Codename: Kids Next Door - Operation: V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E.

Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E. is a triumphant conversion that any child who's a fan of the cartoon will absolutely adore - if you know a youngster who likes the show, you really can't go wrong. It looks lovely, is as well written and imaginative as the cartoon obviously is, and features a good balance of challenge and gameplay variety to keep children interested and entertained. Indeed, if you're looking for something suitable for the younger ones to find under the Christmas tree, then look no further!

So, far-fetched and silly this is, but the important thing is its fun! It doesn’t re-write the platforming genre but it does provide you with a lot of laughs, and comic capers. It’s a definite rental and certainly one to put on your wish list if you’re a fan of the series. You could even think of buying it for your child.

So, far-fetched and silly this is, but the important thing is its fun! It doesn’t re-write the platforming genre but it does provide you with a lot of laughs, and comic capers. It’s a definite rental and certainly one to put on your wish list if you’re a fan of the series. You could even think of buying it for your child ;-)

Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E. is a triumphant conversion that any child who's a fan of the cartoon will absolutely adore - if you know a youngster who likes the show, you really can't go wrong. It looks lovely, is as well written and imaginative as the cartoon obviously is, and features a good balance of challenge and gameplay variety to keep children interested and entertained. Indeed, if you're looking for something suitable for the younger ones to find under the Christmas tree, then look no further!

Despite its target market to the younger set, Codename: KND could have earned pretty good grades for gamers of all age groups thanks to its varied game play, beautifully done visuals, swift pacing, responsive controls, and reasonable difficulty. Unfortunately, poor collision detection and a lack of camera controls result in a solid C average... which if you'll remember from your grade school report cards, while still passing, isn't cause for celebration.

The execution of Operation: V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E. is far from great, but the idea behind it has a charm that will grow on you if manage to stick with it and play through enough. At the very least, fans of the Kids Next Door series should be able to enjoy the game despite its shortcomings.

As far as the other aspects go, graphics have a smooth framerate despite having that weird “2D-Cartoon-Character-To-3D-Model” effect, controls are fine except for the aforementioned blind-jumping, and the sound quality is just fine. I want to make special mention of “production values” here, although I never pay attention to this aspect in unlicensed games. Essentially, the game is like another episode of the cartoon it is based on. Anything you expect from the show you will get here. And I suppose that would be the correct way to treat Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E. It's just another episode of the TV show.

KND's cut-scenes are appropriately juvenile, but some of the dialogue is pretty clever, and the only character I couldn't stomach was the bubbly "Numbah 3". The game is well crafted in general, with a handy auto-save, infrequent load screens, and dialogue you can quickly page through. Kids Next Door: Operation Videogame could be considered a "cookie cutter" game, but it deserves credit for its clear objectives, reasonable difficulty, and kid-friendly theme. Fans of the show should bump up the grade by a letter.

Codename: Kids Next Door - Operation V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E. manages to do a good job in appealing to fans of the TV show but as a game it's not the most pleasant experience. The damage is really caused by problematic camera angles but the missions do become quite tedious in places and boss fights aside there's not that much of a challenge. Of course for younger deaf gamers the problems run deeper as the cutscenes are not subtitled and quite a lot of the character comments are also not subtitled. Operation V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E. is probably best left to enthusiastic fans of the TV show because it just won't hold the attention of others for very long.

Maybe some fans of the show would like this, but I sure as hell did not. When playing through the game, none of the moments really stood out as being memorable. Nothing really compelled me to want to finish the game other than for the simple reason I had to write this review. Maybe I’m 15 years too old to enjoy this game or maybe it’s just a bad game overall, I just don’t know! Buy it at your own risk! You have been forewarned!

Operation V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E. is a limited action platformer with an unhealthy amount of problems only devout KND fans will be able to appreciate.

In the end I guess it doesn’t matter what this is like, since it’s for very young kids and they will certainly enjoy it enough (it is certainly an excellent use of the license. I’ve never seen the cartoon but now I feel like I know a lot about it), but despite the positive aspects I’ve highlighted in this review, it isn’t enough to save the game. It is a series of brief highlights connected by dreadfully tedious combat and platforming. It’s good value for money to those who are interested (It lasts about 8 hours and contains the biggest selection of unlockable concept art and character costumes I’ve ever seen), but even if it’s not as bad as you’d expect, it’s still pretty bad on the larger scale of platformers. Still, fans of the cartoon should be pleased that it has been fleshed out in videogame form so enthusiastically, even if the rest of us will know exactly what to think of it as soon as we see what it’s called.

Since 2002, Cartoon Network's Codename: Kids Next Door (or KND) has been entertaining children in half hour segments with its rowdy depiction of five well funded ten-year olds and their ongoing operations against oppressive adults. Most of these exploits make good use of bathroom humor and prepubescent acts of heroism to elicit laughs. This game tries to saturate its own set of similar adventures with that style, but fails to deliver any semblance of enjoyable gameplay to augment its reliance on the source material and create a compelling product for any age group.

Codename: Kids Next Door - Operation V.I.D.E.O.G.A.M.E. is not something that is going to impress anybody. Hardcore fans of the series may enjoy the humor and story line some but even they might feel less then satisfied after their purchase.

Kids Next Door risque de décevoir les fans de la série, engrangeant comme autant de trophées les pires défauts d'un jeu de plates-formes, peu maniable et pourvu d'une caméra certainement conçue pour rendre le jeu impraticable. C'est un concept après tout.

Kids Next Door risque de décevoir les fans de la série, engrangeant comme autant de trophées les pires défauts d'un jeu de plates-formes, peu maniable et pourvu d'une caméra certainement conçue pour rendre le jeu impraticable. C'est un concept après tout.

This is awful, if true to the series – avoid it like a load of “numbuh tooh”.