The Spiderwick Chronicles for Wii and PS2 is based on the movie, which is based on the books. The Wii and PS2 versions are identical - the only difference is the controls. Both are fairly easy to pick up. When I switched back and forth playing the games I had no problem picking up the different controls. It is rated E10+, which is a good rating. I was playing it a little bit with my 6 year old in the room, and when the goblins attacked it was a little scary for her.

You play as Jared, Simon or Mallory Grace (one at a time) throughout the game. You will also play as Thimbletack the Brownie. His small size makes him ideal for exploring inside the walls of the house. You can explore the rooms in the house and the surrounding grounds.

You have to complete quests to progress through the story. You can check the field guide whenever you want to, to find out what your next quest is. Side quests can be completed to upgrade your attacks and weapons and to add new pages to the field guide. The quests all lead to the final confrontation with the Ogre Mulgarath.

While you're exploring you'll find many things to interact with. Some are automatic - run towards an edge to jump, push against a ladder or pole to climb. Other things are highlighted with one of four different symbols: an eye to look or read; a hand to take, use, or activate; an item in hand to give or place; and an arrow to leave the current area. Power-up items that you can collect are goblin teeth, which unlocks new attacks and combos; ball bearing and gobstones to be used with the slingshot; and faerie fruit, used to lure tricky sprites. It's also used by Thimbletack to heal himself.

The first time you capture a new Sprite, you need to record it in the Field Guide by "painting" it. If you don't do it within the time limit the Sprite flies away and you'll have to catch it again.

Throughout the game are checkpoints where your information will be saved. If you die, you'll start from the most recent checkpoint that you passed. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a long time to get to a checkpoint and you'll end up going back quite a ways in the game.

Once you enter the woods to look for Simon, who was dragged off by goblins, you will be fighting with them. You'll have a baseball bat by then and have to hit the goblins with the bat. Once you collect enough goblin teeth, your attacks will be upgraded. You will also need to use your slingshot at times. Thimbletack will use the same control as the slingshot to shoot needles at cockroaches that are in his way.

The game says it has a multiplayer mode, but you have to play the single player game all the way through before it unlocks. It's a little disappointing that you have to wait for someone to finish such an in-depth game before you can play with someone.

Cut scenes from the movie are played throughout the game. Other than that the graphics are good - nothing spectacular or new, but good nonetheless, even though it is fairly dark throughout a lot of the game. The Wii version has a setting to adjust the brightness, but the PS2 version does not. Both versions' load screens are leaves going across the screen, which is more entertaining than a progress bar. Load times overall are not very long.

So while there are a few negatives about the game, they don't outweigh the fun. I've enjoyed playing it and look forward to playing more.

The DS game is very different from the Wii and PS2 version. Because it's so different, look for a review on The Spiderwick Chronicles for Nintendo DS coming soon.