Alien Hominid

"Without the PDA, what am I?"

Alien Hominid makes for a good story. Originally a Flash game on Newgrounds, it went on to be an independently-developed sleeper hit for the Gamecube and Playstation 2. I love my copy of Alien Hominid and will never sell it... and encourage just about everybody to pick up their own. I'm not as fanatic as the company itself, however, who has been pushing Alien Hominid at every Comic-Con for the past few years and went so far as to release Xbox, PS2, and GBA versions in Europe. Concerning that list entry, what made Alien Hominid great unfortunately got lost.

Graphics:
I'm not saying Alien Hominid on the GBA is a terrible game, though, because it does a good job of recreating the console experience. This is first evident by the fact that the same, unique 2D graphics remain in full effect. They don't look nearly as crisp as they used to, but seeing an FBI agent clutch his throat while blood spurts out is still pretty amusing. The action, surprisingly, holds up really well under the smaller hardware, too. Slowdown is rarely an issue, and you can clearly see and understand what's happening on screen at least 90% of the time. But playing Alien Hominid on the Game Boy comes at the cost of many of the bigger and cooler explosions being removed. Cut scenes have also become static slideshows.

Sound:
Another unfortunate thing that has been removed is a good majority of the soundtrack. The original game's music was awesome, and it's disappointing to have most of that gone. The quirky fanfare after each level is even missing. Levels used to have their own background tune, but now there is only one song per area that just repeats for every level. With only three areas in the game, that's not exactly a lot of listening variety.

Gameplay:
Variety is always appreciated, but this is where the GBA Alien Hominid differs the most from its console counterpart. The GBA game tries to recreate the console version as best it can, but there are levels which are missing entirely! The snowmobile and moving-cars levels have disappeared. It's understandable these graphic-intensive levels wouldn't make the cut, but they haven't been replaced by anything special. Not to mention a lot of the boss battles have also been dropped.

But I don't want to make it sound like Alien Hominid is no longer fun. What's still there is enjoyable and plays just like the console versions otherwise. All the power-ups and abilities haven't changed, so feel free to throw grenades or jump on FBI agents' heads and bit 'em off. Alien Hominid remains a great 2D shooter and a refreshing experience even with all the downgrades.

Lasting Appeal:
However, the main game is relatively short, as it was on the console side. It's occasionally fun to go through the game again, but what made the first Alien Hominid so great was the inclusion of a two-player co-op mode and some sweet mini-games. Neither of these made it into the GBA release. Instead, you get a chicken-smacking mini-game that makes absolutely no sense, the usual Soviet Missile Commander, and a rehash of the wood-chipper mini-boss. None of these--even combined--make up for the loss of the PDA from the original.

Overall:
If any of this was new to you, I invite you to check out Alien Hominid on the Gamecube, Xbox, or Playstation 2. You'll be glad you did. But would you be glad to have picked up this GBA version? If all you want is a quick 2D shooter to accompany Gunstar Heroes and Metal Slug, then you got it. Alien Hominid still plays great and benefits from many of the fun moments its bigger siblings have, but too much has been cut from the game without doing anything to compensate for the absences. Three puny mini-games don't make up for the loss of several levels and boss battles, the two-player co-op mode, and the hilariously robust PDA challenges. That last one alone makes it just a tad difficult to recommend buying Alien Hominid for the GBA.

Points:
+ Plays just like the console game
+ Which is a really fun experience
-- The main game has been trimmed considerably
-- A lot of the original's replayable elements are gone

Score: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/06