Kim Possible

Forget James Bond, we've come to think that next time around the 007 moniker should go to a Jane Bond. After all, it's the female of the species that seems to be making the better go of this secret agent/action hero lark in recent years.

Think of Charlie's Angels. Think of Lara Croft. Heck, think of Totally Spies. And think of the Disney Channel's Kim Possible.

Balancing the demands of school with her part-time job as world-saving crime fighter, Kim's dad has been kidnapped by the evil Drakken, who's holed up with his victim at the top of his tower HQ. It's up to young Kim, with only the assistance of Rufus, her naked mole rat of a sidekick, to rescue her old man and end Drakken's nefarious scheme.

Unfortunately it's not as easy as walking into the lobby of the aforementioned tower and catching the lift up. Kim's got to take the stairs up all 50 floors and make her way across the colour-changing floors. And thus starts the puzzle, because for all of Kim's kick-ass kung-fu, Kim Possible the game is a noodle nudger, with the emphasis on brain power rather than spinning roundhouse kicks.

To proceed and unlock the door to the stairs and the next floor up, Kim must turn all of the coloured tiles on the floor to a pre-determined colour. Early on this requires that you turn all of the non-grey tiles green, for instance. You do this by stepping on them; each time you stand on a tile it changes colour in a cycle from blue to red to green and then back to blue again.

Things get harder when you've got to walk over tiles that are already green in order to change the colour of ones that are red or blue, so you rapidly have to figure out how to switch all of the tiles to green without getting stuck in a corner, miles away from the exit.

You're never actually completely stuck – you can walk over individual tiles over and over until they, and the ones you've stood on to get there, green. But the strict time limit means that you have to be as efficient in your movements as possible.

Bombs, laser beams and other traps also keep you on your toes, with an encounter with either using up one of your lives in an amusingly comic mushroom cloud or lightening bolt manner. It all amounts to quite a challenge and while the first dozen or so floors can be dispatched without any great effort, the difficulty level begins to increase steadily after that.

Finally, every now and again Rufus pops up to take part in his own hairless mini-game that involves leaping up a lift shaft via platforms that are gliding from side to side in the narrow space, providing a bit of light relief as your brain takes a break and your reflexes are tested instead.

Like Jane Bond in a tuxedo, it all sounds good on paper. But sadly, while Kim Possible is seemingly built upon a decent idea for a puzzle game and is pretty well-executed, the game fails to generate much excitement, nor does it provide a particularly pleasurable playing experience. Technically it's not a poor game, but it doesn't catch your imagination with its concept or the experience it offers you, the player.

It's all a bit dry and humourless, and while the idea of placing the game within the context of a story is a nice one, the plot really has little bearing on the action. Which leaves Kim Possible as only a mildly entertaining puzzler.

If you're a Kim Possible fan, then the fact that it stars your favourite female red-headed do-gooder will make it a more enjoyable prospect. But for anyone else looking for a new puzzle to wrap their noggin around, take the elevator back down and head elsewhere.