A PetPet uses some magicmagic on a blueblue thingy in 'Neopets Petpet Adventures: The Wand of Wishing'.

From a simple online virtual pet game to a multi-zillionaire dollar company bought by ViaCom last year, Neopets has come a long, long way.

Like its predecessors Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, Neopets is a phenomenon. Just ask any kid under 12. Similar to Pokemon, the weird and wonderful world of Neopets is populated by a menagerie of adorable but powerful beasts. Powerful if you happen to piss them off.

In the first Neopets PSP adventure - ‘Petpet Adventures: The Wand of Wishing’ – there’s not a lot of harmless feeding or puzzle solving to do like on the original Internet game site. It makes sense that the producers have kept the ‘Battledome’ aspect of the original game intact though as ‘Wand of Wishing’ is more about clobbering foes and completing missions than Neopet caretaking.

In the classic quest format, you pick a PetPet and then travel around Neopia in search of the fabled 'Wand of Wishing' that threatens the land. Neopets you meet along the way will provide side quests that you can choose to accept or not. As you accumulate Neopoints, you can upgrade your armour, weapons and even buy food to capture any PetPetPets you may encounter as you explore.

To improve your fighting skills though, you will have to find a trainer and win tokens in the Battledome by defeating a multitude of opponets. In the PSP's Ad-Hoc mode, you can participate in multiplayer bouts without the normal entrance fee but the arenas may contain traps.

Don't have any idea what the difference between a PetPetPet, a Neopet or a PetPet is and could care less? 'Petpet Adventures: The Wand of Wishing' is probably not for you then. For fans of the odd little beasts and their quirky little ways, the PSP release is a faithful expansion of the Neopet universe.