Billy and Jak raise platform bar

by Darren Waters
BBC News Online entertainment staff

Platform games remain the life blood of consoles and Gamecube's Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg and Playstation 2's Jak II are among the finest examples of the genre.

Billy Hatcher is a sumptuous and highly playable platform adventure game made by the Sega team who brought the world Sonic the Hedgehog. With such a pedigree, one would expect high standards and Billy does not disappoint.

Go to work on an egg

The premise is simple Billy has to collect emblems of courage on different levels before tackling the traditional end-of-level boss.

In order to progress Billy has to grow and hatch different types of eggs to gain power-ups and complete different tasks.

It's not as silly as it sounds - well, okay it is - but Billy must nurture and grow his eggs by collecting fruit and with them he can crush and attack enemies in the level, as well as pull levers and switches.

The game looks fantastic - with sugary-candy-coated colours that the Gamecube is so good at producing - and catchy music and sound effects.

It's not ground-breaking or breath-taking but as a way to lift the onset of Winter gloom it is a work of artful genius.

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Lock and load

Jak II is back and darker, much darker than before. Gone are the cute visuals and while the game does not quite stray into Grand Theft Auto (GTA) territory, it is much grittier than its predecessor, and owes a debt or two to the PlayStation classic.

The game boasts the usual plot absurdities with Jak, and sidekick Daxter, thrown into Haven City to exact revenge on a character called Praxis, who tortured Jak for two years.

It's clear then - that the storyline is not exactly the stuff of Mario Sunshine.

Haven City is the hub of the game with Jak and Daxter able to branch off into different areas to explore and adventure.

In common with GTA, the pair can "borrow" cars to help explore the city more quickly and take on different missions with varying goals.

These missions cleverly keep the overall story arc moving, as well as providing interesting diversions.

The games story is well developed and there are some great twists and revelations.

Jak still has the same range of moves - dash punch, spin attack, double-jump - that he had in the first game and he is complemented by a huge arsenal of weapons.

Put simply this is the experience Walt Disney would have brought us if Mickey Mouse had developed a mean, ugly streak with a thirst for heavy weaponry and destruction.

The game looks good, but to be frank, the PS2 is showing its age and the visuals cannot match the best of Gamecube or Xbox.

But they are still first-rate with fabulous level design and great aesthetics.

The old platform cliché of collecting stars, or power-ups etc, has been largely avoided and the range of missions and goals gives the game an enormous depth, warranting huge replay.

There are few flaws to report - once again, developer Naughty Dog has delivered the goods and produced the kind of teen-friendly platform game that Nintendo first perfected and Xbox would love to have.