Union Jack boxer shorts, The Great Escape and bulldogs aside, for me Wallace and Gromit epitomise everything that's British. A no-nonsense, cheese-loving, slightly eccentric inventor and his faithful companion get into all manner of scrapes and adventures, end up saving the day and are always home in time for tea.

The brainchild of Nick Park and Aardman Studios, and the greatest claymation duo since Morph and Chas, Wallace and Gromit's first outing in the gaming world finally arrives in the form of Project Zoo.

The first thing that strikes you is the graphical quality. Nick Park worked closely with the developers, and his babies are perfectly recreated on screen. The intro graphics are stunning, with great real-time lighting and a high polygon count giving texture to the characters.

The storyline is straight out of an episode too, with the pair's arch nemesis Feathers McGraw imprisoning all the baby animals in the zoo, and enslaving their parents to mine the rich hoard of diamonds buried underneath. Slipping past his guards in a Trojan penguin (seriously), it's now down to our intrepid duo to liberate the incarcerated youngsters and rescue their parents.

The game kicks off as a standard 3D platformer, but as you work your way through each level, the true scale of each environment strikes you. The stages are huge, and thoughtful level designs see the action progressing vertically as well as horizontally, as you travel through the jungle, underground mines and Arctic regions in your quest. Gromit is well animated, and has a series of jumps, kicks and punches to aid him on his way. Simple button combos result in some very funny breakdancing moves too, whilst health is replenished via a supply of Jacob's crackers. Wallace is always a wolf whistle away, and by collecting nuts and bolts he'll fix and modify any broken machinery you come across into helpful gadgets such as Banana Guns, Spring Boots and Gyrocopters.

The game's funny too, shot through with the same sense of humour as the TV shorts. The environments are hugely detailed, and each level also gives you access, by solving simple puzzles, to bonus levels containing more power-ups and unlockables. The downside of this is that these levels must be completed in full before you can return to the main game, which sometimes proves infuriating.

Aside from this and the occasional skewed camera angle, Project Zoo delivers a polished platformer which oozes humour and personality, as well as proving that wearing tank tops can be cool.

1. Nice sense of humour
2. Great graphics and atmosphere

1. Can only play as Gromit
2. Camera sometimes a bit awkward

Power
Looks fantastic. Perfectly rendered characters, huge levels and it's all lit beautifully.

Style
Feels just like you're involved in a real episode, with plenty of humour and in-jokes.

Immersion
Basic but addictive gameplay, with tons of puzzles to solve and ongoing tutorials.

Lifespan
There's plenty of stuff to find and unlock, 5o it should take a fair while to crack.

Summary
A consummate platformer which proves that a great game and licence can work together. That's grand, lad.