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| It's kind of
funny that I'd end up liking the Game Boy Advance as much as I do,
when you consider my opinion of the previous Game Boy systems.
I enjoyed the original system at first, but around the time I bought
my Genesis I started to notice just how weak both the Game Boy's
hardware and software really were. Super Mario Land is a
perfect example, being far inferior to its much older NES
counterpart and hideously ugly thanks to the system's
limitations. Even when the games got better, I wasn't that
interested in the Game Boy... I felt that Nintendo's customers
deserved something a little more, well, advanced than what they were
getting.
Nevertheless, the Game Boy was hugely popular for many years, and Nintendo didn't really think about a real upgrade until 1998, when game magazines spilled the beans about Project Atlantis. This system was supposed to be a huge step up from the wimpy, wimpy, wimpy Game Boy... but what we actually got in 1999 was the underwhelming Game Boy Color. It was twice as fast as the original system, and true to its name, it offered color output. Unfortunately, the hardware was still very limited, and Nintendo's most popular games didn't take full advantage of its color display. To add to the disappointment, there were a lot of great titles shown for the Game Boy Color at 1999's Electronics Entertainment Expo, but a few months after its launch the console was drowned in a flood of terrible games with equally lousy licenses. Defying all logic, the Game Boy Color was exceptionally popular, crushing its only competitor the Neo-Geo Pocket without even acknowledging its existence. Fortunately, Nintendo showed more mercy to its customers than it had SNK, retiring the wretched Game Boy Color in a couple of years rather than forcing players to put up with another substandard portable for almost a decade. Its replacement was the Game Boy Advance, exactly the system I expected the Game Boy Color to be. People who refer to the Game Boy Advance as a handheld Super NES are half right... it's got a similar graphics processor, so its games are just as bright and detailed, but it's much faster, so titles like Doom and Street Fighter Alpha, which the Super NES couldn't quite handle, are no problem for the Game Boy Advance. Its only flaw, it seems, is the inflexible screen which not only makes it tough to see in most lighting conditions, but prevents you from resolving the problem with a reflective coating that mirrors any lights you shine directly on it. The best solution I've found is playing the system in a public place with flourescent lights. That way, everything's evenly lit and the lights are too far above you to reflect from the screen. You can also play the games on an emulator (Visual Boy Advance is my favorite one so far), or buy a special adaptor for your system that lets you hook it up to a television set. Whatever you do, you're not going to want to miss some of the software available for the Game Boy Advance! Here's a list of brief reviews that should help you pick out the games you'll enjoy most. THE GAME RATING SYSTEM...
(Disclaimer: Every game reviewed on this page is for the Game Boy Advance, and only the Game Boy Advance. These pictures are intended to illustrate the quality of each game reviewed. The Gameroom Blitz will not assume responsibility for damage done to any Game Boy Advance games you try to force into your game.com. If you were dumb enough to buy a game.com in the first place, that's your problem.)
FRESH ADDITIONS
Who would have ever guessed twenty five years ago that gamers of the future would have enough room in their pockets for six arcade hits, with just enough space left over for a flashy trivia challenge? Well, we know now what our poor, deprived ancestors didn't know then, thanks to Atari Anniversary Advance. The Game Boy Advance doesn't have the muscle to fully emulate the hardware of coin-ops like Tempest and Centipede, but Digital Eclipse came up with a brilliant compromise, which they've dubbed meta-emulation. The graphics and sound are all handled natively, taking stress off the system's sluggish processor, but the basic routines that handle character AI and movement are preserved, resulting in a stunningly faithful arcade experience. Whether you're blasting flippers and spikers in a series of tubes (not a dump truck), or clearing the sky of missiles launched by a rival superpower, you'll feel like there's a tiny window to the past in your hands. Just remember to bring along some headphones! You won't hear the rumbling explosions in Asteroids and Battlezone without them.
I'd love to spend the entirety of this review telling you how much I hate the anatomically-correct-but-not-really-since-he's-a-frog star of this game, but I can't. That's mostly because that would leave me with less time to express my raging contempt for all the OTHER idiotic characters in Crazy Frog Racing! This game makes it official... they'll let just about anyone behind the wheel of a go-kart these days, including janga-smoking great danes (zoinks, Scoob!) and chickens who will make you an offer you can't refuse (playing something else, maybe?). Just because they're hopping aboard this train wreck doesn't mean you have to, though! Drab graphics, mechanical control, inscrutable power-ups, and frustrating five kart pile-ups make Crazy Frog Racing not only the worst game in a crowded field of lame Mario Kart clones, but the worst thing you can put into your Game Boy Advance next to a pick axe or a gallon of boiling water.
Flame On! is the perfect vehicle for its cocky young star Johnny Storm. It's got absolutely no depth or substance, but it sets the Game Boy Advance ablaze with some of the flashiest fighting action you'll ever see on the system. As Johnny, better known as The Human Torch, you'll use your fiery fists and feet to blaze a trail through an army of alien thugs. Whether you're launching a scorching blast of flame at your foes or snatching gems as you soar through the sky, you can count on animation that's as smooth and striking as a sledgehammer slathered in butter (mmm... painful!). The only thing that threatens to put a chill on the white-hot graphics is a lack of shading, especially in the backgrounds. However, they're a lot more appealing than the monotonous techno music waiting for you in each level... it's as persistent as Dr. Doom himself, and twice as evil! Somewhere in the middle lies the gameplay... it won't set the world on fire, but it's entertaining enough despite the predictable level design and limited variety of enemies.
This game's earned every last word of bad press it's received. The judgement system is a constant annoyance during fights... when the chocobo-riding referee isn't getting in your way, he's blowing the whistle on your mistakes while turning a blind eye to the computer opponent's own violations. The laws you're expected to abide by in each battle are supposed to add a layer of strategy to the gameplay, but all they wind up doing is getting on your nerves... especially when you're dropped in prison for a crime you didn't even realize you committed! Nevertheless, after you've spent nine straight hours completing missions and strengthening a small army of characters, it becomes clear that Square-Enix must have done SOMETHING right with this game. In keeping with the Final Fantasy tradition, the graphics are rich with color and detail, and there are plenty of subtle but welcome twists to the turn-based gameplay. Perhaps the best of these features is the ability to assign jobs to your heroes, then take the skills they've learned in that profession and carry them over to more exciting careers. Can't decide if you want your favorite character to bust heads as a soldier, or heal wounds as a cleric? Now you can have both!
Pac-Man's never had much luck in the world of pinball, and this half-hearted release by Human Soft (not to be confused with the folks who first gave the world Fire Pro Wrestling) does little to break that losing streak. Like Mario's own pinball game on the Game Boy Advance, Pac-Man Pinball Advance blends rudimentary adventure elements into the traditional flipper-flapping action, then throws in a heaping cup of computer rendering to give the finished product a 21st century sheen. They may have had the same recipe Nintendo used to make Mario Pinball Land, but it only takes one bite to realize that Namco and Human used store brand ingredients in their own creation. The graphics in Pac-Man Pinball are kind of fugly, with a table that teeters back and forth as if it's been drinking heavily, and the player never really understands what needs to be done in order to make progress. Strike all the targets you want, and eat all the dots and ghosts you like, but chances are, you'll be stuck on the same table for the remainder of the game, listening to the same bewilderingly dramatic background music. If you already have Pokemon Pinball, the crown standard of silver ball sims on the Game Boy Advance, feel free to let this one roll down the drain.
GAME REVIEWS
I had my doubts about this collection at first... developers Aspyr made the daring decision to emulate the 2600 hardware itself, rather than merely translating the games to the Game Boy Advance. Although emulation is the best way to ensure that the games are accurately reproduced, emulating the quirky 2600 hardware is asking a lot of the Game Boy Advance. Not only have the graphics been compressed to fit on the system's smaller screen, but the most graphically demanding titles in the collection run more slowly here than they did on a real 2600. Despite this, Activision Anthology has a lot to offer the player... namely, fifty of the best games released on Atari's most popular system. You'll find it hard to pull yourself away from intense classics like Megamania and Spider Fighter, whether you're just playing them for fun or gunning for the hidden patches, accessible by reaching predetermined target scores.
As heartbroken as I am to say it, this sequel to Guardian Heroes is missing a lot of what made the first game great. The intuitive but surprisingly complex gameplay, the boldly drawn artwork, the exceptional character design... none of that's here. What you WILL find is an out of place futuristic setting, a generic cast of fighters who look more like they belong in Treasure's first game Gunstar Heroes, and awkward new play mechanics. Oh, but that's not all! You get slowdown, and a whole lot of it. You remember slowdown, right? The result of poorly optimized programming that made a frequent appearance in dozens of Super NES games? Well, it's back, and it's as annoying as ever. All this plus unresponsive control and outrageously cheap enemies who can kill you with one blow (in the first round!) makes it pretty clear why Treasure usually keeps a safe distance from sequels. They sure as hell shouldn't have made this one.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI As if there was any doubt, Advance Wars 2 is that much better than the first. The Black Hole Army's back and they're pissed and they wanna take over everything, but it doesn't matter because you are the Orange Star Army and warring is your BUSINESS, foo'. Heh. Adding to Advance Wars 2's strategic mix is that you will have to play as two officers at once in some parts of the game and that adds a whole new level of cerebelic (is that even a word?) pain. I mean that in a good way. Seriously. Everything that was in the first game is back and improved in some way, especially the way the story is handled in the cut scenes. Graphically, the cut scenes still make the game and the dialog between the commanding officers is still pretty decent. Even more new units (Neo Tanks? YAAAAAAAAAY!), a pretty good AI that doesn't always feel cheap, and an increasingly difficult and innovative campaign mode, along with the already impressive multiplayer and map editor modes (for your own filthy map designs to torture your friends with) make this one of the games you simply must own for the Game Boy Advance.
You're not going to hate this as much as the film (judging from the reviews I've read, I don't think that's possible...), but this side-scrolling shooter just isn't that interesting. Digital Eclipse proves that they're the best Game Boy Advance design firm this side of Japan by giving this release crisp, bright graphics, solid gameplay, and a soundtrack that's straight out of a movie (a good movie, not Evolution). However, they forgot the one thing that made similar games like Contra and Gunstar Heroes much more exciting... intensity. In those games, it was a struggle to survive, because each round was packed with relentless enemies. The only thing you'll struggle to do here is stay awake, because the mutants in Alienators aren't very aggressive, and they're not exactly in abundant supply either.
