Hot on the heels of the hybrid kid’s movie Arthur and the Invisibles, comes the delightfully well-made and surprisingly beautiful official game. This colorful platformer takes you on the same journey as the movie, and even incorporates segments of the film right into the game to help tell the story. You assume the role as Arthur, a perturbed boy who takes the responsibility on himself to save his grandmother's house from property leechers. To do this, he begins a journey to find his grandfather’s lost treasure that is hidden in the backyard; so well hid in fact that he himself was lost trying to find it.

The game begins with Arthur stumbling down among the Minimoys and is soon greeted by a friend who will guide the player through the basic controls. And although they in themselves aren’t difficult, the default control scheme makes it very annoying to use. I found myself crossing my hands to play a couple times during the tutorial, but thankfully you can customize them and get into your gaming groove in no time.

All of the platforming basics are in for the ride with this one including all of the favorites such as locked door, levers and puzzles. But you will not be alone in these endeavors, you are accompanied by multiple friends which you can all control. Each of these characters has their own unique ability. This keeps the tempo up and the monotony down as each puzzle is aimed towards a certain character’s skills. And although puzzles are a huge part of the game, they are only half of it. Our little miniature heroes also must fight hordes and hordes of insect enemies and just like the puzzles, each character has their specialty. You will smash, slice and shoot your way through this game in beautiful high-res modes that only the PC can offer.

And surprisingly beautiful Arthur truly is. For a children’s game, a lot of work went into the graphic department with fairly fluid animations and crisp textures that all combine for a fantastical world. The plants and grass all flow well and the whole game is unique looking because of the setting.

Most things are done right with Arthur, but sadly not all. The camera has some annoying problems and automatically moves to some very unhelpful positions throughout the game. Although you can manually move it, this minor inconvenience can become a major annoyance after a few hours. The AI isn’t perfect either with some funny inconsistencies but almost all games have their AI problems. And finally, some of the puzzles take too long to complete and really mess with the pacing of the game, especially puzzles that involve moving rocks. Because you can’t freely move these boulders anywhere, the player has to guide his or her character from one side of the rock to the other. This makes obstacles and corners a bigger job than necessary because they can only be moved in straight lines.

All in all Arthur is a very fun and impressive “children’s” game. I say “children’s” because even though it is geared towards the youngins, there is plenty here for the older crowd as well. Good level design, mystical music score and some impressive puzzles put Arthur and the Invisibles visibly above par.

Gameplay: 7.0
Although the puzzles can be a little repetitive, the character changing keeps the game fresh and fun.

Graphics: 7.9
Beautifully created game world with lush environments, rich textures and fairly fluid animations.

Sound: 8.5
A dazzling score brimming over with adventure.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 8.0
Playing multiple characters to solve puzzles keeps the game enticing and offers a good amount of variation.

Overall: 7.7
One of the better movie-based games with hours of entertainment for both kids and adults.