The graphics in Portal Runner are excellent. Crisp, colorful and vivid environments are what you have to look forward to in 3DO's latest offering. Quite simply, it's a pretty game. As Vikki, you'll be thrown into such areas as a prehistoric world, a lush tropical environment, a medieval castle world with its dark forests and foreboding caves and an alien area where you'll explore a wacky spaceship.

Each area has its own charm and I really got a kick out of the mushroom caves in the forest. When you enter the cave, the music switches to a Marley-esque reggae tune and Vikki can get really 'high' when she jumps into the air from the shrooms. Also, everything is really brightly colored and very tripped out looking. Its good for a laugh for adults, and kids probably won't see it as much more than a neat looking cave. There's also a cool spaceship area that reminded me a lot of MDK2.

The music and sound effects are spot-on. Each tune befits its level perfectly and all are very well done. I never grew tired of listening to the music whether it was one of the thumping jungle beats from the prehistoric world or the eerily lilting tunes of the medieval area. The sound effects were also quite well done, with the exception of the sound of Leo getting injured when you were playing as him. It sounded a bit too much like Sarge for my tastes. I even really enjoyed the voice acting, for the most part. Yes, Brigette is a bit overdone, but her character in general is quite over the top, so it works. I could swear Vikki's voice is one and the same as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, but maybe I just need more sleep. She does make little quips all throughout the game, and although some are lame, for the most part they were cute.

Portal Runner is all about Vikki's travels as she falls into the nefarious trap of Brigette Bleu, the lovely but infamous blue spy. Basically, Brigette is out to snag Sarge and can't do it with Vikki in the way. So she appeals to Vikki's impetuous photojournalistic nature and offers her the story of a lifetime, so to speak. Vikki gets stuck in several of the 'Blue Queen's' newly conquered worlds and has to find her way out. Along the way, she meets a lion which she befriends and ingeneously names Leo (gimme a break).

Now, Leo is not only a help to Vikki, but a participant in the game as you'll get to be Leo in several levels, as well as ride him or just have him accompany you and help you kick ass. This was a neat way to create some variety, but since Leo was really hard to control, I probably would have preferred to just control Vikki. More on that in Game Mechanics.

Vikki's main form of defense is her bow and arrow and she picks up many types of arrows along the way, including the Trident Arrow, Piercing Arrow, Fire and Explosive Arrows, etc. You get the picture. Certain arrows do certain types of damage, so you'll need to save up the right arrows for the right situation.

There's plenty of health to be found and lots of gems to pick up along the way, and you'll want to if you are trying to complete the game 100 percent of the way. Needless to say, there's plenty of replay value if you are a completist and don't mind the iffy control. There's also a Multi-Player game, but the Single Player game is where it's at.

Quite frankly, I had a really good time with this game. Yes, there were some spots that were hellishly frustrating. Yes, the control was bad at times. But even considering this, Portal Runner was able to pull me away from Silent Hill 2 for a full 5 hours straight. To me, that says something.

Hmm. Well, I thought some of the boss fights were really frustrating. Oh, and that damn tree level. Fall and fall and fall and fall again. But there are several levels of difficulty to choose from, so you should be able to pick one that suits you. I played on Normal, but there is also Easy and Expert levels, and even a Dream Mode where Vikki and Leo only take damage from the environment. Perfect for the kiddies who want to have fun, but don't want to get frustrated into not playing. Once again, I must mention the control as this adds to the difficulty level of the game, but not in a good way. Fighting with the controls is never fun.

Well, let's start off with the good stuff. Load times are basically nonexistent. There are some 20 levels in Portal Runner, although the game seems somewhat short. However, despite this, it's a great deal of fun. Vikki can run and shoot a la Lara Croft, or she can go into her 1st person mode for precision aiming. You'll use this often to solve puzzles. In general, Portal Runner is a wonderful romp through a more fanciful group of areas than the standard army men worlds. Now the bad stuff...

The control is not good. It's slippy at best and when you are controlling Leo, sometimes it's downright impossible. Now, supposedly you need to keep Leo's rage in check as he gets more uncontrollable if his Rage Meter is up, but this just seemed like an excuse for his poor control. If you can get over the mushy control, there's a lot to like about Portal Runner. I, for one, was very pleasantly surprised by this title and have had a lot of fun with it. I haven't beaten it as of this moment, but I'm on the final level. I'm glad to see 3DO venturing off into some new territories like this one. Sure, it still has those army men characters, but I liked what they did this game and I hope to see more like them in the future. Portal Runner is a lot of fun if you are a fan of action/adventure games and I suggest you at least give it a rent. It just might be your cup of tea.