Earlier this year I reviewed Game Factory’s Code Lyoko game for the DS, an adventure/platformer hybrid based off the popular TV show. Game Factory has continued work with the franchise with a version for the Wii, and they fixed a lot of problems that plagued the DS version. Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity on the Wii is a marked improvement over its portable brother, yet it retains the same gameplay style.

Code Lyoko is still primarily an action platformer. You control the four main characters—Ulrich, Yumi, Odd and Aelita—within the virtual realm of Lyoko, as they try to stop the evil computer Xana and rescue their friend William. The fifth main character, Jeremy, is unplayable but acts as the other characters’ support. Most of the action takes place in Lyoko, which is played in a number of linear platforming levels. The point-and-click adventure mode from the DS game has been radically scaled back; instead of exploring the kids’ high school for clues to the next level, you only talk to various side characters to develop the story. In fact, the “2D” portion of the game isn’t much more than the game’s main menu, with a few other interactive features thrown in.

This choice to focus on the platforming gameplay streamlines the game a lot. While it would’ve been nice to have a better made adventure portion, the one in the DS version was clunky and slowed the pace considerably, so I can see why they removed it altogether. Through the menu and various conversations, you get a good picture of the kids’ normal life. The exposition is very similar to the Trauma Center games, and it works well enough. The developers understood that fans of the show play the game for the cool part: Lyoko.

The bulk of the game is spent in the virtual world, and each of the kids becomes a digital superhero when they’re in Lyoko. In the Wii version you can swap between characters on the fly, a welcome change from the DS version’s hub system. This also lets you shift tactics between characters, depending on what the current situation calls for. Ulrich’s laser sword is the only weapon that can penetrate some enemies’ armor, while Yumi can use her fans to lock on to multiple targets at once. The characters also gain special abilities as the game progresses, which let them reach new areas of the different levels. For Example, Odd can wall jump in narrow spaces, while Aelita can freeze enemies and use them as platforms. Most of the powers and weapons used by the characters can be upgraded with points accumulated in the levels.

Even with their varying offensive and puzzle-solving abilities, all of the characters control the same. The control stick moves them through the areas, the A button jumps, the Z trigger blocks, the B button attacks and the C button activates special powers. The remote’s cursor lets you target enemies and objects at will, which is much more comfortable than the DS’s cumbersome lock-on. The cursor also turns the characters’ orientation, so the whole thing feels like an FPS control scheme in an adventure game. The lack of camera control makes the setup feel a bit limited, but with the linear nature of the levels it’s never really a problem. The special abilities use the Wii remote’s motion sensing, which adds Wii functionality without making it gimmicky or annoying.

The levels themselves are pretty similar to the ones in the DS version, but bigger and with more variety. You’ll typically fight it out with cyber bugs and other virtual creatures in a large open area, and then proceed to some platforming or a puzzle. Each major area has a checkpoint at the beginning, so dying doesn’t send you back to the beginning of the level. The battles are also much easier than the frustrating ones on the DS, and health powerups are ...