Sequelitis is as much a crutch for the video game industry as for the roman-numeral-addicted movie biz. Rockstar -- no stranger to milking a franchise for all its worth -- has had the foresight to break out of its GTA comfort zone, and that's why originality starved gaming masses will fall fast for the fresh and original vibe in Bully.

Commonly referred to as "Harry Potter for Hoodlums" or "Grand Theft Auto for Kids," Bully sets players in the soiled sneakers of snot-nosed punk Jimmy Hopkins. Jimmy's been kicked out of so many schools that he's been dumped at Bulworth Academy, the last on the boarding school train for most kids before they end up at military school or in the state prison system.

Once he's there, Jimmy must maneuver through the delicate, and sometimes brutal, social faction at the school. The five social castes (nerds, greasers, jocks, preppies and townies) have been ripped directly from the John Hughes school of moviemaking, and as Jimmy earns favor with one, he invariably pisses off another. Much like real life (and Grand Theft Auto), our social-climbing bad-ass can make friends by doing favors for the different groups -- activities that might include escorting wedgie-worthy nerds to the library, fending off aggressive bullies on the way. This could mean booby-trapping lockers with stink bombs, or even giving in to the whole raging-adolescent-hormone thing and giving girls (and some boys) gifts in trade for a kiss.

Errands, favors and tasks come in the form of main missions that move the story along, and side missions that earn extra points with one of the social cliques. Bully does a good job at making these missions fun and challenging, rather than a chore. Almost all of these require Jimmy to employ his well-honed fighting skills, which get upgraded as the game progresses. The fighting mechanic is simple, but works well -- the controls allow players to lock on to specific targets and deliver a pounding. Our favorite maneuver, the humiliation move, lets Jimmy shame his enemies with some schoolyard classics (e.g. charley horses, Indian burns and the classic stop-hitting-yourself maneuver) that most red-blooded Americans have delivered and/or received at some point in their lives. And, no, there's no blood or death in this game. Just hurt feelings.

Outside of delivering punches, Jimmy can pretty much do anything other teenage boys would do. He can ride practice ollying his skateboard on the front of the school steps, ride a BMX bike through town, throw firecrackers and stinkbombs, trip enemies with marbles and use his slingshot for a little harmless target practice.

In a burst of video game realism, Jimmy is also expected to show up for class -- on time. That's right -- Jimmy doesn't get to spend all of his time socializing -- he has daily classes at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., which can be tedious and annoying. But in a good way.

Since Bulworth's students (and most gamers) would rather skip Chemistry class for a fighting session with the drunk bum who lives near the auto shop, the school's hired a pack of cranky truancy officers to make sure everyone behaves. So if Jimmy takes on a mission during class hours, he must employ Solid-Snake-style stealth to avoid the officers' watchful eyes, which includes hiding in trash cans and empty lockers. If caught, the game gives players a chance to break free (by repeatedly hitting the triangle button) but it's still hard to make a clean escape. Get busted? You're headed directly back to class, which actually isn't as lame as it sounds. Each class is cleverly constructed like a very casual mini-game -- English class is a Text Twist-style game, Chemistry closely mirrors a rhythm game, and so on -- and when Jimmy passes a class he unlocks nifty new items that he can use for his extracurricular activities. It's too bad real-life school isn't this amusing.

In fact, it's too bad most video games aren't this amusing. Sure, it would have been great to see this game on a next-generation system rather than the aging PlayStation 2, which might have helped cut lingering load times and delivered sharper visuals. But dated technology aside, Bully's a fresh breath of air in a stagnating game market -- complete with cool art direction, a great soundtrack, a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and a gameplay mechanic that's new, yet familiar to anyone who's played any of the 'Grand Theft Auto' games. Juvenile delinquency has never been this rewarding.