The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe review

The cinematic adaptation of CS Lewis's classic children's book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has wowed audiences and shot to the top of the UK charts.

This is no mean feat for the film of a stuffy old children's book written over 50 years ago. It's especially impressive given that this involved dislodging a large, belligerent monkey who was clinging to the top slot. But while most games based on film licenses are poor, Narnia proves to be the opposite - a rare exception.

You are charged with guiding Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy through the events of the film and as you'd expect for a game primarily aimed at a younger audience, the controls are simple. Playing the game on the keyboard alone can be fiddly, so we'd recommend picking up a cheap gamepad for a more fluid feel.

Each of the four children has his or her own unique abilities and the levels are carefully designed to make sure that you need to use each one to progress any further in the adventure. So, you'll need Lucy or Edmund to find a safe path over ice (they're the lightest), while Peter's strength makes him ideal for beating off the hordes of nasty creatures with a large stick. Collecting coins and tokens as you explore each level provides money to buy special abilities for your gang of explorers, which can help make the levels easier to complete.

Like so many games that are based on film licenses, Narnia is a third-person action adventure game. But where many film-to-game adaptations have failed, it's evident that Narnia's creators have really made an effort to capture the magic and excitement of the movie's many fantastical environments and characters. A neat touch is the way that scenes taken directly from the film are spliced into the action. When it's your turn to take over, the game seamlessly switches from film footage to the in-game engine, letting you pick up exactly where the action left off. The graphics are slick and Narnia is beautifully detailed. It should run well on most people's computers, too.

Primarily aimed at children, the game gives helpful hints on screen that tell you how to solve the various in-game challenges. It also places character icons on objects, so that you always know which character should use what. This system makes the game quite easy from a problem-solving point of view, but it's still great fun and challenging to successfully follow the instructions all the way through.

Part of the game's charm is its diverse levels, which range from escaping a dour Scottish housekeeper to fighting large scale battles and sledging down an icy ravine. It's always fun to play and the levels are the perfect length to keep the kids entertained. Seasoned players will sprint their way through to the end in no time, but even they'll enjoy every minute.

If you've been tempted to lock your noisy, hyperactive offspring in a wardrobe on more than one occasion, you'll find that Narnia provides a far more acceptable method of shutting them up for a couple of hours.