If you've played any of Capcom's other Disney-licensed games, you know what to expect from this one. In addition to the gorgeously colorful graphics (faithful to the film right down to your simian sidekick Abu trailing your every move), lively music, and solid but unremarkable gameplay, Aladdin features an emphasis on the title character's athletic prowess. Aladdin swings from poles and surprises his foes with a leaping handstand attack, making the game more stylish than your average side-scrolling platformer... but also more awkward. It's more difficult than necessary to guide Al safely to the ground after he's bounced off the shoulders of an enemy. Fans of the film will still be satisfied with the game despite this quirk... but most everyone will agree that Capcom's original efforts are better.
The game you might have gotten with your Genesis is the one game you won't want to get for your Game Boy Advance. The new Altered Beast is closely patterned after the first one, which means that the gameplay is extremely basic and straightforward... undead creatures pop out of the ground and you put them back where they belong with well-timed punches and kicks. The process repeats for what seems like a lifetime until you transform into one of the game's many anthropomorphic creatures and battle a large, powerful boss. While you'll definitely notice improvements over the original Altered Beast, they don't alleviate the monotonous gameplay, and in fact make it even worse thanks to the increased number of rounds. Furthermore, the computer rendered graphics are painfully ugly and lack the personality of the hand drawn artwork in the original game... the clever and varied death animations were one of the few reasons to play the Genesis version of Altered Beast. Sega should have just let this one "Stay... in its grave."
This is my first taste of Army Men, and believe it or not, I actually came away from the experience without any permanent psychological damage. In fact, I was impressed with this hybrid of Desert Strike and Commando... it's got a convincing military atmosphere despite the cast of toy soldiers, with large, nicely detailed playfields and explosions that shake both the screen and your eardrums. The only thing that's missing is the smell of napalm in the morning! Unfortunately, the silly control scheme hurts- not ruins, but hurts- the gameplay. I guess Pocket Studios wanted to go for a Doom like feel with the strafing and turning, but it just doesn't make sense in an overhead view shooter. If Operation Green had borrowed Commando's style of control in addition to most of its other ideas, it would have been great... maybe even outstanding. As it is, though, Green won't change many peoples' perceptions about the Army Men series.
Infogrames takes you to a time in history where, believe it or not, the French are mighty warriors who take a stand against a seemingly unstoppable force bent on taking over the world. Yes, once upon a time, the Viking-like Gauls faught to defend their land from the Romans. In Asterix, the cartoon based on these battles, Asterix led the Gauls in their struggle against Julius Ceasar, along with his bloated buddy Obelix and their tiny pet Dogmatix. The cartoon was popular enough to inspire several video games, and this is the latest. Actually, Paf! Them All gives you a selection between a new title exclusive to the Game Boy Advance called Asterix and Cleopatra, and a side-scrolling platformer called Asterix and Obelix that was previously available on the Sega Genesis. Despite crisp, cartoony graphics, the new game is pretty weak... it's a Golden Axe clone that's even more simplistic and repetitive. Fortunately, the platformer is more fun, although it can be frustrating and the graphics are a little washed out. The draw to both games is the French artwork that's charmingly silly... it's a little like what you'd see on the Smurfs, but with better detail and more exaggerated poses.
When you see a game that's based on an obscure French cartoon like Asterix, you'd expect it to be just another generic side-scrolling platformer. Not this time, though... surprisingly, Asterix and Obelix: XXL is a generic three-dimensional platformer, thanks to the always impressive efforts of Fernando Velez and Guillaume Dubail. You may recognize these guys from their previous Game Boy Advance titles V-Rally III and Stuntman, and they're once again shifting the system into overdrive with a polygonal graphics engine so advanced, you half expect the system to blow a fuse after fifteen minutes. The graphics may impress you, but the gameplay probably won't... your time is evenly split between mindlessly punching out Roman guards and picking up their helmets to use later as currency for the shopkeepers hidden in some stages. The ability to switch between spritely Asterix and his chubby buddy Obelix does keep the game from getting too dull, but for the most part, it's just another 3D tech demo by Velez and Dubail, which dazzles more than it entertains.
Get ready for a double dose of nostalgia! Whether you loved the cartoon from animation legend Osamu Tezuka or are just a fan of Treasure games like Silhouette Mirage and Gunstar Heroes, you'll have a blast with Astro Boy. If you enjoyed them both, there's absolutely no doubt that you should buy this. It's a straightforward action game with heavy emphasis on the action... Astro Boy is constantly surrounded by enemies, and to survive, he'll have to beat the crowd (literally!) with punches, kicks, and powerful super moves. Along the way, you'll find dozens of characters from the Astro Boy cartoon series... each one gives you a point which can be used to boost the titanium tyke's abilities, making him faster and stronger. The graphics and sound are vintage Treasure, with bright, colorful artwork and fittingly high-tech music, but the game eventually becomes repetitive thanks to its linear levels and limited selection of enemies. Still, it's the best thing to come from Treasure in a long time, and the Astro Boy license gives the game a refreshingly different look.
Who would have ever guessed twenty five years ago that gamers of the future would have enough room in their pockets for six arcade hits, with just enough space left over for a flashy trivia challenge? Well, we know now what our poor, deprived ancestors didn't know then, thanks to Atari Anniversary Advance. The Game Boy Advance doesn't have the muscle to fully emulate the hardware of coin-ops like Tempest and Centipede, but Digital Eclipse came up with a brilliant compromise, which they've dubbed meta-emulation. The graphics and sound are all handled natively, taking stress off the system's sluggish processor, but the basic routines that handle character AI and movement are preserved, resulting in a stunningly faithful arcade experience. Whether you're blasting flippers and spikers in a series of tubes (not a dump truck), or clearing the sky of missiles launched by a rival superpower, you'll feel like there's a tiny window to the past in your hands. Just remember to bring along some headphones! You won't hear the rumbling explosions in Asteroids and Battlezone without them.
Rednecks rejoice... your hero has returned! After Microsoft purchased Rare, nobody was sure if Banjo-Kazooie would be released for the Game Boy Advance. However, thanks to a licensing deal with T*HQ, it's finally arrived. You're probably wondering if the game was worth the long wait. If you were a big fan of the N64 versions of Banjo-Kazooie, then the answer is yes... although the polygonal playfields have been replaced with unattractive computer rendered backgrounds, the Game Boy Advance extension of the series offers the same silly fun you remember from the first two Banjo games. The rest of you may not be as enthused with the tedious item collecting and the main character, a bear so brain dead he speaks in gape-jawed "duhs" and must be taught simple skills like climbing to proceed through the game. Come to think of it, the game as a whole just isn't as clever as Spyro the Dragon or its sequels... you're better off playing those first.
It's nice to have a portable version of Bomberman handy, but it's tough to settle for this after you've played the Saturn version. Bomberman Tournament's battle mode is much more bland, featuring fewer options and characters. It seems that Hudson Soft spent more time with the single player game, which was a big mistake, because it's relentlessly boring, basically a role-playing game with a sprinkling of traditional Bomberman elements. It's a light sprinkling indeed, because you've got to let cute, abstract characters called Karabon fight for you in three round battles. Shameless? Yes, very. Nevertheless, the Karabon could have been fun to collect if you could ride on them or better yet, use them in the versus mode. Perhaps this will be a feature in the sequel...
If you've become hopelessly addicted to Popcap's selection of quirky Internet games, but aren't quite ready to drop a thousand bucks on a cumbersome laptop so you can play them anywhere, there's good news. Now, there's a version of Bookworm on the Game Boy Advance that'll keep your withdrawl symptoms under control while you're out of the house and away from your computer. Oddly, Bookworm on the Game Boy Advance lacks the polish of the Flash game that inspired it... the tiles are blandly drawn, and it'll take some time to adjust to the control, as the cursor jumps from one tile to the next instead of smoothly gliding over them. However, you'll still find yourself drawn in by Bookworm's gameplay, which borrows heavily from the board games Scrabble and Boggle but throws in just a touch of the frantic danger you've come to expect from puzzlers like Tetris and Bust-A-Move. Finally, the hilarious drawings at the end of each level are worth a mention... they illustrate your current rank with everything from a teenaged clerk peppered with zits to a pointy-headed German soldier burning books (and his own hand!).
Here's one more reason to kick yourself if you missed out on the Game Boy Advance port of Activision Anthology. Breakout / Centipede / Warlords tries to bring back those fond memories of the Atari 2600, but instead of leaving you with a warm sense of nostalgia, all you'll get from this cartridge is a sense that something's missing. None of the games in this collection are emulated... instead, they're imperfect collections of three Atari coin-ops, with prettier graphics but obnoxious flaws that make the games a lot less fun to play. Centipede, for instance, coats the screen with mushrooms, making the serpentine bug an easy target as it's forced downward by the thick patches of fungus. Predictably, Breakout suffers from the Game Boy Advance's lack of analog control, but the programmers made no effort to compensate for this with a speed button that would have let your paddle zip across the screen to catch stray balls. Finally, there's Warlords, the best game on the collection. This is a competitive four player game of Breakout with enhanced graphics and more complex gameplay. It doesn't suffer from the lack of a dial the way that Breakout does, thanks to the fact that your shield has less ground to cover, but the inclusion of the arcade game's screen overlay obscures the action, making it more difficult to see the fireballs as they come dangerously close to your castle. Despite this flaw, Warlords is a pretty entertaining game, and the only good reason to purchase this collection.
Brother Bear wasn't as memorable as Disney's previous animated films, so it's fitting that the video game doesn't compare favorably to those based on other Disney movies like Aladdin and The Jungle Book. Brother Bear starts out as a generic side-scrolling action game, best described as a more rustic Super Mario Bros. Instead of finding coins hidden inside blocks, the title character Kenai gathers raspberries from rotting tree stumps. This continues until you stumble upon your sidekick Koda, who adds a little more depth to the gameplay. In some stages, you'll play as both Kenai and Koda, solving puzzles using each character's special skills. In others, Koda clings tightly to Kenai's back and the game once again becomes a straightforward platformer. No matter how you play Brother Bear, you'll probably agree that you've had better... the computer rendered graphics are grainy and lack definition, and the gameplay is largely devoid of challenge and depth. It's fine for the kids, but those with more mature tastes will want to stick with the Super Mario Advance games.
Vicarious Visions might be spreading itself a little thin lately, but their Game Boy Advance titles (all three dozen of 'em) have still been consistently good. Bruce Lee, a side-scrolling platformer with a heavy emphasis on fighting, is no different. You may remember that Bruce Lee was one of the worst games on the XBox, but the legendary dragon's claws are much sharper here. Bruce gets the chance to test both his fighting skills and his agility here... when he's not smacking around foes with his trademark backhand and split kick, he's leaping off walls, hanging from platforms, and sliding down poles. The overall experience is solid, but not exceptional... the somewhat plain rendered graphics take some of the excitement out of the game, and the fighting can become monotonous and frustrating. However, it does do the martial arts master justice, and if that's all that matters to you, you'll be satisfied with this game.
