Alien Hominid

"A good handheld port of a great console remake of a classic flash game"

Overview
Many of you may have played the Alien Hominid flash game at Newgrounds. It was excellent. The remake for XBox, PS2, and GameCube was even better. Now, the world has received a version for the GBA, which is almost as good as the console versions.

Gameplay - 10/10
For those of you who don't know, the basic premise is that it's a 2D shooter, much like Megaman. The player takes control of a little yellow alien, who must shoot the crap out of the bad guys (FBI agents or something) whilst collecting powerups to make himself stronger. There are some differences from Megaman, though. This alien can bounce off the heads of his enemies, burrow underneath the ground, slice heads off when attacking from up close, and even aim his gun in any of four directions. Furthermore, there is no vertical level advancement, and no pits of doom to fall into, and an enemy does not harm you at just a touch; only actual attacks do damage. Gameplay within a level advances much like a standard beat-em-up: In certain areas, the screen won't scroll anymore until a certain task is accomplished, such as defeating a certain enemy or busting a barrier. While you have plenty of extra lives (about 15) and always continue where you died, most attacks can kill you in one hit if you don't have a protective barrier around you. Life meters are irrelevant in this game, except for those that bosses have. Perhaps the most interesting part of the game is the minigames. Every few levels, there is a minigame level that plays differently from the rest of the game. These minigames are fun and exciting, and make the game just that much more interesting.

Controls - 9/10
The controls are very easy to use, and quite logical. A beginner can figure them out pretty easily with only the slightest bit of experimentation, and can virtually always do what they intend. They aren't perfect, however. A variable jump height would have been nice; it's a little annoying that your character jumps just as high, whether or not you hold the button.

Graphics - 10/10
Just like the flash game, every single image is beautifully hand-drawn and animated. It is done a cute yet gory cartoon style, and is filled with all sorts of minor background details (such as a building with a sign that says "Castle of Crap") that show that the extra effort necessary to make something truly good was put in. Everything is easy to see, and it's nice looking.

Sound - 8/10
The sound effects are not annoying, and can be quite useful to help determine the state of a situation. The music is not annoying either, but it's not particularly memorable. Most of the time you'll forget it's there, which is why I only gave sound an 8.

Replay value - 6/10
The trick is to play this game repeatedly, starting with the easiest difficulty "Thumb Sucker" and going up. If you do this, you'll enjoy it a few times through. If there were a multiplayer mode to keep it alive, it would have gotten higher.

Overall - 9/10 (not an average)
This is a fun game. This is a beautiful game. My only real complaint is that some of the levels from the other versions are missing. Their inclusion would have been nice, and would have been enough to bump this games score up to perfect from the 9/10 that I game it. If you enjoy this style of game, though, and have a GBA, GBASP, GBM, or DS, than you should definitely get this game. My only warning is that you may wish to rent it, because it's a relatively fast win, and there is no multiplayer mode for added value.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/06