Bruce Von Stiers

There is an animated program that is very popular right now. It features some Martians who are, well, just plain Butt Ugly. As a matter of fact, that is the name of their show; Butt-Ugly Martians. These guys are so popular that Vivendi Universal Games has come out with a couple of games featuring them. One of these games is for Game Boy Advance and is called Butt-Ugly Martians: B.K.M. Battles. The B.K.M. stands for Butt Kicking Mode.

The premise for this game is that a galactic marauder named Emperor Bog is wanting to conquer Earth. He is going to use an army of robots to get the job done. The gang known as the Butt-Ugly Martians will have to stop Bog and his minions before they are successful in making Earth their playground. But, along with fighting the robots, the Martians will have to watch out for Stoat Muldoon. This alien hunter is dedicated to eradicating all “alien scum.”

The game has 28 levels that are stretched over seven different worlds. For the math whizzes out there, that breaks down to 4 levels per world. At the end of each level there will be a Boss to take care of. This is a scrolling platform game.

Along the way in the game, you will need to find some color coded keys. These keys unlock force fields and let you to move to other parts of the current level. There are also a whole bunch of power-ups that will help you out. These include temporary invisibility, damage shields, speed boosts and upgrades to both firepower and defenses.

You can also switch between the different characters to play as. There is 2-T-Fru-T, the Tech Commando, Do-Wah Diddy, the kind hearted, sensitive type of Martian. And then there is the leader of the Martians, B.Bop-A-Luna.

The worlds in B.K.M. Battles are Aquatica, Magma, Silicon City, Koo Foo Ship, Arbera, Asteroid Base and Mechtropolis. Aquatica takes place under water and you will have some funky high tech baddies to fight off in Silicon City.

Things to avoid in the game are cannons that fire things and whirlwinds that suck you up. The bosses in the game have weapons like the Karch Twins nose plasma and the laser shooting eyes of Klaktor.

B.K.M. Battles is a fun fighting game for players who want a little action without a lot of excess violence. These Martians are so ugly they end up being cute. The levels are fairly easy to get through but the bosses can be a little tough.

Butt-Ugly Martians: B.K.M. Battles can be found at retailers like Toys-R-Us, Target and Best Buy. You can also order it through the Butt-Ugly Martians game web site at www.buttuglygames.com.