BattleBots: Beyond the BattleBox

"Too Much Hype."

Introduction
The game I am reviewing is BattleBots: Beyond the Battle Box. The object of the game is to create a battlebot to destroy some of the real bots from the TV show (eg.Toro, Hazard, Ziggo, Biohazard etc.). This is the first game I ever bought for Gameboy Advance, so it has a special meaning to me.

Gameplay
At first, controlling the bots is a little tough; you'll find yourself spinning out of control a lot. With practice though, maneuverability comes quite easily. The best mode of the game I found was the ''career mode''. The object is to create a bot, and battle other battlebots in other weight classes. Each match you win, you get money which goes towards adding better parts to your bot. If you beat all 4 of the bots in each divison (lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight, superheavyweight) you win the Golden Nut for that division. Let's you really feel like you are in control of your fate, and that there is a goal that you are actually achieving.
[rate: 8 / 10]

Story
There really is no story incorporated in Battlebots: Beyond the Battlebox. The only thing that can be considered a story is how you use the momentum from match to match, in order to create the best possible Battlebot. The game needs more twists and turns to grab the person's attention and motivation more often.
[rate: 6 / 10]

Graphics
The graphics are reasonably well for the game. The bots look similar to what they do in real life, and the battlebox is especially close. The pieces that you use when you create a custom battlebot actually looks like a bot as a whole, not a bunch of badly designed graphics stuck in certain places. The developers did a really good job in this department.
[rate: 9 / 10]

Sound
The sound for Battlebots: Beyond the Battlebox is decent. The opening sequence for the battles, where the announcer says, ''The Lights Are On, It's Robot Fighting Time!'' is quite cute. Only problem I found in this category was the fact that the sound of crunching metal when the robots are in contact with each other is repetitive, which doesn't really help much for the reality the game is trying to portray.
[rate: 6 / 10]

Play Time
I found that Battlebots: Beyond the Battlebox had too short of a play time. Each division can be beaten around 20-30 minutes, meaning the entire game can be finished in a time of around 2 hours. Even the battles get quite boring after awhile. Not much creativity here.
[rate: 4 / 10]

Final Statement
Battlebots: Beyond the Battlebox has its problems. Though the graphics are superbly done, the game is just too quick and too simple to really be described as an excellent game. Unless you or the person you are buying it for is a real hardcore Battlebots fan, I would not recommend you purchase this game.
[FINAL RATE: 6 / 10]

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/24/03