The Mini Bros. are scattered and Zooligans are threatening to overrun and terrorize the universe. This looks like a job for Blender, the animalman, and his Cosmic Keepers.

Blender Bros., an Infogrames release for the Game Boy Advance, is a multilevel adventure featuring a wonderful cast of characters, a decent if not simple puzzles and foes ­ all of which is somewhat spoiled by some game-play problems.

This is a game that pits Zooligans against the Cosmos Keepers. The game involves a species known as animalmen, which is sort of a combination of animal and human. Blender is a dog animalman.

As the story goes, humans have settled across the universe, where they peacefully co-exist with the animalmen they helped create. However, an anti-human group of animalmen, known as the Zooligans has emerged and threatens the universe. Thus were born the Cosmo Keepers, the force to counter the Zooligans.

Game features for Blender Bros. include 20 Mini Bros. to find, scattered across seven planets ­ each with multiple levels and environments. While the Mini Bros. each have special powers which can be linked to Blender’s, they can also be enhanced. In the basement of the Cosmo Keepers home is a shop. Blender can buy music CDs, which when played may enhance attributes of certain Mini Bros. There is also a mini game room, which features three games that can be played. If you are successful in the arcade games, which are primarily racing contests, you can win crystals. Fifty crystals can be turned in to increase Blender’s health points.

The controls of the game are kept very simple. The D-pad controls movement, the A button is to advance text or jump, the B button is for actions, the L button is used to activate Blender’s super hearing (and give you an indication which direction to head in), and the R button uses the accompanying Mini Bros.’ special ability.

As you begin each mission, you can select one of the Mini Bros. you have found to accompany you. Each has a unique talent. For example, if you are to explore the deep passages beneath Shelltarl, you may want the Mini Bros. Neon with you. Neon can light up dark rooms.

The sound of this game is somewhat average for the genre. Yes, there are several musical options, but the sound effects are what you would expect.

The game does a nice job in trying to emulate a three-dimensional look with a gradient fade on the background graphics, but this is very much a two-dimensional world. The animations are very good, and the rendering is lush and colorful. The characters are amusing and well designed.

Which brings up the problem of the gameplay and some of the problems of the game. On Shelltarl, you (as Blender) are tasked with exploring the underground passages, activating three missile silos to stop a meteorite that is approaching the planet. In order to do so, you will have to use elevators and move through darkened rooms, which are like doorways to other sections of the passages. The problems encountered were when Blender entered the doorway, and instead of being able to move through the interceding passageway, was immediately returned to the room he had just left. Or he would enter a room, jump to a ledge above and the screen would fade as he exited back from whence he had come.

Multiple attempts to move through the passage yielded the same results, though not always in the same area ­ which would indicate that this wasn’t a trap, but a flaw in the game structure. Exiting the game and restarting the level was the only way to get Blender through the passage. It got very old, very fast.

Restarting the game yielded another discovery ­ and that was the linear nature of the game. You can quickly retrace steps to get to the same spot where you exited.

Blender Bros. is otherwise a nice little diversion. It doesn’t offer anything that is overtly challenging, but the graphical elements are entertaining.

This game is rated for Everyone.

Gameplay: 6
Having to retrace steps because of impassable ­ at the moment - passages can introduce a major amount of frustration within the game. The environments, however, are quite big and fun to explore.

Graphics: 7.5
The animation and graphical elements are well done. The gradient fade used to simulate a three-dimensional environment adds a nice element to the game.

Sound: 7
This is merely average.

Difficulty: Easy
The controls are kept simple and the game structure is easy to understand and play through. There are some challenges, but nothing that poses major problems for experienced or novice players.

Concept: 7
The idea is nice, and the game does have a very good array of options ­ which include the Shop and Mini Games areas.

Multiplayer: N/A
This game will support multiple players in Mini Game mode through a Game Link cable.

Overall: 6.8
It may look good, but the inherent problems and linear gameplay aren’t easy to look around when trying to score the game. Blender Bros. has some nice qualities, but there are better games within the arcade/adventure genre.