It's nice to know that someone can do this game justice on the Game Boy Advance, even if it isn't the company that created it. Russ Prince's conversion of the original Bust-A-Move is just amazing. Homebrews have a tendency to look and feel sloppy, but that's not the case here... Russ has faithfully reproduced nearly every detail from the coin-op. The arrow spins the way it should, the bright, colorful bubbles richochet off the sides of the playfield the way they should, and there's even a tremor when the wall is about to drop, although it only seems to affect the bubble you're about to fire rather than the entire screen. The only thing that's really missing is Bub and Bob sweating bullets when the bubbles get too close. Aside from that, Russ' conversion of Bust-A-Move is perfect, and a whole lot more impressive than what Altron had done to- er, WITH- Super Bust-A-Move. If we're really lucky, perhaps Taito will buy the rights to Russ' work and make this game available on the upcoming GBA card reader.
Yep, it's another kart racer featuring popular licensed characters. You have to wonder if there's anyone left on television who HASN'T starred in one of these games. Anyway, compared to the dozen or so competitive racing titles on the Game Boy Advance, Cartoon Network Speedway is dead average. It's far better than Shrek Speedway, yet not as fun or as charismatic as the king of the genre, Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Part of the problem with Cartoon Network Speedway is that it doesn't do much to impress either video gamers or fans of the popular cable channel. It's underwhelming as a kart racer because it isn't professionally designed... the weapons are tough to use and the graphics could be more polished. It's lacking as a Cartoon Network product because many of the channel's best shows aren't represented... instead of Robot Jones or Samurai Jack, you're given washed up characters like Johnny Bravo, who haven't appeared on the network's prime time schedule in years. The only thing that'll keep you behind the wheel of this run-of-the-mill racing game is a challenge mode that lets you unlock new characters by beating the high scores set for each stage.
The question on every Game Boy Advance player's mind seems to be this: "Which of the system's Castlevania games are the best?" Personally, I don't think the question is all that important, because no matter what game you choose, you'll be taking home a fantastic experience. In fact, you could argue that your collection just isn't complete without all three Castlevania titles, as they're among the best games released on the Game Boy Advance. Aria of Sorrow holds its own against the other games in the series, but its appeal has nothing to do with the futuristic setting. Frankly, there's very little indication that it happens thirty years from now rather than centuries ago, which is disappointing when you consider all the opportunities Konami missed to really make this game stand out. Fortunately, Aria of Sorrow has all the qualities that made Symphony of the Night a classic, plus a fantastic new weapon system that lets you claim an ability from nearly every enemy in the game. This gives the game as much variety as Circle of the Moon, but also some of the frustration. You'll have to defeat some monsters repeatedly before they'll relinquish their powers, and not all of them are worth keeping.
I'm still not sure if this was the best or the worst thing that ever happened to the Game Boy Advance. On one hand, it takes the best ideas from the Castlevania series (especially Symphony of the Night) and adds a card combination system which gives you a huge variety of attacks and useful abilities. On the other hand, Circle of the Moon singlehandedly sparked peoples' complaints about the Game Boy Advance's dark, reflective screen. It doesn't really matter WHERE you play the game... you won't be able to see it because of the tiny characters and backgrounds filled with purples, blacks, and the deepest of browns. It's frustrating, but Circle of the Moon is worth the hours of squinting thanks to its depth, variety, and addictive gameplay.
I guess I'm the only one who wasn't disappointed with this sequel to Circle of the Moon. Yes, the music is surprisingly primitive, and yes, the weapon system is more limiting than those in Circle of the Moon and the recently released Aria of Sorrow. However, it's worth noting that Harmony of Dissonance has better graphics than the previous game... everything's brighter now, and both the death animations and weapon effects are greatly improved. It's also got a feel that's evenly balanced between the Castlevania games of the past and today's longer, more complex adventures. Juste Belmont's whip is a more effective weapon than any of the dozens offered in Aria of Sorrow, and the music (although admittedly simplistic) is wonderfully reminscent of the soundtracks in the NES Castlevania games. Even with its flaws, Harmony of Dissonance is a highly addictive and impressive game that's strongly recommended to any and all Game Boy Advance owners.
How many rockets could a Chu Chu chew if a Chu Chu could chew... aw, forget it. Anyway, this is the Game Boy Advance version of the overlooked puzzle game that was released on the Dreamcast a few years ago. I actually prefer the handheld game, not only because there are new random events and a customization mode that lets you create your own cats and mice, but because it's just better suited to a portable system. The only thing that's missing from the original on the Dreamcast is the spinning polygon that announces random events... everything else is here, though, and it's a lot more impressive on the Game Boy Advance.
I wouldn't be surprised if they released this in the United States as "Columns... For Girls!" or "Mary Kate and Ashley's Totally Radical Gem Hunt". Each of the game's modes is centered around a plot involving a princess who needs to find all 24 gems to complete a crown which will allow her to take her mother's place on the throne of the kingdom. Of course, being a princess, she doesn't actually hunt for most of the jewels herself... she leaves that job up to her two friends Ruby and Jade. All of the game's modes are integrated into the plot... you've got to play everything to shake Columns Crown for every last stone. It's a great idea, because players can choose their favorite play styles but are given some incentive to try the others. But are any of them worth playing? I'd say yes, even though I'm not a fan of Columns... the game plays smoothly, the graphics are nice (I like how the girls pop into the air every time they make a match in Flash Columns), and there's a lot of variety... you can even use power-ups against your opponent in the versus mode.
People have complained in the past that the Game Boy Advance gets far too many Super NES translations. I not only disagree, but feel that the system should be getting just as many ports of great Genesis games. Finally, that's starting to happen... Sega's treated us to a portable translation of its inventive yet overlooked side-scrolling fighter Comix Zone. Best of all, it improves upon the original with smaller, less detailed characters, a clumsy control scheme, frustrating collision detection, and... wait just a cotton pickin' minute! Those aren't improvements! Well, uh, anyway, this was SUPPOSED to be an improvement over the Genesis game, but the ugly dithering that should have been cleaned up on this more advanced system was actually made worse. True to form, Virtucraft screwed up a lot of other things, but even they couldn't flush this once awesome but now merely decent game down the toilet.
Tired of waiting for a Game Boy Advance version of Gunstar Heroes? Willing to settle for anything else as long as it doesn't star cute space aliens or dinosaur hunters? Don't mind if the vein in your head grows to the point of nearly exploding? Then have we got the game for you! It's Contra: The Alien Wars EX, a lackluster conversion of the Super NES launch title with everything you loved (dual weapon handling, super bombs) taken out and crappy "new" rounds from the Genesis dud Contra: Hard Corps thrown in! Never mind that the lack of color in these rounds is plainly obvious when you compare them to the original stages! Never mind that the music is even WORSE than it was on the Genesis, or the NES, for that matter! Never mind that the game is simplistic and primitive when compared to any of the shooters it inspired! Just sweep all those colossal mistakes, shortcomings, and omissions under the rug, because this game's got everything you really want... jumping, frustration, shooting, frustration, frustration, aggravation (for a little variety), and even more frustration! We guarantee that this is the most painful thing you can do with your Game Boy Advance that doesn't involve Midway or a proctologist. If we're wrong, you get your money back... that is, if you haven't already smashed the cartridge to bits with a hammer!
I'd love to spend the entirety of this review telling you how much I hate the anatomically-correct-but-not-really-since-he's-a-frog star of this game, but I can't. That's mostly because that would leave me with less time to express my raging contempt for all the OTHER idiotic characters in Crazy Frog Racing! This game makes it official... they'll let just about anyone behind the wheel of a go-kart these days, including janga-smoking great danes (zoinks, Scoob!) and chickens who will make you an offer you can't refuse (playing something else, maybe?). Just because they're hopping aboard this train wreck doesn't mean you have to, though! Drab graphics, mechanical control, inscrutable power-ups, and frustrating five kart pile-ups make Crazy Frog Racing not only the worst game in a crowded field of lame Mario Kart clones, but the worst thing you can put into your Game Boy Advance next to a pick axe or a gallon of boiling water.
There was only one Darius game I enjoyed, and this sure ain't it. The Game Boy Advance version of Darius is based on the very first, very flawed game in the series, a horizontal shooter with a playfield so large it stretched across three screens. Darius R is groundbreaking in the respect that it's the first Game Boy Advance translation that actually benefits from the system's limited resolution. Thanks to the single screen format, Darius players can now see the action all at once, rather than catching bullets and bad guys out of the corner of their eyes a split second before they collide with them. Darius R offers other improvements as well, like a less demanding power up system and more forgiving gameplay, but this still isn't enough to give it an edge over the ultimate Darius game, Sagaia. The graphics in Darius R are badly dated, the power up system is still frustrating (grabbing four consecutive items just to power up one weapon? Gee, that's not asking too much...), and the soundtrack is tainted with the fruity opera themes from Darius Gaiden. Who needs all that hassle when you can find shooters you'll actually like to play on this system?
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI Sometimes, the best surprises come in the strangest ways. Lilo and Stitch is not one or two, but three seperate games. For most of the game, you play as Stitch, shooting up alien law enforcement (Yeah! Take that, MIB fuzz!) and bombing the hell out of anything that move with exploding pineapples in a distinctly Metal Slug-esque shooter. You even get a bad ass walker-mech you can use to blow stuff! Then the action will switch to Lilo sneaking around a spaceship hiding from guards in a Oddworld-like manner, which is really fun because she hides behind plants and such and the animation is pretty good. THEN it switches back to Stitch in his spaceship trying to save Lilo in a shooter that's like Gyruss. Wow. That's a lot of game. Thankfully all three are pretty good, with the Gyruss shooter being the weakest... that's all right, though, because you only play it a couple of times. The graphics (including the obligatory low res movie clips- not stills!) are all of really good quality, which what you'd expect from a Disney product, and the sound includes a nice Hawaiian beat and lots of alien pummeling. If you're a fan of the movie, or of variety for that matter, you can't do much better than this.
Reviewers have complained that this game doesn't have enough variety and that it will only appeal to fans of the popular beat 'em up from the 1980's. What they DON'T tell you is that while Double Dragon Advance is based on the first game in the series, it's also greatly improved. There's a much larger selection of moves this time... now, the Dragon brothers can duck, run, and block incoming attacks, as well as fight back with stylish new weapons and attacks. There are also new stages and enemies which keep the game entertaining long after its arcade counterpart became boring. The fighting does eventually get repetitive- after all, there are only so many green Abobos you can fight before you start to lose your patience- but nevertheless, Double Dragon Advance is a great update to a classic fighting game, and it deserves more respect for the improvements it's brought to the original formula.
