Alienators: Evolution Continues, a game based on the TV series (which is in turn a spin-off of the movie) is a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up from Activision. Your character, Dr. Ira Kane, must brave a mutant-infested research lab, using his blaster to turn nasty animal hybrids into single-celled weaklings. It’s your standard side-scrolling shooter, and there isn’t much more to it.

Though I’ve seen neither the series nor the movie, the game seems to capture the feel decently. What looks to be an impressive recreation of the animated show’s visual style briefly introduces the story (which isn’t too great but works) and then concludes it at the end. Mission briefings and in-game comments from your buddies at home base keep you up to date while spewing off the standard clichés you’d expect from a cheesy Saturday morning show trying to be cool. The designers took some care in the in-game artwork as well in order to keep the game in perspective. Backgrounds (though sometimes grainy) are fairly detailed, and sprites are quite colorful. It is a little dark, but this works with the atmosphere. The music also fits in well, only becoming annoying on longer levels. Though I have no way of knowing, a few might likely be from the TV series. Considering the standard gameplay, Activision may not have used the license to its fullest extent, but it definitely isn’t out of place.

The franchise’s integrity holds up well, but the game falls apart everywhere else. The game is respectable in length, but its mission objectives often seem pointless and repetitive. And while the goals are clear and signs are present that show the way, players will often roam around, unsure of where to go. Ira will often reach the exit before completing his mission, a cause for significant frustration since most enemies reappear once a little ways past off screen. And with a hero taking up 1/3 of the vertical screen, the game has issues. Though the game scrolls fairly well, there is still no avoiding the leaps of faith bellow and the surprise attacks above. The designers were probably proud of their artwork’s detail, likely leading to this design issue. Problems such as this remind us why the “big head” style became so popular in years past. But the game’s faults don’t stop there: they creep into the control as well. Like many games of this genre, Evolution’s jump feature is hard to control. There are others with worse jump sensitivity, but Evolution’s version is still loose and sometimes unwieldy, especially in platformer situations. Aiming your blaster usually works well, but players will sometimes have trouble aiming in the lower register, moreso while walking. The biggest control issue involves rotating through the weapons: this command is assigned to the Select button, facilitating an annoying halt as you move your left thumb. Meanwhile, grenades are assigned to the L button at all times, though they aren’t needed for most situations. Using L for the weapon switch and making grenades a standard weapon in the cycle would have made the game much more enjoyable. If these complaints weren’t enough, Evolution uses a password save. While it lacks ambiguity and size, any password save system is amazingly bothersome.

Even with all the problems, Alienators: Evolution Continues isn’t a horrible game and is not “painful” to play, even for the average gamer. The levels aren’t as linear as most in the field, but the gameplay is way too generic—and the side-scrolling genre has been overused anyway. Fans of Contra and similar titles might find some value in this game, but no one should expect anything remotely revolutionary.