Ant Bully (Game Boy Advance) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Midway has been out of the handheld market for some time now but, as with many publishers, they've had to re-shift their platform focus in this ever-changing economic climate. Of course we'll all benefit from this and in addition to The Ant Bully they plan to release yet another feature length CGI, Happy Feet on both the DS and GBA. In case you didn't know The Ant Bully is one of the many feature length CGI movies, which will be hitting cinemas this year and features a young boy, named Lucas, who is magically shrunk down to ant size after bullying an innocent ant colony. What happens next? Does he get back to normal size? Is the game any good? Read on and see...

Gameplay

After narrowly escaping being 'pulled apart' by the ant colony you are taken on as an apprentice in order to prove your worth. This takes place over ten very different, and lengthy missions, which will fully test your skills. One of the ant leaders delivers each of these although you will have to find them first. Thankfully there's a rather handy radar in the corner of your screen and this, along with the overhead map, will stop you from getting lost more often than not. The first skills to be tested are your combat abilities so it's important that you discover the weak points on some of the many insects who will do their best to sap your energies. Another aspect of ant life you'll have to grasp quite quickly is puzzle solving and this generally involves pushing blocks and utilizing your ability to 'dash' over water. Later on in the game you will need to befriend other ants and utilize their skills. Leaves, for example, can be lifted by a single ant in order to create a bridge whilst 3 ants can not only push large, heavy blocks but they an also group together to form a rather useful bridge. While some of this may sound a little complicated there's always help at hand and given that the whole thing saves automatically after each level there's even less for you to concern yourself with. A movie tie-in wouldn't be complete without collectables though and The Ant Bully has its fair share of them from Alka Roots that can be traded with ReFlux for gifts, to Honeydew to replace your health. There are also the elusive Fire Crystals that unlock extras in the options menu once you've amassed enough, but I'll leave that up to you to discover.

Controls

Given the number of moves you can actually make during the game the control could have been a weak point whereas in actual fact it's one of the stronger elements of the game so controlling your main character (or indeed a group of ants) never becomes overwhelming.

Graphics

Visually the game is very average with some areas looking suspiciously GameBoy Colorish. Problems also occur when there's a little too much going on in your current area with the screen almost juddering to a halt, which really is inexcusable for a game of this simplicity. There are some highlights although strangely these are to be found in the intro and main interface, which is filled out in a kind of cave painting style.

Sound

Musically it's all a little repetitive really and some of the tunes that play in the background during some of the boss battles will really start to grate. The sound effects are almost non-existent and don't expect any samples from the movie either.

Final comments

It does appear that some reviewers have been a little unfair with The Ant Bully. While it's by no means original nor even the best example of its genre, it's not a bad game. What I would say is that it's definitely aimed towards they younger GBA owner and as a result others are likely to find it rather dull and over in no time at all. In the right hands though this is an enjoyable action adventure with a variety of challenging, yet achievable, puzzle elements and if you did happen to enjoy the movie, there's much to celebrate here.

Pro: Challenging and Enjoyable for Pre-Teens.
Con: Too Much Text, Simple Sound and Visuals.
Final score: 6.6

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