Brave, gentle, and wise, Astro Boy soars high in the sky.

No matter how old you are–you’ve probably seen or heard of the amazing Astro Boy in some form or another. Armed with finger lasers and handy-dandy red rocket boots, the lovable child robot will be flying onto the silver screen later this summer. High Voltage Software, the developer of The Conduit, is working on the video game adaption of the movie, so you can take to the skies and play as the young boy who has far too much firepower for his age. At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, we were able to meet with Cameron Rains, the producer of the game, to talk about Astro Boy and see how this action hero performs on the Nintendo Wii.

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Sonic trades in his sneakers for a hot rod in Sega’s speedy arcade racer.

Sonic is trading in his trademark speedy feet for a sweet convertible in the upcoming Sonic’s Sega All-Star Racing. Coming in early 2010 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Nintendo DS, the game is an arcade racer that stars more than 15 of Sega’s popular characters from the publisher’s long history. We had a chance to check out the game on the show floor of Comic-Con 2009.

The demo at the show featured two courses and four playable characters–the titular Sonic, Aiai from Super Monkey Ball, Amy Rose from the Sonic series, and Amigo from the Samba de Amigo games. The characters will have their own special vehicles, such as Sonic’s blue hot rod or Tails’ airplane. In addition, the characters will have their own special powers that will be activated at random during races. For instance, Sonic will temporarily transform into Super Sonic; Amy will have mallets she can use to bash her opponents with; Aiai will let loose with a torrent of monkey balls; and Amigo will form impromptu conga lines that any racer will be powerless to resist joining.

The special powers will give you a power advantage on the tracks, but they won’t be the only way of getting an upper hand. There will also be on-track pick-ups, such as homing missiles, land mines, Sonic shoes (for an extra boost of speed), and shields that will protect you from harm. Of course, you’ll have your own skill on the sticks to rely on, as well as the game’s simple controls–R2 (on the PS3 controller) to accelerate; L2 to brake and drift around corners (when combined with the gas button). Pulling off drifts and midair tricks (the latter executed with the R1 and L1 buttons) will earn you turbo boost as well.

All-Star racing will have more than 15 tracks available and feature locales inspired by Sega’s many games. The courses shown off in the demo were impressively large, featuring brilliant bright colors and a good amount of variety in layout–including massive spiraling corkscrew sections and huge jumps. Sega fans might get a kick out of the more nuanced nods to Sega classics, such as the bumpers that line certain parts of the track that are straight out of classic Sega games.

Clearly aimed at both the kart-racing crowd and nostalgic Sega fans, Sonic’s Sega All-Star Racing seems like it will be a good match for kids and parents alike. Look for more on the game in the coming months ahead of its release in February 2010.

Check out the source at GameSpot

We rustle up some wildlife and go for a spin in this hands-on with Monster Racers for the Nintendo DS.

Pokemon is a hell of a drug. This may sound silly, but if you boil anything down to its simplest form so that it amounts to little more than advanced rock-scissors-paper, a thinly veiled plot, and the collection and training of mythical creatures, you’d have the very addictive Pokemon, which has carved a very profitable niche for itself. It’s no surprise, then, that while the formula has been tweaked and perfected over the years, other would-be contenders want to cash in on the success and get a share of the dollars. Enter Monster Racers.

I choose you winged lion!

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Illegal street racers make for good cops in this DS action game from Ubisoft.

In Ubisoft’s upcoming third-person action game, C.O.P The Recruit, you play as a Dan Miles, a former street racer turned crime fighter in the Criminal Overturn Program, or C.O.P. for short. That might be the worst code-name for a fictional law enforcement division in the history of the world, but C.O.P. The Recruit has plenty to be excited about, including a big city to explore, some interesting controls, and some of the best 3D graphics we’ve seen on the handheld to date. We recently had a chance to play a limited demo of the game, which is due for release late this year.

Shoot first, ask questions later in Ubisoft’s upcoming third-person action game, C.O.P. The Recruit for DS.

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We build up our miniature kingdom in this portable real-time strategy game.

The minifigs are busy at E3 this year. Lego Rock Band is bringing the iconic figures to the music scene, but that isn’t their only new game. Lego Battles is a Nintendo DS-exclusive real-time strategy game, and though it’s geared toward younger players who may not have grown up on Dune II and Command and Conquer, it has the same insatiable charm that makes the Lego-themed games so consistently fun.

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