Don't pick your nose if your finger is a laser.
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2004 3:54 pm
I plunked down 8 bucks today for an issue of Playstation Magazine that came with a demo of Astro Boy.
I was pleasantly suprised to find that it's shaped up to be a good, but unpolished game.
The control scheme is a step above anything I've ever seen in a 3-D game in which superhero-style flight is the focus. But it's severly lacking in one important place.
The left shoulder buttons control the camera - in a completely useless manner. The left stick controls movement in the usual 8 directions - all horizontal. The left stick controls vertical movement - up and down.
Together, this makes for a pretty awesome flying experince that I've never really seen presented in any 3-D game ever.
Unfortunately, it's the combat that has trouble. Like all Sonic Team games, the camera is often truant and strays from your enemies.
But the biggest complaint is that you can't really fight and go up and down at the same time. Because your vertical flight is controlled by the same thumb that handles your weapons - so if you're in a dogfight, it's a bitch trying to swerve up and down while firing your weapons.
What's annoying is that this is an issue that could've been easily solved by making the top trigger buttons of the PS2's controller the weapon buttons - but instead, you're stuck using X, Triangle, Circle, and Square to attack - when they should've been used to control the camera.
Big flaw aside, combat is easier and a lot more fun than I thought it would be, as you have a number of ways to attack. You can charge up your arm cannon and let loose a humongus blast of energy, you can use a smaller finger laser for more precise but weaker shots, and you have the side-step ability - allowing you to dodge most enemy shots in mid-air or on the ground.
There's another attack that differs depending on how close to the enemy you are. If you're nearby or on the ground, you'll simply swing your fists for a punch/kick combo. But if you're a fair distance away - or not facing an enemy at all - here's the fun part - you'll rocket forward in mid-air at incredible speeds.
This could've easily been boringly used as a typical dash attack, but instead - Astro Boy riccochets wildly off of whatever he strikes. This makes for highly entertaining combos that let you bounce off of one enemy and smack into another in a style comparable to what Sonic would do if he could fly - so, it kind of feels like playing as Super Sonic constantly.
You don't just riccochet off of enemies, either - you bounce off any surface - and bouncing off buildings and towers and watching them explode due to your mad mid-air dash is a very sweet experience.
The Havoc engine, from what I've seen, adds a lot to the experience. You can remove a lampost from the ground, fly up, and use it as a baseball bat to satisfyingly smack flying villains.
The boss fight included in the demo really showed off the combat system - with Astro Boy facing against his evil brother - Atlas. It was a highly entertaining dogfight that was actually fairly challenging - as Atlas had all the moves Astro Boy had PLUS a lightsaber. The best part of the fight showcased the Havoc engine - you weaken Atlas with small blasts, and then charge against him in mid-air. He goes flying back towards a building and crashes into it - causing it to explode.
The superhero fan in me almost wept with joy. It's everything a nerd loves about Superman's titanic struggles - only wrapped into pre-pubecent package.
The demo included three parts - two melees - one in a town square against a team of cool flying biker robots, a battle in a lab against a GIANT but weak swarm of robot bees - and the very keen Atlas boss battle. It may not sound like a lot to judge most of a game by - but from what I've heard, the game is so short that it's actually a sizable amount of playtime.
I'm definately going to have to get a copy of this game when it's in the $20 bin. It's too rough to be worth a price tag of $40-60 (and supposedly because there are only 5 stages in the entire game), but it's a very unique experience that should be worth a cheapy buy - even for gamers who don't like Astro Boy.
This game problably isn't going to get the recognition it deserves because of the kiddy, cult-fanish, license. But if you slipped in Superman as the protagonist in the US, it would problably sell like hotcakes.
Hopefully, even if there's not an Astro Boy 2 with a better control scheme, this won't be the last we see of the Astro Boy engine. Heck, Sonic Team could invent an original character and make this into a mid-air brawling franchise all on it's own. If they can stop focusing on Sonic or Puyo Puyo for more than 60 seconds.
So yeah, if I had to give what I've seen so far a grade - It'd be a B-. Amazing effort considering that a good Superhero game - 3-D or 2-D - is as rare as golden cow pie. If the control scheme was only slightly improved, it'd be much higher.
It's better than Sonic fucking Heroes, anyways.
And someone, for the love of God - give that boy a shirt. I know his costume is modeled after Mickey Mouse - but for Christ's sake - even Mickey's image has been reworked over the years and he typically wears more than just red undies nowadays.
