Asterix and Obelix: Slap Them All! 2 Review

thesixthaxis.com:

The Asterix and Obelix Bande dessinée were a quintessential part of my childhood. The escapades of the indomitable Gauls and their tiny village engendered in the young version of me a lifelong love for history and for comic books. I was excited then, to play Asterix and Obelix: Slap Them All! 2. After all, graphically it looks gorgeous; like Asterix at the Olympic Games – my favourite Asterix adventure – but brought to animated interactive video game life. I should have known though, never judge a game by its looks. Unfortunately, Asterix and Obelix: Slap Them All! 2 is an absolute boresome chore to play.

Asterix and Obelix: Slap Them All! 2 is a scrolling 2D beat ‘em up, which should be a fantastic fit for the Roman bashing duo. And it is, for about five minutes. You and a friend can smash through columns of legionaries, sending the hapless soldiers flying in your wake. Quite literally flying, as punching Legionnaires out of their sandals proves one of the few highlights of the game. Frustratingly, however, that initially fun five minutes is repeated, ad nauseam and unchanged, for the remainder of the game.

Now, I’m aware this is a criticism that can be levelled at the strolling duff ‘em up genre in general, but at least recent examples have had the good grace to vary up the formula; to add alternate routes, high scores to chase, and new moves and characters to unlock. Slap Them All 2 doesn’t bother with any of that fun stuff. Nor does it bother giving its two playable characters many attack moves to unleash in the first place. A basic punch combo, a grapple, a throw, and a special or two, are all there is on offer. Curiously, there is even a disparity in the move set between Asterix and Obelix, with the poor sap lumbered