Asterix & Obelix: XXL
GAME BOY ADVANCE
As i said in the main article, dedicated portable versions of home console games were quite the norm back in the PS2 era, it was WAY before the Switch and hybrid consoles of its ilk were common places. Especially for (but not limited to) platform games, it was rarer NOT to see a Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance version of a big budget multi platform IP on consoles and PC.
Heck, even that forgotten, pre-Lords Of The Rings film trilogy Hobbit game had one.
Had to cover all possible bases, squeeze out all the possible moolah, which Activision did to the extend of almost being an art form in itself, but indeed it was common to see a version sharing the same name and cover art of a console or PC platformer game but on a GBA cartridge.
Due to the system’ limitations, this usually meant basically doing either a redux version of the home console gameplay or an entirely new game also based on that specific license and idea, but in 2D, it was reasonable and expected, to a certain degree, to have the “dimensional downgrade”.
Sometimes they tried to “compromise” and opted for the ol’ “faux 3D on budget” choice of being isometric, like the first two GBA Spyro titles and the Banjo Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge, to name the first ones that come to mind.
But this is not the case, it’s indeed beyond rare to see a full 3D game on GBA, even rarer to have a fully playable 3D platformer on Nintendo’s handheld… done by a team of… 2. Just two guys.
Yeah, unlike the original PS2/Gamecube/Windows released being developed by Etrangès Libellulès, this one was handled by VD-dev, aka a team that was closely affiliated with Atari (meaning the ex-Infogrames one), created by the aforementioned “2 guys”, programmer Fernando Velez and graphic designer Guillaimè Dubail, that would later work – among other licensed and original titles – on the GBA version of V-Rally 3, also a fairly impressive “port/rework”.
It really IS impressive, and it’s indeed a brand new game, kinda had to be due to the console limitations, but it’s also notable how little they had to completely remove in terms of features. Meaning you can still play as both Asterix and Obelix, there’s still the former Roman spy guy telling you hints and controls and the plot remains the same, the cutscenes are obviously text only but use compressed screenshots of the console versions as background/visualitation.
Heck, in some aspects they improved/had better design decisions, like how switching between Asterix and Obelix has been made useful in different ways, even without puzzles or exploration (the torches still made the cut), as now only Asterix can double jump, and only Obelix can move heavy blocks, which is also kinda necessary, again, because they couldn’t just scale down/demake the levels of the consoles games… or they could, but it would be even more insane and time consuming than just making original levels. So they did these.
Controls are also quite good, with A to jump, B to attack, L and R to toggle the camera left and right, Start to pause and Select to switch characters. There are still combo moves like in the console game but they need to be purchased first from the merchant, are executed in a similar way, and since the original games did have button mashing combat, this doesn’t feel much worse, even if something had to be lost in translation, like the grab and launching/whipping attack using a stunned enemy, making for a slightly more repetitive combat experience.
Again, even given the absolutely incredibly feat of making a “full” 3D platformer work on the GBA, some conpromises had to be made in terms of level design, so we have a good chunk of fairly short and even more linear levels, with some blocks to move, torches and power barrels to use on specific walls or obstacles, and – among other surprising things that were included from the main home console version – of course switches to activate moving platforms and get the few collectables, the occasional slide or swimming level (more on that later), the enemies on screen are a lot less and now mostly spawn from buildings (which curiously aren’t spawners, as there’s a set number of enemies per level and beating them counts towards the level’s completition rate).
My only gripe is that sometimes you can’t go reach some terrain that might look reachable but it’s not or you can land on it but you’re gonna slide off, BUT also the game uses the collectables to indicate/guide you, if there’s nothing you can see on some elevated platform… there’s no need to go there, failry logical.
Less so there being some sections where you can fall off and instantly die, especially when you have to gauge prospective a bit more than usual for some jumps, and when you also have to do this stuff while having to rush it due to the torch going out in a set number of seconds if not replenished or used. Those can be more frustrating than necessary.
It’s nothing too stunning to play in itself, i will admit, the texture warping and obvious flat backgrounds are ugly for today’s standard, the view distance it’s pretty bad, but just the fact it’s a 3D platformer on GBA and actually perfectly playable (and not really more repetitive than the original on PS2 was)… it’s a miracle in itself. Even more bizzare is that it’s based on Asterix & Obelix AND it has a jungle & bass soundtrack (even more peculiar than the original XXL soundtrack, somehow) made just for it by Allister Brimble, making for one incredibly bizarre and unique concoction.
Also, yes, it’s not technically a “full” 3D platformer, since it uses obvious 2D sprites that rotate alongside the camera to give the illusion of 3D, but most of the game is in 3D, they blended both sprites and textures in a way that gives this pseudo 3D a lot of credibility, and they did stuff that you’d think wouldn’t make the cut, like swimming, many of the puzzle/exploration elements (like the pulleys or catapults) or the boss fights, but nope, here they are, on a tiny GBA cartridge with a framerate that somehow never really drops below 30 fps.
Heck, even the way it reuses sound effects and demakes assets from the console game is nothing short of amazing, in how little was comparitively lost in the translation to a machine not really known for 3D games, let alone 3D platformers.
In terms of lenght it’s not long, you can finish it in a couple hours, 4/5 max if you go for a 100 % run, which isn’t too extreme since the levels are pretty small, and if you do get for it.. Ob-sleigh, basically a bonus game where you unlock extra swimming/slide levels (as well as some bonus costumes to unlock with the laurels you needed to unlock the “Obsleigh” levels in the first place).
The fact this game exists alone it’s a testament to the magic you could make even on limited hardware like this, and it’s actually quite decent, considering what the two developers somehow accomplished on what would usually be the “throwaway” release/version of a game made for bigger, more capable consoles and personal computers.
This is one GBA game every platformer buff and collector should have in its collection, even aside the technical wizardry performed and its status as a high-tier curiosity in the genre’s history.
You can also get in a 2-in-1 cartridge that also has Asterix & Obelix Bash Them All, a GBA exclusive Asterix & Obelix beat em up/sidescroller…. which i would really like to cover as well, but time is a-lacking, for now.
Wise Cafe (International) 