Hey, whoa! This is actually... good?! You'd better believe it. Most of the other Dragonball Z fighting games have had critical flaws. However, Supersonic Warriors manages to rise above all of them thanks to the efforts of Arc Systems, the creators of the Guilty Gear series. The arial combat that distinguishes Dragonball Z from other versus fighting games didn't always work very well in the past, but in Supersonic Warriors, it's brilliantly executed. The gameplay is briskly paced, and you're never too far from your opponent to battle them effectively, a serious issue with previous Dragonball Z games. The artwork makes the game even more exciting... the characters were hand-drawn rather than awkwardly rendered, so they're every bit as sleek and colorful as they were in the television show. Even if you feel you've outgrown the cartoon, Supersonic Warriors will have no trouble holding your attention with its fast, frantic gameplay and flashy audiovisuals.
Still waiting for a Game Boy Advance version of Samurai Shodown? Well, this is about as close as you'll get right now. It's clear that Dual Blades wants to be Samurai Shodown... it's got everything from the subtle, atmospheric music to the death blows at the end of each match. Unfortunately, it's missing a lot of what made Samurai Shodown a classic... the memorable characters in SNK's game are generic or even downright unlikable here, and the graphics in Dual Blades don't even meet the standard set by the first Samurai Shodown... frankly, the game looks more like Time Killers thanks to its ugly, washed out backgrounds and awkwardly drawn fighters. However, the reasonably fun, surprisingly complex gameplay (with ideas from both the Samurai Shodown series and Street Fighter III) keeps Dual Blades a step ahead of mediocre Game Boy Advance fighters like King of Fighters EX.
Granted, I didn't care for the original Earthworm Jim... the sequel had better level design, more weapons, and much funnier jokes. However, I was willing to cut this game a break if the conversion was faithful to the Genesis and Super NES versions. It's not. Earthworm Jim on the Game Boy Advance looks and feels very cheap... some of the animation is missing, and the physics aren't even remotely realistic. There's no arc to Jim's jump, and when you blast enemies, the bits fly off in a straight path rather than being properly affected by gravity. It's pretty obvious that neither David Perry or Doug TenNapel had any direct influence on this translation, aside from the work they'd done on the original seven years ago.
Dammit, Majesco! I was really looking forward to this game,
but you just HAD to hire an incompetant programming team to
port it to the Game Boy Advance. I'm ashamed to have my name
hiding in the middle of yours. Anyway... this is Majesco's
second attempt at an Earthworm Jim translation, and just like the
last one, it's lousy. Yeah, yeah, Jim's larger this time, and
the graphics are more colorful, but the physics are so rotten you'll
think about popping the original black and white Game Boy version of
Earthworm Jim into your system instead. Y'know,
Ma
Flame On! is the perfect vehicle for its cocky young star Johnny Storm. It's got absolutely no depth or substance, but it sets the Game Boy Advance ablaze with some of the flashiest fighting action you'll ever see on the system. As Johnny, better known as The Human Torch, you'll use your fiery fists and feet to blaze a trail through an army of alien thugs. Whether you're launching a scorching blast of flame at your foes or snatching gems as you soar through the sky, you can count on animation that's as smooth and striking as a sledgehammer slathered in butter (mmm... painful!). The only thing that threatens to put a chill on the white-hot graphics is a lack of shading, especially in the backgrounds. However, they're a lot more appealing than the monotonous techno music waiting for you in each level... it's as persistent as Dr. Doom himself, and twice as evil! Somewhere in the middle lies the gameplay... it won't set the world on fire, but it's entertaining enough despite the predictable level design and limited variety of enemies.
This game's earned every last word of bad press it's received. The judgement system is a constant annoyance during fights... when the chocobo-riding referee isn't getting in your way, he's blowing the whistle on your mistakes while turning a blind eye to the computer opponent's own violations. The laws you're expected to abide by in each battle are supposed to add a layer of strategy to the gameplay, but all they wind up doing is getting on your nerves... especially when you're dropped in prison for a crime you didn't even realize you committed! Nevertheless, after you've spent nine straight hours completing missions and strengthening a small army of characters, it becomes clear that Square-Enix must have done SOMETHING right with this game. In keeping with the Final Fantasy tradition, the graphics are rich with color and detail, and there are plenty of subtle but welcome twists to the turn-based gameplay. Perhaps the best of these features is the ability to assign jobs to your heroes, then take the skills they've learned in that profession and carry them over to more exciting careers. Can't decide if you want your favorite character to bust heads as a soldier, or heal wounds as a cleric? Now you can have both!
It's a pretty good translation of the popular arcade game, with well sampled voices and perhaps the most brightly colored artwork of any of the Final Fight games. However, the music really puts the Game Boy in Game Boy Advance, the screens are rather cramped, and it's Final Fight. If you've outgrown the simplistic gameplay, you'll be a lot happier with Super Street Fighter II Revival, and even if you do still like the Final Fight games, there's no guarantee you'll want this one... it's missing a lot of breakables, and the dominatrix Poison isn't here either (really, Poison... you can come back out now. Nobody remembers Final Fight Revenge, honest!). Finally, as the editor of Toastyfrog mentioned, there's no two player mode available if you've only got one cart. Even if there were memory concerns, it sure seems like Capcom could have added a three screen versus mode like the one in the Sega CD game...
If you're a fan of wrestling, and I mean the kind of fan who knows the sport is fake but loves to watch it anyways, you've got to have this. Fire Pro Wrestling features a lot of options the other wrestling video games always seem to miss, and when you play a few matches you'll realize that they're a whole lot more important than huge digitized characters or a popular license. The freedom Fire Pro Wrestling offers is refreshing... you can throw opponents out of the ring, wrap their arms around a turnbuckle for a free hit, drag them away from the ropes, and even dive out of the ring for an attack that's risky but oh so satisfying if it connects. The game literally has more moves than you'll ever see, and nearly a hundred suspiciously familiar characters. If "suspiciously familiar" doesn't cut it for you, just add real wrestlers with the edit mode! Even with all these options, Fire Pro is surprisingly user-friendly. In fact, its only real flaws are the aforementioned lack of a wrestling license and tinny (but still pretty entertaining) music.
Gee, this came out of nowhere. You'd think Konami had something to hide, but there's no reason to be ashamed of a game like this. Recca plays like the fast and loose fighters based on other anime series like Dragonball Z and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, making it ideal for novice players who want an exciting martial arts experience without all the work. They'll like the straightforward but intense gameplay, set against enormous playfields that offer more freedom of movement than most of Recca's competitors. Fighting game experts may not be as appreciative of the simple controls and lack of technique, but even they'll enjoy the superb graphics, featuring well detailed backgrounds, cleanly drawn characters, and even a slick win sequence where a collage of rough comic book sketches, all of the soundly thrashed opponent, is dropped behind the victor.
Look out, Fred Flintstone™! The evil Dr. Sinister™ has kidnapped your best friend Barney Rubble™ and, even worse, trapped you in a Game Boy Color quality game where you run around like an idiot collecting shells, stomping on pterodactyls, and absolutely nothing else! Never fear, though, because friends like Wilma™, Dino™, and that outrageous alien Kazoo™ are here to give you a hand! See, they're waving at you! That's lending you a hand, right? Past that, it's up to you and you alone to save your buddy Rick Moranis, er, Stephen Baldwin... uh, I mean Barney Rubble™. Can you find him and put a stop to Dr. Sinister™'s evil scheme before the owner of the Game Boy Advance angrily rips the cartridge out of his system and replaces it with Prehistorik Man? Find out in The Flintstones™: Big Trouble in Bedrock™! Fred Flintstone™, Dr. Sinister™, Wilma™, boring gameplay™, and Ted Turner™ are all registered trademarks of Hanna-Barbera, Ltd. All rights to grab the Flintstones cartoon by its ankles and shake it for every last penny reserved.
If the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are at the peak of the evolution of shelled reptiles, Franklin is still crawling along at the bottom of the hill. He's a slow-witted, dull-eyed child with a couple of androgynous parents and a handful of animal friends who are best described as "weenies". Franklin was once satisfied to remain in the children's book section and Nick Jr.'s early morning television line-up, but now he's packed up his shell and moved to the Game Boy Advance, setting the civil rights movement for video game turtles back twenty years. The real bitch is that it'll at least fifty years for them to recover all that lost ground... Er, anyway. What we have here is a collection of games that, like Franklin, aren't very deep or fast-paced. There are bike races, hockey shootouts, and coloring contests (where the computer seems to do all of the work for you), ultimately leading up to a simplified puzzle game that bears a striking resemblence to Sega Swirl on the Dreamcast. The graphics are bright and colorful, but the gameplay is slow, dull, and predictable. After slogging through a few of the game's mercilessly boring challenges, you'll agree that it's best left to Franklin's biggest, dumbest fans.
I don't like the new Frogger character designs, and I didn't like the idea that Konami's American branch would be making this game... but regardless of all this, I have to admit that this is pretty good. It's not up to the standards of the unreleased Game Gear version of Frogger, but it does seem inspired by it in some respects. For instance, the playfields are much more expansive than they were in the arcade original, and you've got to collect items (coins this time, not other frogs) scattered throughout each of them. Like Frogger on the Game Gear, the backgrounds and playfield objects have more depth and color than they did in the arcade game. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this is the best looking version of Frogger ever released thanks to its detailed and very bright pastel graphics. On the down side, some of the enemies seem out of place (hell, so does the anthropomorphic main character...) and the game isn't quite as fun as it was on the Game Gear, playing like an overhead version of platformers like Super Mario Bros. rather than a legitimate sequel to the arcade game. Nevertheless, Frogger on the Game Boy Advance is much better than I expected it to be.
I've always resented this game... when it was released for the Super NES, people would constantly brag about how great the 3D effects were, how you'd never see this on the Genesis, and blah blah freaking blah. Now, I just hate it because the gameplay is rigid and miserably frustrating. Apparently, someone forgot to rope off all of those beautiful Mode 7 enhanced tracks, because you'll sometimes hit ramps sending you flying over the edge of the courses, instantly destroying your vehicle and forcing you to restart the race. Hey, Nintendo, if you wanted to translate a gimmicky, overhyped Super NES launch title, it should have been Pilotwings... at least you're SUPPOSED to be in mid-air while playing that one.
