Astro Boy

"At least Tobio didn't live to see this"

You would think with a great license like Astro Boy and a veteran team such as Sega's Sonic Team that this game would be awesome. Yep, you would think....Unfortunately, this game is so bad even if you're a fan of either I would still be hesitant to recommend it to you. The game tries to combine many elements into an uneven mess.

The "freedom" type gameplay the game tries to deliver is more litter-box than sandbox, as areas are enclosed with invisible walls that make them seem bigger than they are. It was infuriating to want to use Astro's primary means of transportation, which is flying, over some buildings in a expansive looking area only to smack into one of these invisible walls that reveal themselves only when you do smack into them. You usually skim along the walls making traversing an area more annoying than fun. This can be said about every area I wanted to fly in, since to fly between sections of Metro City you have to fly into tunnel like rings, while the games loads, which makes the areas feel more segmented.

You are given things to do in various segments of Metro City, but the things you can do between the story missions are just...awful--not worth pursuing. How would you like to help a pedestrian count to one hundred by pressing the X button...one hundred times? Or how about helping a character, Epsilon, test the weather and from where the wind is blowing by playing a demented game of memory match? Or, what about exorcising a pedestrian's necklace by playing a crude RPG type battle where your health points are told to you if they diminish or not? There are also rings you can fly through for timed races, as some form of, I guess, fun. This is the kind of stuff you are given to do on the side, in the litter-box, to collect in-game cards that aren't really cards, but are a means to see a character and event viewer. Funny that these tiresome chores are called "mini-games" on the back of the package. It seems they left out: "For the masochist in you."

I would have much more preferred being a super hero, and doing super hero type things, but even that may have been boring given the slow pacing of the game. Instead of being given all of your powers at once, Astro has to "evolve" which is just a fancier way of giving him his powers at convenient times. You won't even get your best power, the arm cannon, until almost before the game ends. Which is kind of pointless, since the main game is so short.

That's not to say the main game is all bad. I actually had more fun with just moving onto the story missions, which does entail saving the city by dispatching enemy robots and bosses. And if you do intend to play, this is what I would recommend doing. Forget about the stupid side missions and stick with the action, because it's pretty cool. Until towards the end of the game that is, where you have to enter two horrible dungeon-like areas that repeat themselves in both appearance and enemies.

I would say the boss battles are definitely the bright spots of the game, as you are probably asked recognize a pattern then use it as a weakness. I say probably, because all I did to win against some of the biggies was to keep hitting them either with an object, like a light post, or Astro's Fist. You even have battles where you are asked to grab bosses and swing away Super Mario 64-style. A more memorable battle was against a character named Atlas in the sky above Metro City. It was kind of cool to fly around as he blasts at you and takes out chunks of buildings in the process.

However, the experience of battling and traveling in Metro City, overall, could have been so much more. You see, Metro City and the entire game itself is horribly bland and boring in terms of graphics and audio. The buildings are so simplistic, and instead of there being flying traffic in the skies of Metro City, there are only a few cars flying around with one or two sad little cars flying through some tubes. This was probably done to keep the framerate reasonable (which it often is), but a lot of the game is just too barren. And sounds are really generic, with only some catchy tunes and good voice overs making the presentation merely passable.

The problems I've mentioned are an accompaniment to the rather bothersome controls making fighting and flying a chore due to Sonic Team's trademark wonky 3-D camera--along with some other gameplay flubs. The commands Astro can perform are context sensitive, so if you are asked to grab something you have to come to a stop and then grab. This was frustrating when I flew over to an enemy and instead of grabbing, bashed into it. This can also be frustrating because of the overused in games Havok physics engine. There was one battle in particular where you have to beat on robots until they turn into balls, then while in that state throw them at other robots. It was like playing a game of marbles when all I wanted to do was to finish the battle. I wonder why Sega shelled out for use of the engine when it's not really put to good use. Unless you would also like to see benches and cardboard boxes go flying ridiculously when you toss them.

Also irksome was the rising and lowering of Astro while flying normally. The flying controls cannot be inverted; only when Astro is speeding around can up be down and down be up. Meaning, you constantly have to be speeding around instead of flying normally, and if that happens there is a good chance you may hit one of those invisible walls.

After playing the game, I came to the realization that this game really seemed rushed to me; almost not quite finished. Bummer, really, because like I said, Astro Boy is such a great license. His story has such great opportunities that can be realized greatly in games. The characters are cool and most of them show up here (Atlas, Pluto, Dr. Tenma, Shadow, The Blue Knight, Dr. O'Shay, and Zoran all make appearances along with cameos from other characters), and the Robots vs Humans plot could also work greatly in having some story accompany the action. Here it doesn't get that deep, only showing you how Astro came to be along with his first meetings, in the context of the game, with various characters. I can't say if the game takes its theme from the recent series, though, since I haven't seen it, but rest assured that the plot is thin.

I was really looking forward to another great Astro adventure, seeing as how I enjoyed Sega and Treasure's team up on Astro Boy: Omega Factor for the Game Boy Advance. I came away severely disappointed with this effort, even though I only doled out 11 bucks for the thing. You're better off with the GBA game if you're a fan of Astro's and action, and hopefully the next generation will offer the cute little guy the fun and polished 3-D treatment he greatly deserves.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/22/05, Updated 10/17/06