their own copy.

The first thing I saw got to see was the fairytale story. Basically Fiona's father has croaked (no, I couldn't resist) and Shrek and Fiona don't want to rule Far Far Away. They need to find a replacement. Cue Fiona's cousin Artie (the future King Arthur to you and me) as next in line to the throne. The dastardly Prince Charming is trying to take over Far Far Away for himself and doing his best to prevent the return of Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots with Artie. Merlin, as a parfait, is unable to return the intrepid adventurers to the kingdom. They have to collect magic Golden Fairies to restore Merlin (Marilyn, as Donkey refers to him) so they can return and save the kingdom.

During the game, Donkey is staying with Merlin. He oversees things and offers hints, and can occasionally cast magic spells to help overcome challenges. You get to play the combination of Shrek, Artie and Puss to move through the levels, collecting Golden Fairies. Each character has special abilities to contribute to the adventure. Shrek has powerful physical attacks and can smash through walls and weak barriers. Puss in Boots can attack with his sword, and is both an awesome jumper and able to roll under low barriers. Artie can use his magic shield to defend the group, float across water, or throw it as a long range weapon (or to trigger special magical points).

I really like how the game handles using the three characters. All of the special abilities (for the most part) are done through the use of the stylus. You'll have one main character active at any given time, though you can instantly switch between characters with a tap of the stylus. When the characters are close together, you can tap the ivy to link them which makes them move as a group. If you need just one character to perform an action - which comes up a fair amount, tap the ivy again to unlink that hero and move him off on his own. The buttons are used for movement - and you can use either the arrows or ABXY for movement depending on whether you're right or left handed. The Start button brings up a map of the level and pauses the game - and might also give you a hint against a Boss. Donkey offers hints too - just tap the question mark on the screen when it flashes.

The tutorial does a great job of introducing the player to the controls and how to use the special abilities of each of our heroes. My daughter has had no problems at all with the controls - and she has not had to read the manual to figure out what to do. The tutorial is good enough to get her going. While there is some reading on screen, Donkey is also narrating what you need to do to proceed through the tutorial. It's a nice orientation.

The designers make great use of the two screens of the DS. Whether you're reading the storybook like a book, or moving through a level, you need all of the information. During the adventure, the scene continues up to the second screen. You have to watch both or you'll miss magical triggers, platforms that can be jumped on, or those precious Golden Fairies. Occasionally you also cross a little hologram box that gives you a cut screen of what Prince Charming is up to.

I like that there are three save game slots available. This means that my daughter and I can both play without trampling on each other's game. On the select game screen, I can see how many Fairies and how many coins I've collected so far for that game. For the curious - there are 26 potential Golden Fairies and 84 potential coins.

While the characters do have combat abilities and there are foes to overcome, Shrek the Third is really about solving the puzzles to proceed through each level. You have to stay on top of which character is the right man for the job and sometimes unlock things in the right sequence in order to keep moving. I have no problems at all with letting my 7-year old play Shrek the Third. The combat isn't really alarming. The characters or bad guys turn red as they get hurt, but there aren't any flying bodily fluids or anything like that.

I was a little disappointed that Fiona isn't around, but it makes sense considering there are little ogres underfoot (according to the movie). I also see in the manual that there are special goodies for you if you start your DS version of the game with the GBA version of the game plugged in. I don't mind having to work to earn a goodie, but requiring that you buy a second game is kind of harsh, at least in my opinion. If you restart your game, you aren't able to tap through the story any faster, but at least you can hit the Start button to skip the storybook and jump right in.

I've had a lot of fun playing Shrek the Third. Yes, it is a side scroller game, but it doesn't feel the least bit claustrophobic. There's enough variety in the scenes and puzzles to solve that there's always something new going on. I love switching between the different heroes as I play. The dialog and voices are spot-on for the characters and the graphics are charming. There are sound effects that make me laugh every time - like when I miss a jump with Puss in Boots and he splats into a wall. Shrek the Third for the DS is definitely worthy of my precious gaming time. Enjoy!