Astro Boy

"Short and enjoyable."

Intro:

The first time I've seen Astro boy was when Cartoon Network was showing it, and I quickly liked it. Astro boy started in 1963 and was the first animated cartoon to be played on television in black and white. It was set in the year 2000 and so we can easily look at it now with a cynical twinkle in the eye considering that we live in the year 2006 and we still don't have robots like Astro but Astro boy wouldn't be the first futuristic vehicle to get it all wrong. I bought this game thinking there was free-roam since in a GMR magazine they said Metro city was huge. The city is big, but I was thinking as big as a Grand Theft Auto game. But I still enjoyed the game none-the-less.

Story:

As Astro Boy, you are the creation of the super-intelligent Dr. Tenma, a scientist determined to create the world's most powerful robot, and convinced that robots will one day rule the world. Adopted by the kindly Dr. O'Shay, Astro lives the life of a normal boy with gifts so extraordinary, even his creator doesn't know their full capacity. But now, Astro's home of Metro City is under siege by evil robots, and it's up to Astro to stop them.

Graphics:

Astro Boy looks pretty good, and holds true to the cartoon. Environments are colorful, detailed, and remarkably well. In fact, some of the special effects are downright spectacular. vivid explosions, bright displays of laser fire, and brilliant lighting bring Metro City to life. The game conveys an impressive sense of scale, with daunting buildings filling the sky and brazenly towering over your comparatively small stature. The levels look quite large at first, until you run into the artificial boundaries and realize that much of it is just for show.

Gameplay:

Once you have you're rocket jets you're all ready to fly around Metro City, after a little practice. Sega made Metro City a vast space with tons of flying vehicles and rings to fly through. To fly around you control direction with the left analog stick and altitude with the right stick. You can also press square to do the classic flying punch attack, which also helps you move around faster. However, when you're flying fast you can find yourself out of control pretty quickly. You can press L1 to lock on a target and have Astro fly back to the target's direction. To move from level to level there are a set of colored rings, which represent a portal to fly through. Moving through these portals takes you out of Metro City and into the next stage. Astro and his extraordinary abilities are well represented in the game, and he learns new ones after every other mission. The first he learns is flight via his rocket-powered boots, and then other, slightly less useful abilities like a weak laser and radar vision. Various objects are strewn around the city and the regular stages, which Astro can heave at bad guys or just play around with to exploit the engine. There's lots of pots and vending machines around, but that's the problem, only the smallest objects are available to toss. Astro Boy's supposed to have incredible strength, but the largest thing he can find is a boulder barely as tall as he is.

Sound:

The music in Astro Boy is pretty good. It sets a good atmosphere in the game. For some reason though the classical tunes suit the game well. The voice acting in the game is pretty good. There are plenty of scenes where Atom will be talking to his sister, Zoran, and Dr. O'shay. The voices were taken from the cartoon series to stay true to the cartoon. And they sound great,too. The sound effects are also on the good side of things. The punches, laser shots, rocket feet all sound great.

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed Astro boy for the PS2, even if it was only four-to-five hours long and there being a little free-roam. As for replay, there are cards you can collect by going through the rings in a certain amount of time or by helping someone. It will make the game last but not by much. From beginning to end Astro Boy is entertaining, although simplistic and easy. Fans of the cartoon will enjoy this but all else might not like it. Astro boy is short and enjoyable.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/03/06