Game developer Naughty Dog may have disconnected from the tired Crash Bandicoot series it created for Sony, but it certainly hasn't turned its back on the platformer genre. The latest effort from the guys at Naughty Dog is "Jak and Daxter," a 3D platformer that seems like every other one you've seen -- but thankfully isn't. Pushing the PlayStation 2's hardware, this quirky, colorful game sports an array of technical and design achievements. Mainly, though, it's just a lot of fun.

Where the last Crash game was derivative, hackneyed, and standard in virtually every way, "Jak and Daxter" is derivative but still manages to feel engaging and fun -- if not entirely fresh -- thanks to fantastic-looking levels and refined gameplay. J&D takes gamers on a journey into a magical realm of huge, scooping islands and seas, where elf-like creatures run, jump, and complain. Energy balls and power-ups hang in the air, and getting anywhere involves incredible feats of running, jumping, and climbing. Everywhere you go bad things stomp around trying to club you. All in all, it's definitely one of the most impressive games for Sony's system.

Story
You take the role of Jak, a young man assigned to help save the wondrous landscape of his home from an evil plot by madmen (or, well, some sort of evil beings). These vile plotters plan to use the power of Dark Eco to bring a blight across the land, and when Jak's obnoxious buddy, Daxter, accidentally falls into a pool of the dark stuff, he comes out a lot more furry than he was before, but no less obnoxious. As you progress, you'll meet villagers who need you to perform tasks for them in exchange for shiny goods. While the story is generally just the same old thing, a certain biting sense of humor makes it entertaining.

The world of "Jak and Daxter" is a vast and varied one. Trek across sandy beaches, underwater cities, dangerous marshes, snowy slopes, and various villages all in the name of collecting shiny floating objects and saving the world. Throughout the game, Jak will take the controls of several vehicles, including a high-speed floating motorcycle (called a Zoomer), and even a large bird. He'll also slide down slick hills in mock-snowboarding fashion, swim through man-eating-fish infested waters, and careen over lava-filled canyons. The game uses all the standard elements of the genre. Completing all the quests, capturing all the shiny things, and saving the day in Jak's world is a surprisingly long and challenging endeavor.

Control and gameplay
Control is simple and intuitive. Jak can jump, double-jump, smash down on enemies and crates (there are lots and lots of crates to smash here), spin-kick, roll, crouch, grab ledges, and do all the things a growing boy in a platformer world needs to. Getting various kinds of good Eco gives him temporary powers such as super speed, the ability to toss fireballs, and heightened spin-kick damage. The actual gameplay is incredibly jump-centric, so expect to be making all manner of acrobatic, well-timed leaps throughout.

Platforms seldom stay still as the game progresses, and Jak ends up spending a lot of time running and jumping against the clock to reach higher ground. While some gamers are likely to find the endless array of jumps annoying, the difficulty level hits a nice middle ground, so the obstacles are mostly challenging but not mind-numbingly frustrating. "Jak and Daxter" also saves your spot frequently, usually at the beginning of each new "room," which greatly reduces the annoying and continual replay of tricky spots that often hampers platformers.

Presentation
The overall presentation of the game is terrific. J&D's visual panache -- with its impressive use of colors, highly detailed textures, huge levels, and sharp, well-animated characters -- is nearly unrivaled on the PS2. Load time is scarcely noticeable. Since the world of "Jak and Daxter" is entirely interconnected, there are no set level distinctions or cut-off points, and moving from one location to another is usually an entirely seamless and transparent process. The audio work is top-notch to boot. The voice actors add a humorous flair to the story, the music is nicely composed, and the sound effects match the gameplay.

Unless you don't like platformers at all, there isn't much to complain about here. The camera is sometimes unwieldy, and for some bizarre reason can only be rotated around Jak, not moved vertically, though there is a first-person view that lets you look around. Beyond that, however, "Jak and Daxter" is an excellent example of a 3D platformer. Even though you've seen all the elements of the game before, it's been a long while since you've seen a 3D platformer that makes everything click as well as this one does.