Asterix and Obelix are actually an incredibly old franchise dating back to the late 1950's. Created by French comic book artists René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, the duo is quite well known in Europe and has appeared in over 30 comics which have translated into well over 100 languages. Despite their huge success in Europe, the duo has made but a blip on the radar over here in the US. Unfortunately, their newest adventure, Asterix and Obelix: Kick Buttix, will not help their exposure much.

In Kick Buttix, Julius Caesar pulls a fast one on the pair. While they are away from the town, Caesar takes everyone in the town captive. Being the heroes that they are, Asterix and Obelix set out to save their townspeople. Kick Buttix is a pretty low budget action adventure game that really kept me entertained. Almost immediately, I made a connection with the characters, and they felt like they had been highly refined, no doubt due to the fact that they are close to 50 years old.

Many people will probably find the action less than thrilling since its basic recipe consists of: kill all enemies, solve a simple puzzle, and repeat. My addiction to new characters and fresh new fun kept me into it, but the repetitive nature of the game will get old very fast for the average person.

Kick Buttix sports a pretty run of the mill graphics engine. It didn't leave my jaw on the floor, but I wasn't squinting to figure out what that cluster of pixels was. There was nothing overly impressive or bad about it-it was just very average.

The controls are quite simple with basic jump and attack buttons. R1 will sick your dog, Dogmatix, after Roman soldiers. After he bites them in the butt, they are off-guard for a moment, so he is quite handy for soldiers that like to block. L1 will grab a Roman and perform a devastating special move after your power meter has been filled up. This meter fills up as you attack and kill soldiers and is very helpful when large numbers of enemies are around, as the attacks have a splash damage of sorts that will kill nearby enemies.

Since the game sports two main heroes, you would expect that you get to play as both characters. The lack of a button to switch characters left me puzzled at first. There are two ways you can switch to the other character in your party, and neither one gives you free reign. There are certain aspects of a level where you will need Obelix to pull Asterix on a suspended platform, or cases where Obelix needs to bust through a wall. These are the primary points where you will make use of the plump sidekick. There are some action spots where Obelix gets used, and he makes quick work of the Roman soldiers since he is quite strong. I think the game would have been vastly improved had you been able to switch between characters on the fly.

For a budget title, I was highly surprised by Kick Buttix. I figured I would get maybe an hour of fun out of it, but I played the game and enjoyed myself far longer than that. The game might seem like it is quite light on depth, and it is. You can't expect everything to be packed into a game and still have it carry a budget price. In the end, Asterix and Obelix: Kick Buttix is an enjoyable action game that will probably appeal more to children or people familiar with the duo. Most people can probably pass over this one safely, but if you are looking for something to keep you entertained through a short gaming lull, then Kick Buttix might be what you are looking for.

Nov 30, 2004 | 0 comments
Chris Rasco