Bruce Von Stiers

What do Nickelodeon and Vivendi Universal Publishing have in common? The Butt-Ugly Martians. Vivendi recently put out a Game Boy Advance console game based on the popular animated Nickelodeon series. They have also released a separate game for the PC. This game is called Butt-Ugly Martians: Martian Boot Camp. It is a fun and entertaining obstacle course game for boys and girls ages 6 and up.

There are eight different challenging obstacle courses in the game. Some are simple while others take a certain amount of skill. A player can choose their skill level as well.

The storyline for this game is that the commander of the Martians, Emperor Bog, thinks that his troops are a little soft. So he sends them off to Martian Boo Camp under the direction of Dr. Damage. This guy has taken the Camp obstacle course and made it into his own twisted version of a fun time. He will whip these Butt-Uglies back in shape in no time. These Martians are B. Bop-A-Luna, 2 T-Fru-T and Dr-Wah Diddy.

In the Energy Field Maze, your Martians will have to fly a ship through as many mazes as possible before the time cycle ends. Avoid Worm Holes and Maze bots. There are things called Time-Its that you have to pass by at exactly the right time in order not to get zapped.

Rush Hour isn’t like the movie, but is a tad bit like moving down a freeway on the way home from work or the mall. Zip your One Martian Air Bike over and under obstacles to get to the end of the course before time runs out. There is a damage meter that keeps track of how banged up your OMAB gets.

There is a Butt Kicking Challenge in both the third and sixth obstacle courses. Your Martian will fight it out, arcade style, with an enemy alien. There are Normal Attacks, Cool Combos and Special Attacks. Kick some alien butt just like in Marvel vs. Capcom or one of the other arcade style fighting games.

Feeling like you need a little break? Then play Rinko’s Match Game. Try to match pictures of characters from one window to the ones on the other side. Rinko will either give you points or take some away from the score you have accumulated.

That brings up something else. Completing each obstacle course gives you points .How well you did on the course determines the amount of points that are awarded.

In a take off of Galaga the next obstacle course is called Space Fight. Shoot fighters from the alien ship and then take out the blasters from the mother ship of the aliens. The obstacle that follows is a Breakout type of game called The Great Wall of Humanga. And there is an obstacle that is like Asteroids.

Butt-Ugly Martians: Martian Boot Camp will provide hours of fun for young children. Whereas parents might not appreciate the name given to the Martians, they surely won’t object to the entertainment that their children will have while playing this game.

The obstacle courses aren’t overly challenging but do require a little bit of skill. An older kid might get bored easily but a younger one will have fun trying to get as many points as possible.

Butt-Ugly Martians: Martian Boot Camp is out in stores now. This might be a perfect time to pick up that Christmas gift for your favorite niece or nephew.