Astro Boy sets out on another high flying adventure. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/previewArt.cfm?artid=18836 Astro Boy has been a familiar icon worldwide since the manga and television adaptation was first broadcast in Japan in 1963. The series set the standard for the animated art style which later became known as anime. Since then, Astro Boy has been seen in TV remakes, films, and video games including High Voltage's newest addition to the franchise, Astro Boy for Wii. This new Astro Boy title will follow the same story as the new animated movie, set to release October 23.
Astro Boy is a young robot who was built by the brilliant scientist, Tenma. Because of the blue power embedded inside of him, Astro Boy has superpowers such as X-Ray vision, incredible strength, and the ability to fly at blazing speeds. Astro Boy's story begins when he wanders off on an adventure in search of acceptance. Through this journey Astro Boy learns human emotions, as well as what it feels like to be human. While on his adventures, he discovers that back home his family and friends are in danger and must travel back to his home of Metro City in order to save them.
The game is very reminiscent of classic arcade style titles, combining platforming, shooting and flight-based modes all in one. Players control Astro Boy and move along a 2-D plane, set within a completely 3-D world. While traversing the levels, players must watch out for background hazards and enemies that need to be avoided on the frontal plane. Combat is a combination of melee attacks mixed with artillery. Players will be able to punch, kick, laser, slide kick, and even throw stunned enemies at one another. There are also four super attacks, based on Astro BoyÂ’s iconic powers. These attacks are the laser cannon, butt machine gun, drill attack, and refresh health. Killing enemies fills an orange bar on the top of the screen, which allows Astro Boy to perform these super powers. Depending on which difficulty setting a player chooses, the amount of max superpowers that may be queued decreases.
Generally, players will find themselves encountering two types of levels: on ground and in air. Players will see many of the locales from the movie as well as brand new levels created by High Voltage Software in the Astro Boy universe. While on land, players will be able to collect secret blueprints hidden throughout the levels. Finding these, will allow players to increase their stats: health, jets, laser, and power.
While navigating through the air players must avoid harmful obstacles while destroying enemies. As players are focused on their gameplay duties, the background will feature a sweeping full 3-D moving environment.
Astro Boy will also offer a two player drop-in-and-out cooperative mode, where the second player will control another Astro Boy. In addition to co-op play, players will be able battle head-to-head in Arena mode, where players will fight waves upon waves of mechanized enemies.
There are four difficulty setting with Hero being the hardest. These multiple skill levels are said to provide challenge for a variety of players. Players will also have fully customizable controls thanks to High Voltage Software leveraging the Quantum3 Engine to make the game.
The developers of Astro Boy have stated that they expect the title to be about six to eight hours long. Players will be able to extend their experience with the arena and multiplayer modes, as well as the multiple difficulty settings, and upgrades.
Astro Boy: The Video Game for Wii is expected to release during October 2009 to coincide with the release of the movie on October 23.
Topic: PREVIEWS: Astro Boy: The Video Game (Read 4193 times)
