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AQUAMAN: BATTLE FOR ATLANTIS (GC)
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Publisher: TDK Mediactive.
Developer: Lucky Chicken Games. Released: July 2003 (US). Genre: Beat 'em up. Posted 6th February 2025. By Tom Clare © 2025 |
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Who’s the superhero you turn to when Spider-Man’s already starring in a bunch of games, Batman’s license lies elsewhere, and Superman is still persona non grata because everyone remembers how bad his N64 outing was? For TDK, the answer was Aquaman. As popular culture has so often reminded us, however, Aquaman sucks. Games like Battle for Atlantis likely didn’t help this perception. It was left to Lucky Chicken Games (who had primarily focused on toy car tie-ins) to chisel out this subterranean action game. It would never be released outside of North America, with those unlucky enough to have played it likely wishing it hadn’t come out over there, either.
Battle for Atlantis tells a straightforward story through static, comic-book style panes, deciding to forego voicing, animated cut-scenes, and any semblance of personality. The titular hero battles the likes of Black Manta and Lava Lord, as it becomes clear that Atlantis is under threat from a greater force, one who has orchestrated a sequence of attacks from different factions to weaken Aquaman. The adventure plays out across 21 levels, the majority of which are beat ‘em up stages, interspersed with a smattering of ship combat.
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The battles are wooden and dull, whilst Atlantis is dingy and empty-feeling
By some distance, the best part of BFA is its shooting levels. Modelled like an underwater Rogue Leader, these missions feature some genuinely fun dogfights, with allies and enemies swooping around you and the action maintaining a smooth frame rate. Your vessel feels solid and manoeuvrable, with rapid-fire and missile options. For one mission, the player must take down the huge Leviathan ship by surgically chipping away at its turrets and shield generators. Later, you’re tasked with blasting the shackles restraining a sea dragon, and these levels are surprisingly involved. However, they contribute to a substantial difficulty imbalance across the game, with the absurd ease of the early beat ‘em up sections contrasting sharply with some seriously challenging shooting sequences.
It’s a shame Lucky Chicken formed the lion’s share of the game around hand-to-hand combat, because it’s abject. When battles are instigated, the action shifts clumsily to a 2.5D perspective where Aquaman faces an opponent, fighter-style, with a limited capacity to circle them. As well as sluggish controls and hits that land with all the weight of a pillow fight, you’ll have to contend with enemies approaching you from behind. Though it is possible to switch targets, this only results in turning your back to one you’ve already engaged, making you instantly vulnerable. Foes frequently employ blocking tactics, making liberal use of double-team manoeuvres through a grab-and-hold method that causes plenty of frustration.
It’s a shame Lucky Chicken formed the lion’s share of the game around hand-to-hand combat, because it’s abject. When battles are instigated, the action shifts clumsily to a 2.5D perspective where Aquaman faces an opponent, fighter-style, with a limited capacity to circle them. As well as sluggish controls and hits that land with all the weight of a pillow fight, you’ll have to contend with enemies approaching you from behind. Though it is possible to switch targets, this only results in turning your back to one you’ve already engaged, making you instantly vulnerable. Foes frequently employ blocking tactics, making liberal use of double-team manoeuvres through a grab-and-hold method that causes plenty of frustration.
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I’ve heard the game defended as “playable”, but it’s important to make a distinction between something that functions, which Aquaman just about does, and one that generates some level of enjoyment, which this GameCube title typically doesn’t. Nearly all the levels look the same, and nearly all of them play the same, too. Seemingly, there’s a broad range of objectives: defending structures, freeing Atlantean hostages, rescuing allies or gaining access to a villain’s base. Regardless of the goal, however, the levels all follow the same dreary pattern: Aquaman swimming towards groups of baddies, fighting them, and when they’ve all been beaten, the level usually ends. There’s a modest selection of moves, though nothing especially fun or impressive, and for the most part, hammering out a few quick-fire combos seems more effective than trying anything more tactical. Blocking, for instance, is a waste of time, as most enemies breach this defence by grabbing Aquaman. He can call on the assistance of a dolphin or shark to perform an instant-kill, an unintentionally amusing special move that involves them swimming straight into the victim and rendering them dead.
Not to forget, there’s also the dubious pleasure of swimming around some of the most depressingly featureless, dingy landscapes you’ll ever see in a 3D adventure. With no interactivity outside of fist fights and perpetual, murky darkness enveloping the hero everywhere he goes, the few instances of adventurous architecture are squandered. The eye is instead drawn to the basic-looking hero and henchmen whose chunky character designs and ropey animations appear almost comically low-fi. The music has cinematic undertones, but no real focus or connection to the gameplay. On balance, it needed more energy to liven up what is for the most part a very dull game, where even the boss battles feel unexciting and are strangely without spectacle.
Not to forget, there’s also the dubious pleasure of swimming around some of the most depressingly featureless, dingy landscapes you’ll ever see in a 3D adventure. With no interactivity outside of fist fights and perpetual, murky darkness enveloping the hero everywhere he goes, the few instances of adventurous architecture are squandered. The eye is instead drawn to the basic-looking hero and henchmen whose chunky character designs and ropey animations appear almost comically low-fi. The music has cinematic undertones, but no real focus or connection to the gameplay. On balance, it needed more energy to liven up what is for the most part a very dull game, where even the boss battles feel unexciting and are strangely without spectacle.
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The shooting bits provide the liveliest moments, though their difficulty is erratic
One of the most reliable metrics for the success of a superhero game is: how ‘super’ does it make the player feel? As you’ve likely already guessed, the answer to that in Aquaman’s case is: not at all. The fighting is dire, the locations non-entities and the story instantly forgettable. Only a couple of major difficulty spikes stand in the way of players finishing the game in 3-4 hours. Completion unlocks Classic Aquaman, a slightly less effective version of the character you’ve just dragged through the game. Complete it again with Classic Aquaman, and you get to play as Black Manta and Tempest. This feels like a rather arbitrary factor, however. Suffering through the game once felt like a waste of time. Playing it three times would be tantamount to madness. Most players, upon realising the gameplay never evolves from its initial sorry state, likely will not persevere beyond a handful of levels. Aquaman’s gaming revival sinks without a trace.
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VERDICT"Dire combat, boring levels and some thoroughly low-rent production values sink Aquaman's attempted revival. The shooting levels provide a brief (and relative) highlight, but on the whole, Battle for Atlantis is really poor." OVERALL: 3/10 |
OTHER SUPERHERO GAMES REVIEWED
Batman: The Movie (1990, GX4000)
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Spider-Man (2018, PlayStation 4)
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