An old man building a robot boy is bad enough, but when that boy runs around nearly naked - we're going into a whole creepy area there.
I was pleasantly suprised to find that it's shaped up to be a good, but unpolished game.
The control scheme is a step above anything I've ever seen in a 3-D game in which superhero-style flight is the focus. But it's severly lacking in one important place.
The left shoulder buttons control the camera - in a completely useless manner. The left stick controls movement in the usual 8 directions - all horizontal. The left stick controls vertical movement - up and down.
Together, this makes for a pretty awesome flying experince that I've never really seen presented in any 3-D game ever.
Unfortunately, it's the combat that has trouble. Like all Sonic Team games, the camera is often truant and strays from your enemies.
But the biggest complaint is that you can't really fight and go up and down at the same time. Because your vertical flight is controlled by the same thumb that handles your weapons - so if you're in a dogfight, it's a bitch trying to swerve up and down while firing your weapons.
What's annoying is that this is an issue that could've been easily solved by making the top trigger buttons of the PS2's controller the weapon buttons - but instead, you're stuck using X, Triangle, Circle, and Square to attack - when they should've been used to control the camera.
Big flaw aside, combat is easier and a lot more fun than I thought it would be, as you have a number of ways to attack. You can charge up your arm cannon and let loose a humongus blast of energy, you can use a smaller finger laser for more precise but weaker shots, and you have the side-step ability - allowing you to dodge most enemy shots in mid-air or on the ground.
There's another attack that differs depending on how close to the enemy you are. If you're nearby or on the ground, you'll simply swing your fists for a punch/kick combo. But if you're a fair distance away - or not facing an enemy at all - here's the fun part - you'll rocket forward in mid-air at incredible speeds.
This could've easily been boringly used as a typical dash attack, but instead - Astro Boy riccochets wildly off of whatever he strikes. This makes for highly entertaining combos that let you bounce off of one enemy and smack into another in a style comparable to what Sonic would do if he could fly - so, it kind of feels like playing as Super Sonic constantly.
You don't just riccochet off of enemies, either - you bounce off any surface - and bouncing off buildings and towers and watching them explode due to your mad mid-air dash is a very sweet experience.
The Havoc engine, from what I've seen, adds a lot to the experience. You can remove a lampost from the ground, fly up, and use it as a baseball bat to satisfyingly smack flying villains.
The boss fight included in the demo really showed off the combat system - with Astro Boy facing against his evil brother - Atlas. It was a highly entertaining dogfight that was actually fairly challenging - as Atlas had all the moves Astro Boy had PLUS a lightsaber. The best part of the fight showcased the Havoc engine - you weaken Atlas with small blasts, and then charge against him in mid-air. He goes flying back towards a building and crashes into it - causing it to explode.
The superhero fan in me almost wept with joy. It's everything a nerd loves about Superman's titanic struggles - only wrapped into pre-pubecent package.
The demo included three parts - two melees - one in a town square against a team of cool flying biker robots, a battle in a lab against a GIANT but weak swarm of robot bees - and the very keen Atlas boss battle. It may not sound like a lot to judge most of a game by - but from what I've heard, the game is so short that it's actually a sizable amount of playtime.
I'm definately going to have to get a copy of this game when it's in the $20 bin. It's too rough to be worth a price tag of $40-60 (and supposedly because there are only 5 stages in the entire game), but it's a very unique experience that should be worth a cheapy buy - even for gamers who don't like Astro Boy.
This game problably isn't going to get the recognition it deserves because of the kiddy, cult-fanish, license. But if you slipped in Superman as the protagonist in the US, it would problably sell like hotcakes.
Hopefully, even if there's not an Astro Boy 2 with a better control scheme, this won't be the last we see of the Astro Boy engine. Heck, Sonic Team could invent an original character and make this into a mid-air brawling franchise all on it's own. If they can stop focusing on Sonic or Puyo Puyo for more than 60 seconds.
So yeah, if I had to give what I've seen so far a grade - It'd be a B-. Amazing effort considering that a good Superhero game - 3-D or 2-D - is as rare as golden cow pie. If the control scheme was only slightly improved, it'd be much higher.
It's better than Sonic fucking Heroes, anyways.
And someone, for the love of God - give that boy a shirt. I know his costume is modeled after Mickey Mouse - but for Christ's sake - even Mickey's image has been reworked over the years and he typically wears more than just red undies nowadays.
An old man building a robot boy is bad enough, but when that boy runs around nearly naked - we're going into a whole creepy area there.