Butt Ugly Martians: Zoom or Doom!

Developer(s): Crave
Publisher(s): Vivendi Universal Games (EU), Crave (US)
Genre: Racing
Game review links: Metacritic41/100
Game description: Race the fastest, most futuristic vehicles in the universe to the ultimate finish line! Emperor Bog is fed up with the Butt-Ugly Martians' antics. To continue their assignment on Earth, the Butt-Uglies must win the Martian Conqueror's Cup -- a heart-pounding, interstellar racing championship.

Butt Ugly Martians: Zoom or Doom!

Game general and emulation properties:
ESRB rating: E (Comic Mischief)
Software rendering only
Languages supported:
English: SLES-51060 & SLUS-20527
German: SLES-51060
French: SLES-51060
Spanish: SLES-51060
Italian: SLES-51060
Region NTSC-U:
Serial numbers: SLUS-20527
Release date: July 30, 2003
Windows Status: Playable
Linux Status: ?
Mac Status: ?
Region PAL:
Serial numbers: SLES-51060
Release date: December 6, 2002
Windows Status: ?
Linux Status: ?
Mac Status: ?


Test configurations on Windows:


Environment Configurations Comments Tester
Region OS CPU/GPU Revision Graphics Sound/Pad
NTSC-U Windows
  • Intel Core i7 @ 3.4Ghz
  • Nvidia GTX 285 768MB
1.0.0 r5452 GSdx 5442 SSE41 [29 10 2012]
  • SPU2-X 2.0.0 [21 11 2012]
  • LilyPad 0.11.0 [09 10 2012]
Gets ingame video., Almost all video and ingame graphics are blank in HW mode. Completely broken graphics in software mode.
NTSC-U Windows
  • Intel Core i7 @ 3.4Ghz
  • Nvidia GTX 285 768MB
1.1.0 r5452 GSdx 5442 SSE41 [29 10 2012]
  • SPU2-X 2.0.0 [21 11 2012]
  • LilyPad 0.11.0 [09 10 2012]
Status goes from ingame to playable., Requires SVU1 and software mode on gsdx, otherwise graphics are completely broken.
NTSC-U Windows 10
  • Intel Core i9-9900K @ 4.7Ghz
  • Nvidia RTX 2080 8GB
v1.7.0-dev-86-gd05b31e91 GSdx 20200615225226 (MSVC 19.21 AVX2/AVX2) 1.2.0
  • SPU2-X 20200615225226 2.0.0
  • LilyPad (20200615225226) 0.12.1
BIOS: USA 2.30, Without the “VU I bit Hack avoid constant recompilation (Crash Team Racing)” gamefix the game has severe graphical issues and is unplayable. The framerate is a consistent 60 fps without any stuttering. I also tested on higher resolutions, also with no framerate/stuttering issues. There is a weird repeating filter over the screen and on some textures, this is especially noticeable with higher resolutions. I do not know if this behavior is intended, or a bug. Unsure if I should rate this as playable or perfect.


Fixed Issues

No visible menu, broken graphics in-game.

  • Status: Fixed
  • Type: Serious
  • Description: The menu is invisible, but still usable. if you manage to start a race the game graphics are almost completely broken, with only some polygons close to the screen visible-
  • Workaround: This issue has been fixed as of v1.7.0-dev-90-gdacbe78f3. This can be fixed by setting VU clamping to None.

Gallery