As we're all aware, the Game Boy Advance is not only a system to showcase great inventive 2-D games, but also one to whip out games based on various licenses to make a quick buck. The licenses are usually applied to a mediocre game, rather than trying to take the most interesting parts of the movie or show and creating something unique out of it. xXx is a movie starring Vin Diesel and guess what? There's a Game Boy Advance game out for it. Is it something new? Or the same old stuff with different characters?

xXx begins with a series of cutscenes showing Xander Cage (aka X) in action. He's the National Security Administration's next secret agent, and they've chosen him because he can jump off bridges, answer pagers, and ride motorcycles. Well, according to the introduction, anyway.

When you start the game, you're shown the main menu - the really awkward thing about this is that you have to wait until all the text writes itself before you can actually start selecting any menu options. Sure it looks cool the first time, but it happens every time you enter the main menu - or any menu for that matter. Another strange thing is the bizzare way that the save menu has been set up. If you want to start a new game, you select 'Start New Game', but if you want to load your game, you select 'Load Game' from the main menu. The only way to delete files is to go into 'Start New Game' and select a file that you want to write over - and as it's the first menu option, everyone selects it - I had my file nearly deleted by myself, and then it was deleted when I showed the game to someone else. Wouldn't it have been easier to combined them into one option?

In all missions you're given an objective and begin the level with a mission briefing explaining what tasks you need to do to complete that objective. If you forget what you need to do, you can always pause the game and check your objectives (it will also tell you how many you have left). The game begins in Prague, where you have to find and deactivate a certain amount of missiles. Most missions will involve finding or deactivating something - after you complete that, you'll receive a note telling you where the exit is. One thing that doesn't really make sense though is that X is missing a radar - if he's a secret agent, wouldn't you expect him to have something like that to help locate his objectives and the exit? Sometimes you can really get lost, especially when you've got to locate 'ten deadly canisters' or something like that.

The other style of play is the 'Combat Driving' mode, which occurs every two missions or so and brings back fond memories of Road Rash. In this mode, you need to ride your cycle to your destination as quickly as possible, without either running out of fuel or taking a lot of damage. This is all fine and dandy in the first level (fun, even) but later on, there's too many enemies and obstacles. In one area, there was a roadblock on one side of the road and a car heading towards me on the other - I couldn't get past it because if you stop to let it pass, it stops too. I ran into it three times before I could get past. And while you can defend yourself by punching or kicking for enemies, it's incredibly difficult to actually register a hit on them.

However, xXx is not without its good points. The levels provide a difficult challenge (you can't really blame level design or control on the platform sections for any mistakes), and there is certainly some replay value - you can try to get a 100% accuracy rating for each level, which is incredibly hard. The levels are well detailed and different, particularly the subway and catacomb levels. There are also plenty of unique enemies, including corrupt cops, cyber dogs, flamethrower-wielding maniacs and terrorists outfitted with SWAT gear, who just plain suck. X himself however...I'm still not sure if he's Vin Diesel or Patrick Stewart in a pair of trackpants.

Music and sound in xXx while not incredible, are noteworthy. The soundtrack has a techno style, which is surprisingly fun to play your game to - however, the tunes aren't really that memorable, so you won't be humming them while you're at work or school...but maybe that's a good thing. Sound is nothing surprising - doors open with creaks, ammo pickups register with a reload noise, guns sound like they're being shot. You'll hear X grunt as he jumps, while enemies grunt as they are shot and groan (quite comically) when they die. And whenever you pickup health, you hear something chanting "X!", which is just odd.

Overall, xXx, while a pretty standard platform game, has no real control issues (except for a few problems with the racing levels) and could be a good spy game even without the license. It doesn't really introduce anything new, but if you buy it, you'll certainly be getting your money's worth if you try to finish it perfectly by getting a 100% accuracy and elimination rating. Not only that, but it does get pretty tough in the later levels. xXx is certainly better than I thought it would be when I first played it.