As the Game Boy Advance's life peters out, so do its upcoming games. In its final days of circulation, one would think developers would go all out to produce stellar efforts for the system. Unfortunately, the development team squandered the opportunity to do something imaginative with Arthur and the Invisibles. Add this one to the pile of GBA failures -- in fact, put it near the top.

Players take control of Arthur, a small kid who becomes even smaller after being transformed into a gnome-ish character called a Minimoy. Soon, he meets two additional Minimoys, a warrior princess named Selenia and her troublesome but well-intending brother Betameche. Players switch off between these three characters using each of their special talents. Selenia, for example, knocks enemies out of the way with punches, while Betameche launches projectile attacks to activate switches and move objects.

The game attempts to copy a play style first introduced in Blizzard's old strategy game The Lost Vikings, where players switch off between three Vikings with their own individual skills. However, Arthur and the Invisibles doesn't compare to that 15 year old classic. It runs at a very tiring pace, with the characters moving so slowly that a snail could lap them. This will easily bore those who simply want to go running through a level. Even worse, the lack of save points really hurt the game. Players will advance very far, then accidentally fall into a pit and have to restart the entire level.

Furthermore, Arthur and the Invisibles' imaginative movie world never comes to sparkling life. The graphics look fuzzy and unfinished, and those searching for stunning video clips from the film will be disappointed to find stale still-screens. The backdrops fail to expand the movie's universe and affect item interaction. For instance, can this branch be grabbed or not? No one knows.

Invisibles' poor design results in numerous deaths and the music doesn't fare any better, as it consists of repeating tracks.

Arthur and the Invisibles had a big opportunity to be one of the better GBA games. Instead, this release not only disgraces the system but also the license. Leave it on the store shelf and go find Lost Vikings instead.

Final Score: 3 (out of 10)

Related Links

Atari

Our Final ScoreVery Bad

What did you think of this game? Post Your Own Review