Nickelodeon Barnyard

Most movie tie-ins of the mid-2000s were built to a deadline and it shows. Barnyard, based on the 2006 Paramount and Nickelodeon animated film about cows who stand up on two legs when humans are not looking, is no exception, but it makes one choice worth noting: it gives you a farm to wander rather than a corridor to run down.

The game follows the film's hero, Otis, a goofy young bull who would rather throw parties than take on the responsibilities of his late father. The farm acts as a hub, with different areas to explore and a steady supply of tasks from the other animals. Between those tasks sit mini-games and bits of light mischief, the kind of thing aimed squarely at children and designed to be picked up without a manual. Nothing asks for much precision, and the controls reflect that.

That simplicity is the point, and also the limit. Missions lean on repetition, and the same sort of errand turns up again with a slightly different coat of paint. The graphics are serviceable for the PlayStation 2, with chunky cartoon models that capture the film's look without much polish, and the camera can be clumsy in tighter spots. Younger players will forgive that more readily than adults will.

What it has going for it is a loose, goodnatured tone. It never punishes you hard, and it lets you poke around at your own pace, which was not a given in licensed games of the period. Many of those were short, linear and graceless.

Played now, Barnyard is a modest curiosity rather than a hidden gem. It will not hold an adult's attention for long, but as a record of how studios tried to make a film's world walkable on a budget, it is a pleasant and harmless one.