Let's see if I can get the story straight…Lyoko is a virtual world/alternate universe that is linked to the real world through special towers which exist only in/on Lyoko. This alternate virtual world occurs within a super computer.

Enter the villain, X.A.N.A., an uber-virus that is trying to take over the "real world" through the virtual world of Lyoko. It is attempting to do so by infecting the towers in Lyoko thereby bridging the gap between both worlds and allowing X.A.N.A. access to the real world to wreak further destruction.

Of course we can't have a villain without a hero! In Code Lyoko, our heroes are 4 teenage students and a materialized resident of Lyoko who live at a boarding school. These friends found the supercomputer while exploring an old abandoned warehouse. They have taken it upon themselves to save the world from X.A.N.A. and do so without letting anyone else know.

Now that you are all experts on the story lets delve into the game a bit, shall we?

Code Lyoko for the Nintendo DS has two distinct parts, which use the unique abilities of the DS touch screen to its fullest. The first is the 2D version of the game that is done in the style of a drawn cartoon. This part of the game is the "real" world where the kids go to school, hang out with their friends and live their semi-normal lives.

The second is in the 3D rendered graphics; this is the world of Lyoko where the kids fight X.A.N.A. using their computer generated super abilities. The game play and concepts in each area are also completely different.

In the 2D real world the game revolves around the lives of our heroes in their day-to-day lives. You get to roam about the school and talk to your fellow students. During this part of the game you have specific goals. These include finding people to have conversations. On your way you may run into other people who may or may not have anything to say to you.

Navigation around the school grounds can be quite a challenge. It is not obvious how to navigate from one area to the next; I spent a copious amount of time trying to get out of the first room. Once you are on the grounds trying to get to the blinking point on the map can be a frustrating experience as there is no compass to help you determine which way is which. In most cases, it becomes trial and error, being very frustrating.

When a threat from X.A.N.A. arises, you will run to the lab and enter the conversion chamber that sends you to Lyoko. Once in the alternate world you get to have some fun.

In the 3D world of Lyoko you will face numerous challenges ranging from digital beasties of differing power to mazes that you have to navigate. This is where having 4 different characters to choose from becomes important. Throughout the mission, you will come to checkpoints, if you enter the checkpoint you have the opportunity to change the active character. The characters have unique powers and abilities from various combat skills, to others like levitation. Each mission has different challenges that need to be identified and overcome and you will have to learn the abilities of each character so that you can make the best use of each of them.

Your goal in each of the missions is to make it to the infected tower and to shut it down to cut off X.A.N.A. from the real world and the shenanigans that it is causing. Once you reach the tower, you have only one character that can access the tower itself and shut it down. That character is Aelita. You have to make sure she survives to the end of each mission or it will be a bust.

To shut off the virus infecting the tower you have to complete a simple puzzle which typically involves inserting various shaped blocks into an odd shaped space. For the most part - for me at least - this is the most fun in the game, and is no where near a big enough challenge. But then, I'm not a teenager either….

Graphics in the game are very good, I'm especially impressed with the quality of the graphics in the 3D world. They are very close to what I've seen on the TV show.

The gameplay is...unique. The way that the game jumps from a 2D cartoon to a 3D world is a great concept and gives the game quite a bit of variety in play so that you're not constantly doing the same thing over and over again. Though, the combat in the 3D can become a bit repetitive. It also requires some patience to get through the 2D interactions as the main characters deal with their lives at school.

The game is not difficult, except for navigating around the school, which is more frustrating than hard, and is easy enough that my 8-year old son picked it up and started playing without any help from me. In fact he got much farther first time playing than I did. Guess I'm losing my touch…

The UI and controls are easy to use and pretty straight forward. The design is good enough that again, my kids can play it without difficulty.

I had a chance to watch the Code Lyoko show on TV and both my kids and my friend's kids were completely enthralled with the show. Though I did not overly enjoy the game itself, both of my children have really gotten into it and even fight over who gets to play the game next.

Overall I'd say this is a good game for the younger crowds, especially those who have been exposed to the TV show and have some understanding of the storyline and whats going on in the game. It's not a very action packed game and requires some simple problem solving skills. I'd recommend this game to kids and to any adults that enjoy the show.