Trouble is brewing in the city. The bad guys, led by General Malaise, have determined that they cannot overcome the stalwart and heroic duo or Ozzy and Drix alone, and under the guidance of General Malaise, have teamed together.

Ozzy and Drix? The characters from the somewhat irreverent Ozzy & Drix show on the Kids’ WB television network? The breakout characters from the feature film Osmosis Jones? Yep, that would be them.

Midway, Warner Brothers Interactive and Raylight Studios have teamed up to bring the duo to the Game Boy Advance in a side-scrolling arcade adventure, full of power-ups, mazes and attempted wit. Attempted? Well, let’s just say that some of the humor is a little flat. The game tries to push off the funny lines, but aside from scrolling past quickly, the comedy seems forced and without the banter of the lead characters to sustain it, it loses its edge and bogs down.

Get passed that and you have a game that looks good and is relatively easy to play.

For those who don’t know, the story takes place in the body of a 13-year-old boy named Hector Cruz. Ozzy is a white blood cell cop and Drix is an over-the-counter cold pill. They have been injected into the body of Hector (known as the city of Hector) by a mosquito and have found a variety of maladies (the bad guys) out to infect and damage the city.

As the GBA story opens, Ozzy and Drix are on their way to see the mayor of the City of Hector when they discover that the police outside of the nerve center seem to be zombies. Hmm, perhaps this is a portend of things to come. Drix says to leave the job to him, and therein begins a platform-hopping exercise that is typical of the genre.

However, Ozzy & Drix is not just about platform hopping. Players will also get to indulge themselves in driving levels and first-person shooter levels.

When it comes to the overall look of the game, Ozzy & Drix is very good. The game is somewhat two-dimensional, but the cartoon landscapes are rich and the animation is very good.

The control elements are simplified and only encompass the directional pad and the A and B buttons. Anyone can get into this game quickly. The sound elements consist of a decent musical score, and a lot of standard and tinny sound effects.

Ozzy & Drix has its moments, to be sure. But overall, this is a pretty standard game that is easy to get into, enjoyable, but offers nothing that is very unique. That the developers gave players a range of different levels is terrific. That alone makes this a game worth checking out. Players are not limited to endless platform-hopping levels, but get a variety, which makes the game fun.

This game is rated for Everyone but contains comic mischief and mild violence.

Gameplay: 7.2

The game is a side-scrolling arcade vehicle with interchangeable lead characters and levels that must be traversed to advance the game. This is pretty typical of the genre, and in that regard, this game offers nothing new.

Graphics: 7.5

The cartoon settings are lush and well done. This is one of the aspects of this program that really stands out.

Sound: 6.9

The game has a decent musical score, which plays over and over and over. The sound effects are tinny and typical of so many that the game can be played with the sound off with little trouble.

Difficulty: Easy

The game does feature several control schemes for platform hopping, driving and the first-person shooter aspect. But all of the controls are reduced to the D-pad for directions and A and B buttons. In terms of difficulty, this is a one-size-fits-all game.

Concept: 6.9

This game is a licensed vehicle and while it tries to maintain the atmosphere of the cartoon series, as a game it is treading familiar ground. There is little new here aside from allowing players three areas of play – platform, driving and shooter.

Overall: 7

While typical and somewhat average, Ozzy & Drix is a solid game experience. Sure, the humor is a little flat because of the restrictions of the GBA, but the graphics are very well done, and players will have no trouble jumping in and playing.