Naughty Dog has crafted one of the very best platformers in recent memory.

Naughty Dog's first post-Crash Bandicoot platformer has arrived, and it very nearly lives up to all the hype. It has been a long time since any 3D platformer has kept my interest for as long as Jak And Daxter: The Precursor Legacy has, and that's definitely a compliment coming from me. Off the top of my head, the last two games to do just that were Mario 64 and the original Sonic Adventure and really not much else over the years and generations.

Jak And Daxter: The Precursor Legacy takes place in a world very similar (in certain ways) to our own. One day, while exploring the forbidden and ever mysterious Misty Island, Jak and his wise-cracking friend Daxter came across some mysterious strangers - an old man, beautiful woman and an army of horrible monsters. The old man claims he wants to control all the world's Eco (the world's energy source, which was left by the ancient Precursors) and to make everyone its slave. Jak and Daxter try to escape without being discovered, but when one of the monsters attacks them, Daxter plunges into an enormous pool of oily black dark Eco. When he climbs out, the duo discovers that Daxter has been transformed into a half-weasel/half-otter creature, called an "Ottsel". J&D; then flee the island, and begin their adventure to return Daxter to his human form, and stop the evil old man from enslaving the world's population.

From the very first cinematic cut scene, Jak and Daxter gives one the impression of a good Disney film. The character design, animation, sound work, voice acting and overall art design are seriously top notch, and you can tell that plenty of hours of production went into the game. J&D; takes the hero/humorous sidekick route made popular by nearly every recent Disney flick over the last decade. Without beating you over the head with it, the game does a great job in providing quite a few laughs throughout. While Jak is the strong, silent type, Daxter always has something interesting and/or witty to say. The various inhabitants of the areas, all of which are fully voiced, also made me chuckle on plenty of occasions. When completing certain goals, such as finding a coveted Power Cell, J&D; break into a little dance routine of sorts to celebrate. Seeing Daxter do "the robot" for the first time was definitely cool.

Visually, Jak and Daxter runs at a nearly perfect 60 fps framerate with the only exception being a few split second hitches when several special effects are going off, or when new areas need to be loaded into memory. It becomes annoying once in a while, but it is rarely an issue. The environments are very organic, well textured and extremely solid, and you can seemingly see into the distance for miles. Naughty Dog implemented a seamless technique to stream the environments on the fly, and it really works well. You can walk from area to area, without so much as even realizing you are entering a new location. A little title fades in to say where you currently are, but that's it. The environmental textures, though still not touching the best the Xbox and GameCube have to offer, are still of high quality. Jak, Daxter and the various baddies populating the levels are constructed of a good amount of nicely shaded polygons, but textures are used pretty sparingly. Besides the absolutely killer animation, the lighting definitely deserves special attention. Naughty Dog included both time-of-day and various weather effect, in which you can witness, in accelerated real time, the sun and moon rise and set, along with the various shades of lighting and shadowing as a result.

There is definitely nothing revolutionary about the way the game plays, as it is vintage platformer with obvious influences being Naughty Dog's own Crash Bandicoot. Jak and Daxter stars 2 characters, though it is most definitely not Banjo-Kazooie. Daxter is not playable in any way, and remains hanging around Jak's neck or standing on his shoulder, throughout most of the game. He's there for moral support, laughs and guidance most of the time. In order for J&D; to progress, each "level" has several goals that need to be accomplished. All are centered around the collection of power cells, which are utilized to turn on teleportation pads, various Precursor machinery, and more. Collecting a power cell can sometimes be as easy as finding one hidden somewhere throughout the level, as weird as herding moles into holes, or as difficult as racing around in Jak's all purpose A-GraV Zoomer, while jumping through hoops scattered about. Some common goals exist on nearly every stage, but for the most part, there is enough variety to keep you going. As with nearly all 3d platformers, the collection of something, whether it being precursor orbs, eco or power cells, is always required. Those who cannot stand the collection method of progressing gameplay, likely will not be able to stand Jak and Daxter goal oriented structure. I personally find it interesting, varied and usually both fun and rewarding enough.

As for actual gameplay control, J&D; is tight and refined. For attacks, Jak can perform a slow but long distance punch/combo, a Crash-esque spin move, and a diving-two fisted punch maneuver. Other moves include running and jumping (obviously), grabbing ledges, high jumps, a crouch walk, and a rolling super long jump. Jak can collect a variety of different elemental Eco, which power him up in various ways. The green Eco boosts Jak's attack power and health, and blue provides faster running speed, a magnetic ability to attract items, and the access to open certain doors and items. Red provides much increased attack power, and even the ability to fire Mario-style fireballs at a distance.

The camera system seems to work well enough, and Naughty Dog provided a good amount of control over it at all times. A few times it will end up in a difficult position, but a quick shift of the right analog stick puts it back at a more useable angle. Manual control over the camera is really a must, and the game seems to let you know that right away.

The difficulty ramps up perfectly, and the game does not rely on a typical lives/continues system. If Jak bites the dust, he is placed back towards the start of the last area he entered, with all accomplished goals and items collected, in tact. You can save anywhere and anytime, and after anything meaningful is completed, an quick auto-save kicks on. Average players should find themselves putting in 30 hours or more, to get through to the end. More than enough for a platformer in my opinion.

The only real complaint I have with the game, would stem from the usual "item collection" scheme. Unfortunately, until someone develops a better method of progress in 3d platformers, we are always going to be stuck with some version of it. I don't usual mind this type of system, but I know quite a few other gamers do.

While not revolutionary, Naughty Dog has created, what I'm sure will be the first game in a long and successful line of titles. Jak and Daxter is entertaining, fun to play, and a great addition to anyone's PlayStation 2 library. Don't pass it up.