Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games (Game Boy Advance)

Kids adore Hamtaro and his hamster buddies, and with Olympics fever still a recent memory, there's a good chance that the little ones in your household will enjoy playing Nintendo's latest sports-themed Hamtaro game, a mock Olympiad called Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games. That's not to say that teens and adults can't have fun with this game too, but between the cute subject matter and lightweight difficulty, you really have to be a dyed-in-the-wool Hamtaro fan to get your money's worth out of what should be a quick two-hour romp for most people.

Each Ham-Ham specializes in a different event.

The lineup of events includes 15 different sports: the 100hm dash, hurdles, pole vault, triple jump, hammer throw, tennis, medley swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, beach volleyball, sailing, birdback riding, carrot pull, archery, and marathon.

Initially, you have to go through the events in a set order in the game's tournament mode, which presents the first annual Ham-Ham Games as a seven-day team competition. The goal is to win as many gold medals as possible. If you guide Hamtaro's team to victory in the tournament mode, you'll be able to access the free play mode from the main menu. This lets you participate in any event you want without having to start a new tournament.

In between events, you can explore the various venues, the athletes' village, the Ham-Ham clubhouse, and the local television studio, as well as talk to any of the other competing hamsters that happen to be lurking around. Previous Hamtaro games have emphasized role-playing and puzzle-solving, and while there isn't much of that going on here, you'll still find the occasional opportunity to rescue a distressed Ham-Ham or locate an item that someone has lost.