It's ooky, spooky, and much better than any Addam's Family game... it's Gegege no Kitaro, an action/adventure title based on a long-running Japanese cartoon. This isn't the first game starring the creepy, bug-eyed Kitaro, but it's likely the best thanks to complex level designs and a variety of weird weapons, ranging from flaming wooden sandals to Kitaro's own hair. Despite the Japanese text, the game is easy to pick up and play thanks to signs scattered throughout the first two stages, which illustrate how to use Kitaro's abilities to defeat enemies and overcome other obstacles. The audiovisuals are nearly as satisfying as the gameplay, with crisply drawn, imaginative characters and a playful soundtrack that blends nicely with the constant light clacking of Kitaro's shoes. If you've looking for a lighthearted journey into the spirit world, but the immense difficulty in Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts makes your blood boil, you'll be a whole lot happier with Gegege no Kitaro.
Devoted Konami fans will appreciate this one most... it's a sequel to a series of terrific shooters which, unfortunately, aren't given the attention they deserve. While this particular Gradius game isn't as amazing as Gradius Gaiden for the Playstation or even Gradius '90 on the X68000 computer, I doubt many fans will care... neither of those games were released in the United States, so they'll happily take what they can get. Besides, Gradius Galaxies is one of the better (if not the best) games in the series, with crisp graphics, great level design, and even a Mars Matrix-style hint mode. It's also the best shooter on the Game Boy Advance, and that's not going to change until either Konami releases a sequel or Treasure ups the ante with a portable version of Radiant Silvergun (please please please!).
You're getting warmer, guys, but this still isn't perfect. Guilty Gear X has all the action of its hard rockin' Dreamcast counterpart, but the impact just isn't there thanks to compromised... well, compromised everything, really. Remember how I described the backgrounds in the Dreamcast game as "living paintings"? Well, they're quite dead here... not only did the designers limit themselves to a handful of colors, they picked the very worst colors they could find, then threw them together in the hope that they'd vaguely resemble the artwork from the Dreamcast game. The characters are tiny and undetailed in comparison to the fighters in Super Street Fighter II Revival... frankly, they don't even look as attractive as their super deformed counterparts in the Wonderswan version, Guilty Gear Petit. Finally, the music is frustratingly inconsistent, wavering between pulse-pounding rock and Game Boy Color quality schlock. Yes, it plays well and there are plenty of modes to choose from, but Guilty Gear X on the Dreamcast was largely dependant upon making a good first impression, and this translation just doesn't do that.
Twelve years ago, independent game developer Treasure built a strong foundation for itself with the release of Gunstar Heroes, a spectacular shooter that restored gamers' faith in the Sega Genesis after suffering through a year of miserable movie and television-licensed bombs. Now, Gunstar Heroes is back to do the same for the Game Boy Advance, in a sequel that's packed with the sensational special effects and heartpounding action that's been largely absent from the handheld's library for nearly a year. There's some give and take in this eagerly awaited follow-up to the fantastic Genesis game... on one hand, the lock button lets you anchor your character in place while firing, and the graphics are vastly improved. If you thought it couldn't get any better than the original Gunstar Heroes, the sequel's more detailed characters and extensive use of scaling and rotation will be a pleasant surprise! On the downside, you can no longer throw your adversaries (you'll have to settle for a wimpy laser knife instead), and the stages don't flow together as well as they had in the first game. There are even a few scenes you'll wish Treasure had left out, like piloting an oversized helicopter through a city densely packed with indestructible skyscrapers. Flaws like these set Gunstar Super Heroes a notch below the Genesis original, but on the Game Boy Advance, it blows all of its competitors away!
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI It's cute, almost to the point of vileness. And you're going to LOVE playing it. Simply put, Hamtaro rocks. A vicious little hamster named Spat is causing trouble for all the Ham Hams and it's up to Hamtaro and Bijou to set things right. I'm not lying when I say this is fun... Nintendo loves making innovative games and this one is no different. The bulk of the game is Ham-Chat, a system in which your team of hamsters learn new words and vocabulary to progress past obstacles in their way. Let me give you an example... say there's a fire. Hamtaro HIF-HIFS (smells) it and then Bijou tells him that it is a GASP-P (scary) situation. You would then talk to all the other hamsters and eventually you would need to find the correct vocabulary to resolve the situation (which would probably be someone saying it needs to be SOAK-P, or made wet). It works wonderfully and the graphics and sounds are all great too, nothing less than what you'd expect from Nintendo. Throw in some minigames along the way plus collecting that lasts long after you've won and you've got some time wastery like no other. If nothing else, you'll eventually learn Go-P and urinate on stuff. That's worth something.
Hot Potato is a combination of two of my least favorite puzzle games, the pointless Quarth and the boring Columns. The characters, a bunch of disturbing multicolored spuds who blow kisses at potential mates, make this ill-conceived hybrid even worse. After seeing some of their animations and their overall grotesque appearance I'm not sure I want these horny hash browns to reproduce.
Hugo could have been a great game, and in many ways, it is... it's solidly designed and loaded with goofy European charm. However, this Bubble Bobble derivitive can't hold up against its inspiration, or other games in the genre, because there simply isn't enough complexity to the gameplay. The designers missed a lot of opportunities to make the game more satisfying and enjoyable... for instance, when you freeze enemies in place, you can push them off platforms to shatter them, but shoving a frosty goon into his friends won't defeat or even stun them... you've got to freeze each bad guy individually to finish them off. That leaves you with a pretty monotonous game without Bubble Bobble's rewarding opportunities... you're never given the chance to cluster a half dozen enemies together and take them all out with a single shot, earning a huge bonus for your efforts. Perhaps the creators should have taken this into consideration rather than spending so much time with the impressive full-motion video and the clever artwork seperating one dull set of stages from the next.
I've seen dozens, maybe hundreds, of side-scrolling platformers like this, but I have to admit, it doesn't seem as contrived as many of them thanks to its high quality design. Best of all, it has nothing to do with the film, or even worse, Gadget Boy. It's based on the original cartoon, and stars not only Inspector Gadget but Penny, Brain, and even the commissioner that always gets blown up and Dr. Claw's moronic henchmen, the thin one and the fat one. Even though the characters are very small, you'll still recognize them from the cartoon, because they're well drawn, very colorful, and cleverly animated... if you look closely, you'll notice that Gadget's legs spring out a little whenever he jumps. My only problem is that these characters have a lot of potential that just isn't tapped in a game this generic... somehow, I imagined a puzzle game like Lemmings or Whistler's Brother instead, with Penny guiding her dimwitted uncle through each of the stages. If the designers had insisted on making this a platformer, they could have at given Inspector Gadget a lot more of his abilities from the show... and for that matter, his voice. Even he couldn't save Gadget Boy, but Don Adams would have made this game a whole lot more fun.
Looks like Gradius Galaxies is no longer the shooter to beat on the Game Boy Advance... after almost a year without any serious challengers, it's finally been outgunned by the likes of Invader. Formula's vertically scrolling shooter delivers more bullets, brighter graphics, faster gameplay, and a much better soundtrack than anything else on the Game Boy Advance, and that sadly includes Gradius Galaxies. However, Invader doesn't quite compare with the best console and arcade shooters. Formula's a fairly new team of designers, and their relative inexperience leaves Invader with a lot of annoying flaws. The worst of these is that the game is much too hard... Invader floods the screen with bullets and enemies even in the easiest difficulty level, and the bosses take forever to destroy. Also, the weapons aren't well balanced (Rabbit and Dragon are very effective, while Scorpion and Tiger are almost worthless), and the item shop used to power them up is accessed by pressing the start button, encouraging the player to frequently stop the action. If Formula addresses these issues, Invader's sequel has a pretty good shot at being next year's best Game Boy Advance shooter, even if it has to compete with the astounding Iridion II for that title.
Holy spectacular visuals, Batman! I never thought I'd play a handheld game with graphics this incredible. Outstanding rendered backgrounds, fully animated bosses that fill the entire screen, a totally convincing illusion of 3D movement... it's more than you'd ever expect from a Game Boy Advance game, and that's saying a lot. However, if you're looking for complex, addictive gameplay, man have you come to the wrong place! Iridion 3D is pretty basic stuff, similar to Space Harrier or Afterburner but without much thought put into the round or enemy designs.
I would never have guessed in a million years that this game was worth playing, but it turns out that it's even better than Final Fight One. Seriously! As you might imagine, Jackie Chan's a lot more agile than Mike Haggar, and he can pull off moves like backflips, cartwheels, and somersaults that weren't even available to Cody or Guy. He's also given a lot more to break... unlike Final Fight One, which dropped just a couple of oil cans and tires into each round, there are all kinds of items Jackie can smash, and they're in much greater supply. In addition to this, Jackie Chan Adventures has smoother animation... instead of simply bending down to grab a weapon, Jackie uses his feet to kick it into his hands, just like in his films! That's about all you'll find from the films, sadly, but Jackie Chan Adventures is at least faithful to the animated series, and it's better than any of Jackie's previous video games.
The great thing about generic game engines designed to promote a movie is that you can swap out that film's cast and drop in new characters whenever you want to make a quick, (sl)easy buck on the latest fad flick. That's the lesson learned from Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. This game reminds me a whole lot of Home Alone for the Super NES and especially the Genesis... T*HQ just took some of the play mechanics out of the Genesis game and added a computer rendered glaze to the graphics. I guess you could be thankful that Macauley Caulkin's gone, but Jimmy Neutron, the boy with the Dairy Queen hair and grotesquely oversized head, isn't an improvement. Both Jimmy and his junkyard dog Goddard run around houses with boring level designs, collecting items and stunning enemies (damn, people... even chess let you remove opposing pieces from the playfield!). The only conclusion one can come to is that little Jimmy is not much of a genius if he's willing to star in a game T*HQ barfed up for another flash-in-the-pan celebrity ten years ago.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI Goddamn it, I can't believe I spent money on this crap. It's got awful character animation and TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE dialogue. Since when do heroes addressing each other in copyright friendly ways, anyway? "SUPERMAN™, we must go stop that tank! Okay, WONDER WOMAN™! You lead the way!" I know it's just a quick cash licensed product and a really flimsy one at that, but GODDAMN, have any of you programmers ever WATCHED THE SHOW? These people aren't robots! They don't talk like moronic 5 year olds! The fact that it's simply not fun to play piles even more dung onto this crapfest. All you do is punch, punch and punch some more. You don't even need the "special" attacks. You won't get to use each of League members' special talents, like Batman's detective crime solving or Martian Manhunter's mind reading (note to the programmers: running up a wall is NOT a special talent). There's no multiplayer support either. This goes back to the commonly held belief that there will really never be a decent comic book game, and when there IS one, it's few and far between. This sort of game proves that Midway will never be like they were in the 80's and early 90's, and that they should follow 3D0 out the door and not let it hit them on the ass on the way out.
