GAME goes primal.

It's probably more of a male thing to be honest. The average man's three favourite things in the world are 1) Games and play 2) Bashing things (just, you know, generally) and 3) Monkeys.

The idea that the three could somehow be combined is simply too exciting to deal with. Playing a game that involves monkeys, by repeatedly hitting something? Good Lord, I need to sit down for a moment, it sounds like more fun than any man can take in one go.

But somehow Nintendo have done it, and in the process created one of the most inventive, surprising and downright fun games of, well, ever.

Don't get confused between this and Donkey Konga, which is a "rhythm-action" game where you need to hit the right notes at the right times. Oh no, this is a platform game, similar in style in many ways to the original SNES hit Donkey Kong Country.

Although it's possible to play the game with the control pad, it has been designed with the bongos in mind and this is really the only way to play it properly. A tap on the right drum causes Donkey Kong to run right, a tap on the left drum causes Donkey Kong to run left. The faster you beat your rhythm, the faster DK runs, while hitting both drums at the same time causes the big ape to jump.

The only other command available to you is a clap (picked up by the microphone on the Bongos), which is used as a kind of all-round attack move, but is context-sensitive so can also be used to grab stuff, for example.

Clap near certain enemies, and Donkey jumps on top of them, at which point you are prompted to bash your bongos as fast as possible, causing Donkey Kong to unload a dazzling flurry of punches upside his enemy. It's hilarious, like some insane Japanese cartoon come to life!

Whereas Donkey Konga appeared a little rushed and was lacking both nice graphics and competent presentation, Jungle Beat is the exact opposite. It's beautiful, quite possibly the best looking game on the 'Cube so far. A lot of the action is viewed from quite a distance, but when it zooms in for a close-up the quality of the renders are stunning, especially the fur effects - at its best Jungle Beat looks less like a game and more like a CGI film.

There are quite a few levels (20+) which involve just about every platform game staple you can imagine - underwater sections, ice sections, and a couple of particularly amusing sections where DK is riding some kind of huge Bison, while replay value is assured by the need to seek out and collect every banana in each level. The boss levels, meanwhile, are amazing. Some of them take the form of out and out boxing matches (against the likes of Dread Kong and Karate Kong) while others are a little more complex but just as much fun.

Jungle Beat is the most original experience to hit gaming in years, and if no-questions-asked, no-frills fun (the kind that makes you smile like a maniac despite your best efforts not to) is all you're after, there's nothing else on the market that comes close. It's the strongest proof in a decade that Nintendo still lead the field when it comes to thinking about gaming in new ways.