Join 'Elite Penguin Force' on Nintendo DS

— -- One of the hottest websites for kids is Club Penguin, a virtual world where kids become colored penguins who play games and chat. Now, that snowy online world can be found on the Nintendo DS in the game Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force.

This video game faithfully re-creates the online world and casts you as a penguin who waddles around this icy world, going on missions and solving mysteries. The world is full of other penguins to talk with, businesses and locations to explore and mini-games to play.

Once you have selected a color of penguin to represent you, the game encourages you to explore and interact with other penguins. Early on, you will be recruited to join the super-secret, super-selective spy agency called the Elite Penguin Force. As a member of the EPF, it is your job to keep order by going on missions.

To get through these missions, you are trained in how to use the cool spy gadgets that are at your disposal, including a special decoder and a two-way communicator. You are also trained in how to use Spy Puffles, little pet-like bundles of fur with special abilities. For example, when encountering an unattended campfire, you can blow into the DS microphone to call on Bouncer Puffle, who will throw a snowball at the fire to put it out.

In addition to the fun secret agent story line, kids can also help other penguins with mysteries and play six mini-games. Some of these mini-games are similar to those made popular on the website, including flying with a jet pack strapped to your back and fishing in the ice.

But others are unique to this DS game, such as snowboarding and a dance challenge memory game. Playing the games earns you coins that you can spend on new clothes and accessories for your penguin. And if you have a Club Penguin account, you can even upload those coins to be spent online.

What makes this game stand out from other DS games is that the story line is humorous and intriguing, and it incorporates fun mini-games. You can talk with any penguin you meet, and some are hilarious, like Agent Dot, who has a propensity for hiding inside snowmen.