GENRE
	Action
	DEVELOPER
	High Voltage Software
	PUBLISHER
	D3Publisher
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	No
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard scoring criteria.

With the release of the new Astro Boy movie, it was only a matter of time until a video game adaptation appeared. Developed by High Voltage Software, this game attempts to be a good companion to the movie. Unfortunately, the repetitive nature and a couple of technical problems ruin any chances of this game being great.

Astro Boy: The Video Game follows the movie's story pretty closely. Players are put in the role of Astro, a robot replacement for Dr. Tenma's son Toby, who was tragically killed by a robot defense project gone awry. Unfortunately, Astro just serves to remind Dr. Tenma of what he's lost, so the little robot sets off to find his place in the world. The game tells this story through many cutscenes at the beginning and end of levels. While the game's opening and closing cutscenes are taken directly from the film, every other cutscene is done with the in-game engine. This in itself is not a bad thing, but the lip syncing is possibly some of the worst to ever be put into a video game. It's actually kind of reminiscent of a Godzilla movie, which unfortunately could not have been what High Voltage was going for. The voice acting itself in the cutscenes isn't bad, since it features the voices of the movie's stars, but the lip syncing is so terrible that it detracts from the excellent line delivery.

The game also includes some voice acting during the stages. Every time players defeat an enemy robot in the brawling stages, a sound clip is played. Unfortunately, there are only about three different clips for each speaking enemy type and these clips get old incredibly fast. Players can only hear an exploding robot yell "I'm blue screening" so many times before it loses its humor. It would have really been nice to include a more diverse selection of clips, as the limited selection only reinforces the repetitive nature of the game, and is it ever repetitive.

An Astro Boy aerial combat stage.

The gameplay is split into two different types: a side-scrolling brawler like Double Dragon and a left-to-right-scrolling shmup a la Gradius. Both types of gameplay are executed well and fit with the source material, but both also play it incredibly safe, bringing nothing new to their respective genres. Also unhelpful is the execution of these gameplay types end up being the same thing repeated over and over. While the locations change, and Astro can slowly become more powerful thanks to hidden upgrades, the gameplay ends up being "walk/fly left to right and beat up/shoot robots." There are relatively few exceptions to this rule. Seeing some more effort into expanding the genre would have been nice, but the gameplay never rises above a licensed movie adaptation.

An Astro Boy side-scrolling stage.

Astro Boy: The Video Game is not a bad game. It's also not a good game. The game is a faithful adaptation of the movie, but it plays it too safely, sticking with the same mechanics that have been used in countless beat-em-ups in the past. Add in the poor cutscene quality and this game will only serve to anger fans of the franchise-- the audience this game is intended for. Astro Boy wants to be the robot you love, but he needs to keep looking for his place in the gaming world.

4.6/10