Beautiful but muddy environments, frustrating puzzles, repetitious opponents and clunky Kong controls.

Beautiful but muddy environments, frustrating puzzles, repetitious opponents and clunky Kong controls.

Beautiful but muddy environments, frustrating puzzles, repetitious opponents and clunky Kong controls.

Beautiful but muddy environments, frustrating puzzles, repetitious opponents and clunky Kong controls.

A cute marketing vehicle that is too difficult and underdeveloped for its target audience.

A cute marketing vehicle that is too difficult and underdeveloped for its target audience.

A cute marketing vehicle that is too difficult and underdeveloped for its target audience.

There's more humor and character development at the Web site than in the game, so if you are still curious, check out the Death Jr. Web site and maybe - maybe - rent it for a day or two.

An undeveloped but great take on first-person views makes this a strong rental but iffy purchase.

While new enemies and missions are introduced over time, the game's story never really builds into anything, so it gives you -- the player -- little incentive to finish the adventure.

While new enemies and missions are introduced over time, the game's story never really builds into anything, so it gives you -- the player -- little incentive to finish the adventure.

While new enemies and missions are introduced over time, the game's story never really builds into anything, so it gives you -- the player -- little incentive to finish the adventure.

While new enemies and missions are introduced over time, the game's story never really builds into anything, so it gives you -- the player -- little incentive to finish the adventure.

The game's controls and animation also feel unresponsive and stiff.

The game's controls and animation also feel unresponsive and stiff.

A good choice for folks who want to wind down at the end of the day with a fast-paced diversion that requires absolutely no brainpower to master and enjoy.

The game has some other minor flaws, too, such as repetitive environments and a finicky "camera" that may obstruct the view during combat by switching to another angle.

An example of how a game based on a television show can be done right. It may not be a long adventure, but it's a fun challenge.

Fans of run 'n' gun games and arcade-fighting titles likely will find that Breakdown is a uniquely enjoyable -- though visually dizzying -- single-player tale.

Short on frills but long on fun.

Another shortcoming lies in the fact the player may not know what an object is onscreen. How can you tell Rio to pick up the key card on the table when it looks like a book or ticket or deck of playing cards?

Controlling Yun is actually quite intuitive, even with the sophisticated multidirectional fighting scheme.

The game's graphics aren't on par with today's console offerings -- sure the worlds are colorful and large, but perhaps the developers at Japan's Sonic Team studios had to sacrifice visuals for speed.

The game's graphics aren't on par with today's console offerings -- sure the worlds are colorful and large, but perhaps the developers at Japan's Sonic Team studios had to sacrifice visuals for speed.

A fun, simplistic diversion, especially with a group of friends. However, once you've seen all the style moves it doesn't have the staying power of much deeper football games like EA's own "Madden NFL 2004."

A fun, simplistic diversion, especially with a group of friends. However, once you've seen all the style moves it doesn't have the staying power of much deeper football games like EA's own "Madden NFL 2004."

A fun, simplistic diversion, especially with a group of friends. However, once you've seen all the style moves it doesn't have the staying power of much deeper football games like EA's own "Madden NFL 2004."

The game's graphics aren't on par with today's console offerings -- sure the worlds are colorful and large, but perhaps the developers at Japan's Sonic Team studios had to sacrifice visuals for speed.