I despised Night at the Museum. Between Ben Stiller’s tired shtick, a predictable storyline, and the painfully unfunny humor, the movie pilfered 108 valuable minutes of my life that I will never see returned. As I popped the Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian disk into my Xbox 360, I began to question my impending fate. How much suffering would I have to endure from this kid-friendly movie licensed title? Could it somehow be worse than the vomit-inducing film? Well, I have been wrong a few times in my life — more than a few, even — and it turns out that I was wrong again here: the game is surprisingly good.

Battle of the Smithsonian fits you into the boots of security guard-extraordinaire Larry Daley, an awkward buffoon that has to travel to a few US museums to stop an Egyptian pharaoh from threatening our time. The attractions at each location come to life after dark, unleashing dinosaur skeletons, old-school gangsters, and mischievous monkeys into the museum halls. Larry will have to solve puzzles, vanquish ancient enemies, find hidden items, and interact with the exhibits to unlock all of the powers that he will need to save the day.

The museums are all loosely based on real life institutions, as you will get to explore the likes of NY’s Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, and — of course — the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. The developers have wisely inserted a number of interactive elements into each locale, including a shark that can be pulled out of a painting to chomp on a nearby foe, enchanting a runaway rhino to knock down a gate, and even jumping into a vending machine to retrieve a handy item. These puzzle elements may not be too difficult to solve, but the variety in the activities keeps things interesting.

The gameplay of Night at the Museum is quest-based, as you have to run around each location looking for ways to solve problems. You are given a magical tablet that allows you to harness certain abilities, including control over any animal that you encounter, repairing broken machinery, and even seeing items that are normally hidden from your view. These powers — combined with the museum setting — provide you with plenty of opportunities to do something unique, including using paintings as warp pipes, flying Amelia Earhart’s plane through the inside of a museum, hopping in a Lunar Lander to blast nearby enemies with the flame exhaust, swinging from platform to platform using your whip-like keychain, and even hopping on the back of a T-Rex to bust through some pesky crates. This constantly changing gameplay is much appreciated, even if some of the scenarios — like a few clunky platforming sequences — are less fun than others.

So what holds back Battle of the Smithsonian from being a wholly recommended title? For starters, it is too dang easy. Even the youngest of children shouldn’t have a problem with the objectives, as the puzzles are overly simplistic and the game overwhelms you with hints that you don’t want or need. Another major problem is the game’s length, or lack thereof. Achieving 100% completion should take no more than four hours, and a speedy gamer who ignores the pointless collectibles might be able to breeze through it in two. This is made worse by a complete lack of replayability, as there are no multiplayer modes or unlockable extras worth nothing.

It is clear that Battle of the Smithsonian was built for the Wii, as the visuals don’t push any of the 360’s boundaries. While the museums are packed with little details and the characters are nicely animated, the graphics end up looking simpler than most $10 XBLA games. Ben Stiller reprises his role from the films, bringing his trademarked oafishness to the proceedings. Unfortunately, there is a bit too much Stiller for comfort, as his lines are constantly repeated and his humor completely misses the mark. The music and sounds effects all do the job, with the score being lifted directly from the film and adding an epic feel to the action.

Overall, Battle of the Smithsonian ends up being way better than you would expect a Night at the Museum game to be. Fans of the films should love all of the in-jokes and references while the kiddies will be delighted by a world where museum exhibits come to life, but the $39.99 price tag combined with the brevity of the experience leaves Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian best suited for a weekend rental.

Gameplay: 6.0
Combining elements of action, adventure, and platforming, Night at the Museum offers plenty to explore and a lot of clever gameplay moments to encounter. There just isn’t enough of it.

Graphics: 5.0
The visuals were clearly built for a less powerful console, but there is plenty of background variety and the colorfully-animated characters will remind you of a Saturday morning cartoon.

Sound: 6.0
Ben Stiller and the rest of the cast do a solid job at bringing these characters to life. The music from the film provides a nice backdrop.

Difficulty: Easy
The game is rarely challenging, as the few tricky segments won’t take more than a few tries to get through. Kids will love it, but older gamers will wish for less hand-holding.

Concept: 7.0
Having each level be a separate museum—each with unique attractions—adds a lot of visual and environmental variety to the game. The entire experience is very well thought out, proving that movie-licensed games can be done correctly when put into the right hands.

Overall: 6.0
Night at the Museum is one of the few movie tie-ins to be more entertaining than the film it’s based upon, but it’s short length, lack of difficulty, and nonexistent replayability will keep it from spinning in your 360 for very long.