What would you do with a watch that gives you the ability to change shape into five different characters? Would you rob banks, steal millions from casinos, or control governments? Or would you wander around the US, finding bad guys everywhere there is a famous landmark and doing battle with them? What if you were only ten years old and still bound to your family (as you should be)? Ben Tennyson is that boy and he comes into possession of Omnitrix, an alien device that allows him to shape shift into five unique characters. When in the initial stages of the game, Ben can only access Heatblast and Fourarms, but later will become Cannonbolt, XLR8, and then Wildvine. Most of the enjoyment comes from first acquiring these qualities and then deploying them in the right situations.

Environments change as Ben’s family moves about the US on their vacation and each level corresponds to a familiar or well-known spot like San Francisco and then moves into outer space with his family. Most of the action is straightforward fighting with limited power boosts and upgrades through killing new enemies at each level.

Ben 10: Protector of Earth is a guilty pleasure. It really shouldn’t be as much fun as it is but you can’t help yourself as Ben works his way through his adventures. Young gamers will enjoy this as well.