Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! and Welcome to My Underground Lair!
Two connected Austin Powers minigame collections for Game Boy Color.
Rockstar Games and/or New Line Cinema · via Wikipedia: Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! and Welcome to My Underground Lair! · Fair use
Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! and Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair! are two minigame-based action titles tied to the Austin Powers film series. Tarantula Studios handled development, while Rockstar Games published them for the Game Boy Color. Both launched on the same day: September 28, 2000, in North America, and November 3, 2000, in Europe. The games can link together, with Oh, Behave! putting players in control of Austin Powers and Welcome to My Underground Lair! casting them as Dr. Evil.
Critics largely panned both games.
In Oh, Behave!, the main attraction is a side-scrolling platformer called International Man in a Platform Game. Players guide Austin Powers over obstacles and through enemies to reach the end of each stage. Other minigames include Mojo Maze, a Pac-Man-style maze chase; Domination, a board game similar to Othello where players flip opponents' chips to change their color; and a timed rock-paper-scissors match against a chosen villain from the films, with adjustable difficulty.
Welcome to My Underground Lair! shares Mojo Maze, Domination, and the rock-paper-scissors game. It also features 'Kin'-Evil, a motorbike racing game whose name winks at Evel Knievel. IGN noted this minigame resembles Evel Knievel, another Game Boy Color title from Tarantula Studios and Rockstar Games. A desktop computer mode offers customizable backgrounds, themes, sounds, and screensavers, plus a movie clip, a calculator, and simulated internet content about the Austin Powers films and actors.
Two additional games, Yeah, Baby, Yeah! and Why Make Millions...?, were planned but never released. Prototypes of both surfaced in the 2020 Nintendo data leak.
Reception was harsh. IGN's Chris Carle called Oh, Behave! bad and rated Welcome to My Underground Lair! 3 out of 10, describing it as "derivative and boring" and a "shameless abuse of a license." He added, "Let's put it this way: I'd rather drink what's in the beaker than play this game for an extended period of time." The Tampa Bay Times gave both games an F. Its reviewer said of Welcome to My Underground Lair!, "I'd take it, but only for $1 million." Robb Guido of the same paper gave Oh, Behave! an F, stating, "I love Austin Powers as much as anybody, but that's not enough to make me like this non-game." Welcome to My Underground Lair! also received an F for lacking gameplay.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! / Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair!
- Italic Title
- no
- Developer
- Tarantula Studios
- Publisher
- Rockstar Games
- Platforms
- Game Boy Color
- Released
- NA · 18 September 2000 · EU · 3 November 2000
- Genre
- Action
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! includes several minigames, the largest being International Man in a Platform Game, a side-scrolling adventure where the player controls Austin Powers, climbing obstacles and dispatching foes to reach the end of each level. Other minigames are Mojo Maze, a Pac-Man-style maze game; Domination, a board game similar to Othello where players flip chips to change their color; and a timed rock-paper-scissors game against a villain from the film series, with selectable villain and difficulty. Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair! features Mojo Maze, Domination, a digitized rock-paper-scissors game, and 'Kin'-Evil, a motorbike racing game whose name plays on Evel Knievel. IGN noted that 'Kin'-Evil resembles Evel Knievel, another Game Boy Color game by Tarantula Studios and Rockstar Games. Welcome to My Underground Lair! also includes a desktop computer mode with customizable backgrounds, themes, sounds, screensavers, a movie clip, a calculator, and simulated Internet with information on the Austin Powers films and actors.
Reader's Guide
Both games were met with generally negative reception from critics. IGN writer Chris Carle found Oh, Behave! to be bad and rated Welcome to My Underground Lair! 3 out of 10, calling it 'derivative and boring' and a 'shameless abuse of a license'. The Tampa Bay Times gave both games an F, with one reviewer stating of Welcome to My Underground Lair!, 'I'd take it, but only for $1 million.' However, Total Game Boy gave Oh, Behave! a 97% positive review, featuring it on the cover of its October 2000 issue and calling it 'the most smashing idea since bread was put into a slicer and sold.' Two additional games in the series, Yeah, Baby, Yeah! and Why Make Millions...?, were planned but never released; prototypes were later discovered as part of the 2020 Nintendo data leak. The games remain notable as early Rockstar Games titles and as a rare example of a licensed game pair with interconnectivity.
Did You Know?
- The two games can connect to one another, with Oh, Behave! starring Austin Powers and Welcome to My Underground Lair! starring Dr. Evil.
- Welcome to My Underground Lair! includes a desktop computer mode with a calculator, screensavers, and simulated Internet.
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