Osamu Tezuka created the first Astro
Boy manga in 1951, and with it he gave birth to the style we now know as anime.
Name a traditional anime element and chances are it first appeared here – giant
eyes, tiny mouths, transforming robots, and lots more. Since then, Astro Boy’s
look has gone on to influence the art style of countless video-games (not to
mention serving as a pretty obvious inspiration for the Mega Man series), so it
only makes sense to see the boy robot star in his own video-games. A few years
back Astro Boy: Omega Factor was released for the Game Boy Advance, and was
widely acclaimed as one of the handheld’s best action titles. Now we have the
game based on the recently-released CG film version of the classic character,
and while it’s not the worst movie-to-game adaptation of all time, it’s far from
the best.
Breaking with the tradition of
turning CG movies into 3D action/adventure games, Astro Boy is a 2D
side-scrolling action/platformer. Each stage sees Astro making his way through
Metro City, beating up the various robots that stand between him and his
destination. For basic attacks he uses his fists and feet, but players also have
access to his many extra weapons and abilities – finger lasers, feet rockets,
and rear-end machine guns will all come in handy often. Every few stages Astro
has to fly somewhere while still fighting off the robot hordes – these stages
play like a classic scrolling shooter, adding a little variety to the mix.
Standard enemies can be dispatched with
your basic laser attack.
Anyone who’s played Omega Factor
will see that it was a major gameplay inspiration, but this game can’t live up
to that title’s amazing action. For starters, controlling Astro is a lot less
precise than a twitch action game would require. Movement controls are loose and
it’s hard to aim his jumps, which really becomes a problem during the game’s
many precision platforming segments. A bigger problem during fighting sections
is the fact that you can’t interrupt Astro’s attack animations for any reason.
Imagine, for instance, you throw a couple of punches at the robot in front of
you, who immediately jumps behind you and begins attacking. Instead of being
able to quickly dodge out of the way, Astro will remain firmly planted in one
spot until the attack combo animation finishes, by which time he likely will
have taken some serious damage. It’s an annoyance during the easy early stages,
but by the end of the game it can quickly lead to numerous deaths.
The shooter stages are a little
better, but they’ve got problems of their own. The scrolling action will be
familiar to fans of games like Gradius or R-Type, though Astro Boy lacks either
of those games’ variety. Essentially, flying Astro has the same powers available
as he does on foot (which makes sense) except somehow he loses the ability to
punch (which doesn’t). Jamming on the finger laser button will destroy most
enemies pretty easily, though you’ll still have to dodge bullet attacks and the
indestructible air mines that float your way. Enemies in these stages are very
repetitive, with wave after wave following the same attack and flight patterns;
at least bosses mix things up a little.
Though they’re marginally more fun than
the on-foot sequences, the flying levels still suffer from a lack of enemy
variety.
The audio/visual presentation isn’t
anything to write home about, either. On the graphical front the game does
resemble the film’s art style, albeit a pared-down, less detailed version. My
biggest complaint visually is how repetitive each area is, both in terms of
environments and enemies. As a film game, I was at the very least hoping that
the cut scenes would make use of film footage, but instead the story is
delivered via voice-over narration played over still images from the movie. The
sound isn’t actively irritating, but that’s about the best thing I could say
about it. Music is repetitive and forgettable, and it sounds like the film’s
actors only reprised their roles here out of contractual obligations.
In a lot of ways, it’s hard to tell
who this game was made for. Young fans of the movie are going to be turned off
by the antiquated gameplay styles and frustration-inducing gameplay, while
hardcore gamers won’t appreciate the sloppy control and lack of variety. While
it’s not quite a total cash-in, the game never really does anything
exceptionally well, and it certainly doesn’t do justice to this classic
character.
Gameplay: 6.2
The side-scrolling action suffers from control issues and design problems, but
above all that it’s just kind of ‘blah’. Beating up tons of robots with an
assortment of laser weaponry should be fun and exciting, but here it’s
frustrating and boring. Scrolling shooter levels are better (still not great,
but better) but they’re too few and far between.
Graphics: 6.5
They’ve tried to replicate the look of the movie’s Metro City, but there’s not
much detail and the backgrounds are quite repetitive. Enemies are recycled over
and over, and none of them have much detail either.
Sound: 6.0
The generic electronic rock accompanies each stage isn’t exciting or memorable.
Sound effects are about what you’d expect (i.e. lots of punching and laser
effects) but even these are low-impact and unimpressive. Kristen Bell has done
great video-game voice acting before (Assassin’s Creed, for example), but she
sounds tired and bored here. Also, if Astro is supposed to be a boy, why
does Freddie Sizemore sound like an angst-filled 16-year-old?
Difficulty: Medium
Cheap hits and falling deaths are the real issue here. Since Astro can’t move or
dodge once he’s begun attacking, it’s far too easy to take lots of damage from
the far more agile enemy robots.
Concept: 7.5
At the very least, I give credit to the developers for not turning this movie
into a basic 3D action game, as so many CG movies have done in the past. While
not exactly an inspired choice, the addition of the side-scrolling shooter
stages was a nice touch.
Overall: 6.3
I doubt this game is going to make many players happy. Young fans of the movie
probably won’t understand or appreciate the retro 2D gameplay, and 2D action
fans won’t stand for the numerous control and design issues. While it takes its
cues from the great Astro Boy: Omega Factor, it never comes close to that game’s
polish or exciting action.