Silly me. I thought Titus was trying to make a new reputation for itself after Superman 64. It seemed that way after playing Prehistorik Man, anyway. Unfortunately, Kao the Kangaroo demonstrates that they had no intention of reforming themselves. I've heard Titus plans to replace their old mascot with this one... well, there may not be much to like about Titus the Fox, but Kao is definitely not a step up. He's laughably generic, and his game follows suit, with barely disguised versions of all the conventions you'd expect from a side-scrolling platformer. Hell, they didn't even bother to replace the coins! If you're willing to forgive the unoriginal game design, you won't cut Kao a break for his frustrating attacks, which serve the dual purpose of missing the enemies and leaving him open to their own cheap shots. Playing this game after Prehistorik Man is kind of like that episode of The Simpsons where Homer reaches into a kangaroo's pouch and pulls out a hand covered with mucus. It's disappointing, a little surprising, and most of all, just plain icky.
Folks, you've got a second chance to play this unique, charming platformer... don't screw it up! You'll really be kicking yourself if you miss it this time, because it's even better than it was on the Super NES. Kemco has added entirely new rounds as well as bonus stages with special items as a reward for the players who can finish them. Even without this new content, the Game Boy Advance version of Crazy Chase would be excellent... it's got the same sharp gameplay and all the hilarious antics of the Super NES version, plus improved music. Yep, the game is entertaining on a comedic level, too... Kid Klown's got a comical reaction to every painful injury in the book. If the thought of watching a clown get charred, frozen, and spiked repeatedly doesn't convince you to buy this game, nothing will... I can't think of a stronger argument for Crazy Chase than that!
This will be released in the United States with the name "Pocky and Rocky", but don't be fooled... despite the same characters and theme, this has none of the charisma that Natsume added to the Super NES games. Because of this, my friend and I agreed that the games should be split into two series... the first, Kikikaikai, is a basic no-frills shooter with a Japanese theme. The second, Pocky and Rocky, has better graphics, more warmth, and is a lot more fun to play. We also agreed that this Game Boy Advance release falls into the Kikikaikai category.
This is a pretty standard, and fairly simplistic, side scrolling platformer that's greatly strengthened by its association with the excellent Disney cartoon Kim Possible. The game just couldn't work without it... it would be much too bland if it weren't for Kim's slick moves (including the most gorgeous wall climb animation you've seen anywhere), the stylized background artwork, and full motion video footage directly from the series. Fans of the show definitely need to check this out... the game and cartoon complement one another marvelously. Everyone else will see Kim Possible for what it is- a generic platformer with nice animation- and won't give it more than ten minutes of their time.
Teen superspy Kim Possible sets out to defeat her bumbling arch nemesis Drakken for the last time in this sequel, subtitled The Demise of Drakken. Like the previous game, Kim Possible 2 is a side-scrolling platformer based on the Disney animated series. However, this has more depth thanks to larger, less linear levels and a grappling hook which gives you the freedom to explore them. It's often extremely difficult to reach higher ground with the grappling hook, but persistence will ultimately reward you with hidden items, like cards which reveal more information about the stars of the Disney cartoon. However, the game just isn't as satisfying as Konami's Ninja Cop... while the characters are larger and more detailed, the level design lacks that sadistic genius that made Ninja Cop so addictive. It's good enough for Kim Possible fans, but even they will start to lose their patience with the game when they're forced to guide animal sidekick Rufus through a frustating gauntlet of claustrophobic air vents and spinning fan blades.
Don't put away those Neo-Geo Pockets just yet, folks... you'll still find the best portable version of King of Fighters on that system. The problem with KOF EX on the Game Boy Advance is that it wasn't designed by SNK... Pinobee creators Artoon took the reins instead, and made a lot of the same mistakes that Virtucraft did with Mortal Kombat Advance. The backgrounds are washed out, the characters don't move very smoothly, and the gameplay is responsive but more confusing than necessary. EX also suffers from its own unique flaw... uneven design. Characters will open their mouths to talk, yet nothing will come out. You'll hear almost realistic instruments mixed into the near-NES quality soundtrack. There are plenty of strikers but you'll have a hell of a time coaxing them out. By the time you're finished fighting Geese Howard (three times in a row...), you'll sweat bullets worrying about how Guilty Gear X, Sammy's next fighter for the Game Boy Advance, will turn out.
Disappointed with King of Fighters EX? Well, just about everyone was, but luckily, the sequel is so much better that its only real rival on the Game Boy Advance is Street Fighter Alpha 3. It's tough to decide which of these fighting games comes out on top, but that will depend largely on the player's preference for Capcom or SNK style gameplay. If you're a big fan of the Neo-Geo, this is the game you'll want the most. I can't imagine an SNK supporter who wouldn't want Howling Blood, since it's so faithful to the arcade games, yet offers new artwork and characters that weren't available in any of them. Howling Blood isn't quite as good as King of Fighters 2000, the game it uses as a template, but it does outperform earlier KOF games on the Neo-Geo, and in comparison to the unfortunate previous release on the Game Boy Advance, there's no contest... Howling Blood is far superior.
Klonoa's first adventure on a handheld was one of the few games
that kept the original Wonderswan from being totally useless, and
this one, presented in full color, is better. However, you're
going to be disappointed if you're comparing it to Klonoa's
Playstation games, which had beautiful graphics with stunning 3D
perspectives and challenging puzzles. The puzzles are here,
but the great graphics are not... they're pretty average, with small
characters and minimal shading. The game plays pretty well,
but as always, Klonoa's abilities are very limited. It's hard
to get excited about endlessly inflating enemies after you've played
the much more varied Wario Land 4.
I know, you're still angry about what Midway did to their classic games collection. I am too, but those games were already given all the respect they deserved on other portables, particularly the Lynx. Meanwhile, other classics like Time Pilot, Gyruss, and Scramble had never been translated to any handheld, an oversight which has only recently been remedied by Konami Arcade Advanced. As penance for making us wait so long, Konami has added new features to each of the six games on the cartridge. You'll be surprised by what they've added, too... remember the two player mode for Yie Ar Kung Fu that they hinted about in Konami Arcade Classics? Well, it wasn't in the Playstation game, but it IS here, and you won't even need a second cartridge to take advantage of it. Scramble and Frogger fans are even luckier... they get enhanced versions of their favorites that look and sound nearly as good as Konami's standalone versions of Frogger and Gradius (remember, according to Gradius Galaxies, Scramble fits into the series' timeline). Even with all these bonuses, the game isn't as airtight as its Playstation counterpart... Yie Ar Kung Fu has major sound issues, Time Pilot's graphics are a little small, and Rush 'n Attack is, well, Rush 'n Attack. Still, you'll want this in your collection RIGHT NOW if you're a fan of Konami or any of its games from the early to mid 1980's.
Wai wai wai wai wai why would you want this game if you've already got Super Mario Kart: Super Circuit? Well, for starters, it's faster. The extra speed translates into extra challenge for the player, a plus for anyone who felt that Super Circuit was too easy. Speaking of challenge, it also seems like the opponents in Krazy Racers are more aggressive... you'll find yourself struggling to hold your place against them, if you're lucky enough to dodge their constant attacks. The weapons in the game are worth mentioning, too... they're pretty unusual for a kart racing game, ranging from lightning strikes to portable holes. These in turn lead to some very cartoony sight gags, which helps distinguish Krazy Racers from other games in the genre. The Konami characters also help create some distance between this game and Super Circuit, but they have the unfortunate side effect of making Krazy Racers seem a little forced. Don't get me wrong... I love Konami and I'm quite fond of their characters, but it seems like the cast was poorly chosen and shoehorned into a game that doesn't really suit them (there's no possible way you can convince me that the ninja from Metal Gear Solid belongs here). Nevertheless, Konami Krazy Racers is good to have around if you're a little too familiar with the tracks in Super Mario Kart: Super Circuit.
If you grew up playing games on an Amiga, boy are you going to love this. Lady Sia's got a very European, almost Psygnosis-like feel to it, with exaggerated background artwork, muted colors that strike a middle ground between pastels and earth tones, and well animated, slightly silly characters. Even the music will sound very familiar to you... although you probably won't be too impressed with it. Fortunately, Lady Sia isn't as demanding as most British games, and there's more freedom as well... there are no Shadow of the Beast moments where taking the beaten path will get you beaten to death. Sia isn't overflowing with technique or hidden items, but you might want to consider spending some time with this lady if you're interested in a more straightforward and approachable side-scrolling platformer. Speaking of ladies, women will really appreciate this game, because Sia's a princess with a backbone who's cute yet modest... you can climb her up that ladder a hundred times and you're never, ever going to get a panty shot out of the deal.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI It's as close as you're going to get to Diablo on the GBA. That's the best way to sum up Lord Of the Rings: Two Towers. The developer, Griptonite, did a fantastic job of fitting the Lord Of The Rings theme into the Diablo mold. Even more amazingly, it's multiplayer! You can personally customize your character quite a bit and there's five of them to choose from, including Legolas, Aragorn, Frodo, Gandolf and Eowyn. There's a lot of playtime right there. Graphically, the game fares well and the music is appropriately moody and at times sinster. Likewise, the control is pretty solid, save for some minor and infrequent hit detection problems. As with most other movie-based games, there's also some movie clips to watch, but there's not much in the way of extras beyond that. Also, a lot of the story has been trimmed away, but this is probably for the better, as it speeds up the gameplay. The designers must figure that if you don't know the story, why are you playing the game? Fair enough, I suppose. Still, for a multiplayer Diablo clone on the go, you could do a lot worse. It's definitely worth the money, and worth bugging your friends to buy a copy so they can tag along on your quest to dump the ring in Mount Doom.
Take a specialized action game that was never well suited to handhelds, then combine it with a quirky puzzle title that's a perfect fit for portable gaming, and you've got this modest collection that offers an equal mix of satisfaction and disappointment. The disappointment comes from an unplayable conversion of Marble Madness that suffers not only from the Game Boy Advance's lack of a trackball, but from lousy physics that leaves your marble rolling at light speeds down inclines and over the edge of the nearest cliff. The marble doesn't steadily pick up speed as it rolls like it did in the arcade game, resulting in gameplay that's sloppy, unrealistic, and above all else, incredibly frustrating. Fortunately, Klax comes to the rescue with a more than adequate conversion of the creative puzzle game that briefly distracted gamers from Tetris in the early 1990's. The colors aren't as striking as they were in the arcade game, but the gameplay is right on target... your tile catcher slides across the bottom of the conveyor belt with all the razor sharp precision you WON'T find in Marble Madness. If there's any reason to purchase this collection at all, Klax is it... it's not the first conversion of the game on a Game Boy system, but it's certainly the best.
