Once upon a time, only Disney was capable of spoiling a license this thoroughly. Recently, we've seen scads of good gaming come out of the House of Mouse, so the mantle of poor licensed games must apparently be passed along. This game adaptation of a movie adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's own adaptation (see below for links to our reviews of the recent DVD re-release) of his famous manga (whew!) is really just a mess. The least harm is done on the front end, with some decent window dressing and cut scenes drawn from the recent animated feature. Taking the form of a side-scrolling Brawler means that Astro Boy: The Video Game gets to pull the camera back and play from more of a 2D perspective. You'll enjoy seeing the new areas load up, but then quickly find too much repetition in the environment design and enemy models. Flying levels are a nod to side-scrolling space shooters, but what's here doesn't go nearly far enough in capturing the excitement we felt during the show or movie watching Astro Boy launch into the air with double or quadruple rocket blasts. Boss battles are the equivalent of fighting larger enemies and don't recreate the really big and imposing fights Astro Boy had to face; part of the appeal of the character that is so absent from Astro Boy: The Video Game is the juxtaposition of small size and great power. Also missing is a more compelling cast of enemies to face off against, as most levels are populated by an army of lackeys. The true test of value in the game comes from measuring how much you can sustain interest in Astro Boy as a character, just by playing him in the game. There's nothing special here that hasn't been tried and tested across the pantheon of great side-scrolling shooters. Problem is, most of them did it better.

The long and short of this game can be described as "blast anything that moves," while trying to maintain enough energy to reach the next checkpoint. Wave after wave of enemy robots and gun turrets in the first level sets the stage for everything to follow. Sure, there's some variation on the theme, but nothing that will keep you excited about putting Astro Boy through his paces. Rather than pull from the rich background of the character, Astro Boy: The Video Game pretty much plays through the movie, making it easy to insert cut scenes in the appropriate places. The first level is almost entirely about training, as you master the various controls and attacks Astro Boy uses. Apart from the story, this plays like every fighting game in the genre; survival is its own reward as you get to move through new levels and tackle new types of enemies. Flying or on the ground, beating enemies is all about mastering timing and learning to control your weapons. There are several good defensive moves that take Astro Boy out of harm's way when you'd rather run and live to fight another day. Otherwise you'll be mashing buttons and trying to unleash the right attack at the right time.

Enemies get progressively more difficult and there is some mild platforming scattered through the game, as Astro Boy can hop and fly his way to safety. Special attacks like the Arm Cannon or Butt Machine Gun (yes, that's not a typo...) are good ways to get out of hot water when pitted against a big group of enemies, but you'll still have to recharge frequently to avoid replaying levels. The game's only objective, other than straight survival, is to gather energy from downed enemies that you can use to repair Astro Boy when he's taken damage. Battling successfully through an entire level means you get to fight the boss, and then it's off to the next location. No multiplayer or online-enabled gameplay can be found here, which is disappointing considering the fun you could have with this as a co-op fighting game. We suppose it was hard to envision another star sharing the stage with Astro Boy, but the omission of any kind of two-player fun takes this yet another notch down on replay value.

Part of what steals the fun away from Astro Boy: The Video Game is a high level of difficulty from the outset that too often feels cheap. It isn't that enemies have so much more firepower than you, but poor Astro Boy seems unable to avoid even the weakest blow. Once your energy starts draining, the only option is to liberally recharge, which also drains reserves you have for special weapons. Without the special weapons, you stand little chance of survival, considering the syrupy agility you'll feel behind the controls... The idea during boss battles is that you'll battle a cadre of weaker enemies and harvest their energy, but the minions are just as likely to drain your energy as the boss, so this strategy frequently backfires. Even a crowd of enemies during the normal progression through each stage can mean your demise and a replay of that entire level. Again, the design of the game was obviously intended to promote use of that recharge in cases where the enemies were overwhelming you, but in reality you'll find yourself replaying plenty of times. The frustration builds when you have to go back through a level, even though there are some checkpoints to help ease the pain.

We can sympathize with the developers that had to make Astro Boy the equivalent of a heavily armed spaceship or battle suit, even through the limitations of only having a boy with robotic strength and arm/finger lasers. All the same, this game falls into predictable button-mashing mechanics and fails to do anything that really showcases the unique abilities we would expect to see from Astro Boy. As much as we've grown tired of scripted button-pressing, as in God of War or Tomb Raider, this might have been a good way to showcase some special moves from Astro Boy without requiring lots of elaborate button sequences. The combinations that are included here often get confusing, with annoying results. A perfect example is accidentally triggering the Finger Laser (a long attack that leaves you exposed) when jumping, since the laser move involves pressing up plus the square ([]) button. You won't like the results if you were actually going for the quicker and more effective Flip Kick attack, triggered by pressing down plus the square ([]) button. Quirky elements like this in the controls come across as a lack of testing or regard to the players. The notion that those playing Astro Boy: The Video Game are more interested in putting Astro Boy through his paces than actually playing a great game did occur to us, but only because we've suffered through too much licensed dross.

Just as you can't make that horse drink once you lead it to water, there's no convincing a kid that loved the Astro Boy movie to stay away from this game. We're not certain you'll be as disappointed as we were, but we can verify that as a side-scrolling shooter or brawler style of game, Astro Boy: The Video Game ranks up there with some of the poorer examples we've come across in recent history. Making a game that shows off Astro Boy's great power while retaining the sense of wonder and discovery embodied in his character was a tall order, but the product falls so far short of the mark. If you absolutely have to own this little piece of Astro Boy memorabilia, at least understand that the value here is 80% Astro Boy and only 20% good gaming.