Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is a by-the-numbers platformer for the younger crowd. Ben Stiller, reprising his role as security watchman-cum-inventor Larry Daley, once again finds himself among animated skeletons and wax figures. Larry quickly finds out that several of the displays from the American Museum of Natural History are to be sent to the Federal Archives at the Smithsonian and others are to be boxed away, replaced by holograms. Not all of the exhibits were to make the trip; Pharaoh Ahkmenrah and his magical tablet that animates the displays are staying put. The Pharoah’s evil brother, Kahmunrah, steals the tablet during the move and heads off to Washington D.C., setting off a new adventure.

Despite being the game’s namesake, the movie acts as the framework for the game and isn’t strictly adhered to. Some of the voice talent, such as Owen Wilson, didn’t sign on for the game, while some of the characters, namely Larry’s son, are absent. Many of the locations, however, are similar – National Gallery of Art, National Air and Space Museum, etc. I would say that there is enough similarity with the film for fans to enjoy, but it isn’t so tied to the film that experiencing one ruins the other. Now whether or not you would want to play the game is another matter.

Larry must track down the nine ingots that make up the Ahkmenrah’s stolen tablet. Kahmunrah divided the ingots amongst his crew of Al Capone, Ivan the Terrible, and Napoleon. It’s strange that only some of the ingots make their way into the hands of historical figures, since a big deal is made in a cutscene of the insurmountable task of having to retrieve them, but some can be found lying about in the open. Each of the ingots infuses Larry’s flashlight with a new power, whether that’s spotting clues, modifying paintings, controlling animals, repairing objects, working machines, and harnessing lightning. One ingot in particular poses the greatest threat of them all: the ability to summon an undead army. Aside from his flashlight, the only means with which Larry has to fend off Kahmunrah and company is his trusty keyring, which can be whipped around to create a force field and slung to gather objects and access higher levels. In truth, there isn’t much need for weapons, because the game is one of the kid-friendliest titles I have played in a while. What little violence there is comes in the form of the wax figures disappearing with a poof into a cloud of dust, with the rest of the game spent solving puzzles and avoiding conflict with the bumble-headed AI.

Battle of the Smithsonian definitely shouldn’t be played alone, though. For some unfathomable reason, in the midst of wacky animations, goofy sight gags, and simple enemies are a few puzzles that are just flat-out frustrating. The Hall of Chaos is one portion in particular that younger players will find incredibly difficult. The hall consists of a series of paintings that are separated by bars, with Larry having to access his paint ability, shine his light on a painting, then jump into it so that he is ported somewhere else. Each painting leads somewhere different, and each area has a locked color chest that requires a specific key to open: this is a time-consuming slog that involves constant paint modifications and then nothing but trial-and-error runs until you find the right sequence of paintings to find the keys and then use them to open their corresponding chests. The concept of such a puzzle isn’t bad, but it is entirely out of place here. The other puzzles aren’t necessarily difficult but involve jumping between platforms, and Larry’s exaggerated running animation, slightly loose controls when running, makes them a bit of a chore. Younger players can manage the jumping puzzles, with patience and practice, but they will definitely need some help with the Hall of Chaos.

Even if you’re a huge fan of the movie, Stiller, or just want something to play with the youngins, you would be better served with another offering – or, if in a pinch, consider it a rental. Battle of the Smithsonian clocked in at a whopping three hours. The game has a nifty feature of providing actual bits of information through audio tracks, like at a real museum, and these tracks, along with text information cards, can be accessed via a gallery. Other items can be viewed in the gallery as well, including sketches and 3D renders of the characters, with a handful of points that are gathered throughout the game. Not only does each museum and exhibit present its own themes – flight, art, and so on – but each have collectible items that are exhibit-specific, such as tubes of paint in the art gallery, and also universal collectibles in the form of quarter and pennies that are stamped into museum-specific pennies. Collecting the various items, as well as defeating enemies and completing a task, rack in so many points that you will easily be able to purchase all of the goodies. A trivia game is also opened up in the bonus area, and this is actually pretty enjoyable – the questions aren’t too difficult or too easy. A few of the minigames are also made available in the bonus area after they are played in game, but they are tedious and not worth playing through again.

A lot of the game’s appeal relies on humor, drab presentation aside. The graphics are borderline serviceable, relying on art direction to make up for the bland designs and dull colors, and yet there were still some framerate issues. The jokes are pretty hit and miss, though kids will enjoy the sight gags and there are a handful of moments that I found genuinely funny – Samuel Morse’s line of ‘Beep beep beep … beep beep … beep. Stop.’ – but more than a few fell flat. I was genuinely surprised at the voice acting, though, with every character turning in a great performance, delivering the jokes just right and matching their characters to a T. If only the graphics had the same pizzazz.

Overall: 5/10