Having successfully searched the celluloid world for his missing father in "Khan Kluay: The Animation", the ambitious blue elephant is setting off on another journey in October, this time into the virtual world.

Game No Limit is taking Khan Kluay out of the acclaimed animated film and putting him into a six-level computer game in which he resumes the obstacle-strewn jungle search for papa pachyderm.

Managing director Pongsuk Hiranprueck is well aware that already famous characters are perfect for gaming.

"We'd never be able to compete against Warcraft or Panya with a new, low-profile character," he says, and the release of his version of Khan Kluay - aimed at players 14 and under - will coincide with the debut of the "Khan Kluay" TV series on Channel 7.

Pongsuk has selected the best scenes from the animation and adapted them as backdrops for the game. There's a jungle to explore, obstacles to overcome and - in a challenge to players' digital dexterity - dance steps to learn.

The most extravagant scene from the movie, involving a battle on elephant-back, is saved for the game's final level.

Phanom "Jaa" Yeerum has been down this road before, his kick-boxing marvels from the hit martial-arts film "Tom Yum Goong" morphing into "Tony Jaa Tom Yum Goong: The Game".

That venture - choreographed by Phanom himself - sold like hotcakes on the day the movie opened, and 23,000 units have been moved to date, despite pirate copies appearing within two weeks of its release.

Krisada Israngkul Na Ayudhya, a 35-year-old aficionado of Japanese games, was keen to buy the Tom Yum Goong version when it came out last year.

"I bought it because I wanted to try a game with a Thai character and Thai details," he says. Krisada was impressed with the backdrops and character details, but he found it too complicated and got stuck on the lower levels. "It was like I was running in a loop forever."

After a few days he gave up and went back to Japanese and South Korean games, where at least he had a chance of advancing to the higher levels.

Famous heroes don't always sell games, of course. Hardcore gamers go for the latest techniques and technology.

The Tom Yum Goong game, says Sataphat Suphasoet, is like using "an outdated computer". A gaming veteran since his school years, he now works as a programmer.

"There's nothing in the game that I hadn't seen before," he says, apart from Jaa's unique fighting skills, and even they get repetitive. In foreign games he finds a slew of different weapons and fighting techniques. They're "unpredictable and full of surprises".

"If the Khan Kluay game has the same old tricks, I'd rather not try it," says Sataphat. He needs more excitement and surprises, not just a well-known character.

"The games derived from movies like 'Star Wars' and 'Jurassic Park' flopped," he says. "People expect too much because of the impressive scenes from the movies."

The computer programmer's view isn't likely to be shared by nine-year-old Praewwanit Jonglektrakul, whose reaction upon hearing that her favourite animated character will have his own game is a broad smile.

"I can hardly wait!" she says. "My younger brother loves Chaba Kaew [the pink female elephant]. He'll definitely love to play it too."

And Krisada? No matter how lame the stunts, as long as the characters are Thai or the game is a Thai production, "I'll definitely buy it and try it," he says.

Sirinya Wattanasukchai

The Nation