I've never been fond of role-playing games, but there's something about the Mario RPG series that always keeps me coming back for more. Is it the clever writing? The battles that require both smart decisions and sharp reflexes? The wide selection of enemies, taken from games dating as far back as the original Mario Bros.? Or the fresh ideas introduced in every new sequel? It's tough to say just what makes the Mario RPG games so appealing, but you'll find plenty of that magic in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. The latest game in the series features both Mario and Luigi, working together to defeat a new enemy who threatens the Mushroom Kingdom. The brothers must cooperate to reach the top of high walls, cross wide gaps between platforms, and perform devastating attacks. Unfortunately, the control scheme used to guide both brothers through the game is complicated and confusing, tarnishing an otherwise fantastic experience. The worst part is that although Mario and Luigi lends itself extremely well to being enjoyed with two players, it's just not possible... the only way you can experience the game with a friend is to invite him to play Nintendo's all-too familiar remake of Mario Bros.
The rivalry between Mario and Sonic continues with Mario Pinball Land, Nintendo's answer to last year's Sonic Pinball Party. This time, it's Mario's turn to come out on top. Mario Pinball Land has its faults (tiny playfields being number one on that list), but it's more fun and a whole lot more impressive than either of Sonic's pinball titles on the Game Boy Advance. As Mario (squashed into an even rounder shape), you'll save Princess Peach in the usual manner, by defeating enemies, collecting the items they drop, and finding clever ways to defeat enormous stage bosses. It takes patience and excellent hand-eye coordination to beat some of the rounds... in one, you'll have to knock a quartet of snowmen dizzy, striking all four quickly before any of them can recover from the attack. In another, you'll open trap doors containing bombs, then use your flippers to hurl the explosives at a menacing blowfish. You'll need to do all this while keeping Mario in play, which makes the game pretty tough. Fortunately, you can purchase familiar items like size-increasing mushrooms and drain-blocking pipes to keep you from, heh, losing your marbles. Overall, the game is pretty solid, but most people will agree that the great graphics in Mario Pinball Land are what really sells the package. They're rendered, but they're also a lot sharper and more colorful than you'd expect.
People are going to hate me for this, but nevertheless, it must be said. Mario's lacking something in his latest adventure, and that something is a set of reproductive organs. He's not even rescuing damsels in distress anymore... in Mario vs. Donkey Kong, he's trying to save a bunch of toys from the clutches of the gorilla who helped make him famous. Yes, toys. This has to be Mario's most testosterone-free adventure yet, but fortunately, it's so full of fun that you'll barely find yourself wondering just when Nintendo had their popular mascot spayed and/or neutered. Anyway, to pursue the big ape and rescue your (ugh...) toys, you'll need to bring a key from one part of each stage to a door residing elsewhere. It sounds easy, but the spikes, switches, and enemies in each stage will force you to come up with clever ways to get from point A to point B. The great graphics (rendered though they may be) and sound will keep you in a good mood even when you find yourself frustrated by the game's more difficult puzzles, and the battles with Donkey Kong will make you glad you stuck it out to the end of each level. The game is an altogether rewarding experience... even if it seems like at least part of Mario is missing.
C'mon, admit it. You loved the He-Man cartoon when you were a kid. I know I did! I was really excited when I heard the big guy was making a comeback, but I didn't have high expectations for his video game. I wasn't disappointed when I finally played this dumbed down Diablo clone based on the Masters of the Universe license, but I'd still leave it on the shelves along with the Orko action figures. Why? Well, for starters, it's kind of ugly. Instead of drawing crisp, clean characters, the designers copped out and used computer rendering instead. As is typical on the Game Boy Advance, the rendered characters are poorly defined and lack color. If it weren't for the detailed isometric backgrounds, Masters of the Universe would be a complete eyesore. The gameplay fares better, but it isn't entirely solid... although you can count on He-Man to leap over gaping chasms, he's lousy with his sword, getting tagged repeatedly by enemies as he struggles to defend himself. The only part of the game that's truly manly is the soundtrack... the majestic themes are extremely impressive by Game Boy Advance standards and fit the license perfectly. Other than that, He-Man's muscles look pretty weak and flabby in comparison to other action RPGs on the system, including Zelda: A Link to the Past and Shining Soul.
I gave this game a chance, I honestly did. I played it for hours, thinking that I was stuck in some kind of training mode, until I came to the bitter realization that I was never going to have any control over my character or his attacks. Now, I understand that strategy games aren't exactly packed with action, but they DO offer the player a chance to interact with the game and help determine its outcome. Unfortunately, you never get that opportunity in Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge. You purchase chips before each battle, slot them into a branching path, then enter battles with opponents. From this point until the end of each match, the only reason you'll need to hold the Game Boy Advance is to skip each line of dialogue as your Net Navi clashes with its opponent. You're given two chances to offer some assistance, but past that your digital sidekick is on its own. After "playing" this for an hour, you start thinking that Capcom threw this together just to use all the graphics they had left over while making the Mega Man: Battle Network games.
Capcom's latest reinvention of the Mega Man series has a bit of Digimon flavor to it... a bunch of kids run around fighting evil with their best friends, living software that exists in a parallel world on the Internet. Many of the characters you remember from the Mega Man series are here as well, but they've been completely redesigned, looking more threatening and futuristic. The style of gameplay is quite different, too... it's split between Lan's reality and Mega Man's adventures in cyberspace, with each character's actions benefitting the other. For example, Mega Man can unlock computer controlled doors in a school held hostage, and Lan can disable the trap that holds Mega Man in place like some kind of virtual fly paper. Only Mega Man can fight enemies, and his battles are a weird cross between the previous Mega Man games, a standard RPG, Atari's Tempest, and the card game Uno. Yes, that'll actually make sense after your first handful of battles, and you'll even have a lot of fun fighting the bosses. However, the constant fights get incredibly irritating when you're just trying to reach a door or an important item, and the perplexing round designs don't help matters either. Who's the webmaster in this city anyway, MC Escher? I'd still recommend Battle Network, though... the characters have a lot of personality, the graphics are amazing (your eyelids will spring open when you see the transition from Lan's world to Mega Man's!), and the soundtrack is better than anything I've heard from the Mega Man series in a long time.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI It took you long enough, Capcom... we waited roughly five years for this, but thank you. Really. Thank you, for taking an old game that wasn't released here in the States and making it new for us Americans (the scary thing is, the mock up Jess had on the site was pretty close). Essentially Megaman 9, Megaman and Bass has the same high standards as most Megaman games and the same tried and true method of "beat the boss, get a power". And whoa! It isn't Wily running around, but some new guy named King Robot has declared himself....uh, king of the robots. Cool, I guess. What really IS cool are the game's great cartoony graphics and the chance to collect CDs to form a database on all the robot bosses EVER. A Super Famicom game only recently ported to the GBA (don't play coy, as if you didn't know), Megaman and Bass is another fine offering from Capcom. It's a little more difficult than most of the Megaman games in the first series, but not impossible... and with the collection feature, you can be sure that good times will be had by all.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI I know Capcom was trying for a hard game here, but come on! Easily one of the hardest games ever created, Mega Man Zero is just ridiculous. The nice anime inspired graphics, pretty good controls and intriguing Megaman X side story (hey, we found Zero! And Megaman X is apparently CRAZY! WOOOOOOOOOOOO! GO FUTURE!) mean nothing when paired with the stupid hard difficulty. Powerups are few and far between (levelling up your weapons by constantly shooting enemies is NOT fun), and the nearly worthless Cyber-Elf powerup system adds to the already high level of frustration. So what if you get a password and ranking to see how well you did? Nobody can beat the damn thing except for those who GameSharked it. You may have thought Rayman was bad, but Rayman has NOTHING on this game. A word to the wise... unless you like screaming, try something easier on your blood pressure because Megaman Zero is definitely NOT it.
It looks just like Metal Slug, and it sounds just like Metal Slug, but this Game Boy Advance release is very different from the military shooters that were so popular on the Neo-Geo in the 1990's. This time, you won't get far by relying solely on your trigger finger and a pocket bulging with quarters. Success in Metal Slug depends on your ability to both memorize and navigate the rough terrain, littered with enemy soldiers and instantly fatal pits. Unlike the previous games, you're given a small health bar that will cushion you from a few hits. However, once the health bar is emptied, you can't jump back into the action at the exact spot you died... you're sent back to a checkpoint, and robbed of all the hidden items you uncovered in the stage. This makes Metal Slug Advance a much different experience from SNK's money-hungry arcade games... an experience that isn't quite as satisfying thanks to the weak level design. The stages are frustratingly linear, and lack the distinctive details and organic scenery that helped make the original Metal Slug a classic. Instead of marching over sandy shores, scaling to the top of rickety scaffolding, and driving your tank over shimmering waterfalls, you get a seemingly neverending stretch of drab forest, followed by a dimly lit cavern lined with piles of stones. Despite its shortcomings, Metal Slug Advance's sharp control and a punishing difficulty level will keep fans of the series occupied until they've given the real thing sometime next year.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI It's here, and it's freaking beyond sweet... but there's something wrong with having a linear Metroid that takes under five hours to beat. Part of Metroid's original appeal was that you were free to explore a very large area. Metroid Fusion isn't strictly linear, but you do have to follow a set path to get anywhere. That doesn't stop the game from being terrifically fun, with moments that are right on par with the other Metroid games. A couple of scenes with the SA-X are straight out of Resident Evil 3's crib notes (it might as well have been chanting "S.T.A.R.S."...), but I was left wanting the SA-X to actually ATTACK me. There's no way Nintendo could screw up the way the game looks and sounds... Samus's new suit looks bio-creepy cool, the bosses are fantastic, the music gets you going and the story is much more pronounced than in previous Metroids. That's due in part to the linear play, I suppose so that's not a terrible thing. Even though the game is dreadfully short, it's still a worthy buy for the fact that it's fun and you can use the data you earned in Metroid Prime for the GameCube. God bless GameCube/Game Boy Advance connectivity!
Ignore what you've heard... this is no mere remake of the original Metroid. It sure seems like one at first, but spend some time with Metroid Zero and you'll discover that it's an entirely new adventure. Everything you remember from the first Metroid has been changed... Samus has abilities taken from the other games in the series and the levels are even more massive and deviously designed than before. There are challenging new bosses guaranteed to take you by surprise, and the original cast of characters have been made more theatening. If you're expecting Kraid to be the puny runt he was in the NES game, boy are you in for a big, BIG surprise! Despite all these differences, this game does have one thing in common with the original... it's a more traditional Metroid game than Metroid Fusion. There are no X viruses floating around, no evil Samus clone relentlessly pursuing you, and none of the suffocating linearity that made Fusion beatable in a couple of days.
This is awful! What kind of sad excuse for a collection IS this, anyway? Considering the consistantly high quality of the previous Midway Arcade Classics games, I thought it was a guarantee that this would be worth buying. It looks like I was sadly mistaken. Midway was just as foolish to hire someone other than Mass Media or Digital Eclipse to make this game, because the conversions of Robotron, Sinistar, Joust, and Defender are sloppy, tough to play, and riddled with flaws. Joust has inaccurate character artwork and unrealistic physics. Robotron's got a piss-poor control scheme and cheap special effects. It's nearly impossible to aim in the super cramped Sinistar, and Defender? Bleh, who wants that? If they had to give us a game in that series, it should have been Stargate. The only thing mindblowing about this misbegotten collection is that the Super NES and Genesis versions were better... a whole lot better.
Listen up, Midway. You might have been able to get away with releasing lousy software on the Game Boy Color, but things are different now. The Game Boy Advance is a more powerful machine with an older fan base... there are adults playing this system, and they've seen enough quality Game Boy Advance games to know what it can do. They'll consider Mortal Kombat Advance an insult, which is the only conclusion they could come to after playing the worst conversion of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 ever made. I haven't played a fighting game on the Game Boy Advance that wastes the system's power as masterfully as MKA, and with any luck, I never will. The game is an eyesore in comparison to the Super NES and Genesis (yes, Genesis) versions of UMK3, with hideously washed out backgrounds and small, anorexic characters. The physics are a mess, and the gameplay is even worse... if you thought the other Mortal Kombat games were cheap, you'll go mad when you watch your character bounce around the screen from being juggled to death, often because the computer opponent keeps repeating the same move. I guess Midway can't be bothered to make an enjoyable Mortal Kombat game for a lowly handheld system, so let's not trouble them any further with our money. After all, they might have to take it all the way down to the bank or something.
Wow... I never thought I'd actually say this, but I think I'm gonna miss the old Mortal Kombat. Deadly Alliance has many of the trademarks of previous Mortal Kombat games, but the gameplay was left behind in favor of something new and different... but not necessarily better. There are no more lightning fast, adrenaline-pumping battles... you're given close range combat in the Virtua Fighter vein instead. Traditional Mortal Kombat attacks like Sub-Zero's iceball and Scorpion's harpoon help close the gap between distant players, but these classic moves are less effective than before now that players can dodge them with a simple tap of the up or down button. The gameplay is solid, but the major changes to the Mortal Kombat engine might tear your heart out (both figuratively and literally) if you're a devoted fan of the series. Furthermore, Deadly Alliance's design makes unreasonable demands of the Game Boy Advance hardware, resulting in some of the ugliest graphics on the system since Tekken Advance.
Yowza! The sequel to Mr. Driller sounds as good as Iridion 3D looks... in addition to adorable music, there's more spoken dialogue than you'd ever expect from a portable. It's even more amazing than the theme song from Faselei! for the Neo-Geo Pocket, and a whole lot more clear, too. However, with the sound turned down, it's just as clear that the game is pretty simplistic, just like the first Mr. Driller. There's a new character (with no apparent advantages over Susumu other than a less obnoxious voice), and you'll find one ups hidden deep within the stacks of colorful blocks, but there's still no trace of what the Mr. Driller series needs the most... challenging puzzles. Still, even though you could play this game with the D-pad taped down, there are a lot of people out there who dearly love Mr. Driller, and I suspect they won't be disappointed with this sequel.
Back when it was first released, Mr. Nutz was a charming platformer, certainly not on Mario or Sonic's level but nevertheless impressive with its vibrantly colored backgrounds and solid gameplay. These days, it's much harder to appreciate Mr. Nutz... its linear levels and lack of variety make it seem rather drab, even with its appealing graphics. It's still fun, though, in a fruity European sort of way. If it gives you any idea, Mr. Nutz spends a lot of time battling such intimidating foes as incontinent porcupines, dancing thistles, mop-topped fairies, and catapillers who seem determined to steal your Cookie Crisp. If you grew up with an Amiga, none of this will strike you as odd, but if you spent your childhood playing NES or Genesis games it may take you a while to adjust to the very British presentation.
I get it now! It's all a terrible mistake! Natsume was supposed to make Pocky and Rocky for the Game Boy Advance, and ALTRON was originally hired to design this, except the projects were somehow mailed to the wrong companies! That perfectly explains why Natsume's obvious talents were wasted on this adaptation of the film that looks and sounds terrific, but is about as fun as, well, running around a convoluted house picking up stale pieces of candy while avoiding enemies you can never actually kill. Even if it's got a Disney license, a game automatically loses points with me if it's got foes you can't eliminate. It takes a lot away from the game, and the playfields that don't offer much freedom of movement leave you with even less as a result. If you liked the film enough to waste your money on cheap products with the Monsters, Inc. logo stamped on them, head to the local toy store and get a stuffed Sulley toy instead. At least you can be sure HE'LL have John Goodman's real voice.
I didn't think anyone could make a side-scrolling beat 'em up that's even more boring and pointless than Super Duper Sumos, but Digital Eclipse has somehow managed to do it. Uh... congratulations? Anyway, Mascaritas of the Lost Code is based on a cartoon starring a handful of kids training to be Mexican wrestlers. You'd think this would have some promise as a video game, but you won't find anything that even remotely resembles wrestling in Mucha Lucha. Your fighter has none of the graceful, stylish moves you'd expect from a luchador... just punches, kicks, and a not-so-special special attack that takes forever to charge. The only thing that differentiates Mucha Lucha from Super Duper Sumos is that the graphics are horrible, perhaps the worst you'll ever see on the Game Boy Advance. In fact, it's safe to say that Mucha Lucha is both the worst fighting game and the worst wrestling game on the system.
I guess this makes up for Mass Media's other Namco Museum ports. It's got a few of the same flaws, but they're forgivable; perhaps even necessary on a portable system. Besides, the games are all well translated... Ms. Pac-Man in particular is better here than it was on the Dreamcast or N64. Galaga and Galaxian don't look quite as nice, but the aliens, as small as they are, are still just as graceful, flying in all the beautiful formations you remember from the arcade games. Dig Dug, on the other hand, looks just like the original thanks to a scrolling playfield. Every game plays well, and nothing's been removed or drastically changed... even the sound effects and most of the music were perfectly recreated.
It's awfully hard to imagine a scenerio where it would make sense to buy this, but here goes! All right, say you didn't have a PSP and couldn't play the fantastic Namco Museum: Battle Collection, which contains all the games on Namco Museum 50th Anniversary plus a whole lot more. Let's also say that you couldn't find used copies of the original Namco Museum and Pac-Man Collection for the Game Boy Advance, which are also quite good, and together would cost about the same as this more recent release. Now let's assume that you've got an allergy to PC emulation and home game consoles that makes you break out in a painful rash... that rules out MAME and the three home versions of Namco Museum 50th Anniversary. Finally, let's pretend that you grew up playing nothing but Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, and didn't really care how the other games on the cartridge turned out. If all of these hypothetical situations were true, then maybe, just maybe, you'd have a good reason to run out and buy this cartridge. However, it's a lot more safe to assume that you'll be disappointed with the lackluster conversions of Dig Dug, Rally-X, and especially Galaga, which suffers from compressed graphics and a shaky frame rate. Pac-Man and its sultry sequel hold up a little better, comparing favorably to the translations on Pac-Man Collection and the original Namco Museum, but it just isn't smart to waste good money on conversions that are as good, but not better, than what's appeared on previous Namco collections.
Other reviewers will proclaim this to be one of the most original games on the system, but don't you believe 'em! The truth is that Nicktoons Freeze Frame Frenzy is closely patterned after Photograph Boy, a Japanese release for the Turbografx-16. It was never released in America, but its wacky characters, hilarious comedy, and deliciously different gameplay made it a big hit on the Internet. It's no wonder that Altron brought this formula to these shores on the Game Boy Advance, and it's not much more surprising that they'd associate it with the Nicktoons license... after all, Photograph Boy looked just like a Nickelodeon cartoon anyway. Nicktoons Freeze Frame Frenzy plays just like the game that inspired it... it's a side-scrolling platformer which forces you to keep your character safe from harm while taking snapshots of everything that moves. The graphics are fantastic and the game is extremely faithful to the license, even borrowing jokes from shows like The Fairly Oddparents and Spongebob Squarepants, but sadly, Nicktoons Freeze Frame Frenzy just isn't as fun as Photograph Boy due to a lack of challenge and mediocre level design.
I didn't actually think I'd LIKE this. I mean, the last Nicktoons Racing, released for the Game Boy Color, was a long way from being spectacular. However, this comes pretty darn close to being as good as the other kart racers available for the Game Boy Advance. The playfields in Nicktoons Racing are a little plain, but roadside details such as the hydrants in Catdog's stage actually rotate as you drive around them, and there's a really cool effect when you drive over speed strips... the screen zooms out slightly as a jet of flame shoots out of your kart, almost as if the camera's having trouble keeping up with your character as they zip past their opponents. In addition to the impressive graphics, the game plays well and is pretty challenging, although just like Konami Krazy Racers, part of that challenge is derived from the aggravating pits liberally placed on the tracks. Still, it's safe to say that you'll really enjoy this if you're a fan of the cartoons on Nickelodeon... although even the most devoted Nick viewers may have a tough time figuring out what the oddball weapons have to do with their favorite shows.
Looks, and for that matter, names can be deceiving. Ninja Cop's lackluster title and bland graphics, well below typical Konami standards, will convince you that there's nothing special about this game. However, play it for a while and you'll find yourself hooked by addictive gameplay that's an equal mixture of two classic action games. Peeking over crates and tossing shuriken at gun-toting thugs will remind you of Shinobi, probably more than the "real" thing recently released on the Game Boy Advance. Catching platforms with a chain and swinging onto them is straight out of Capcom's Bionic Commando. The two styles come together to form a more complex, well-rounded game, and one of the better action platformers on the system. The graphics and sound lack the flair you'd expect from Konami, but you'll be so wrapped up in the game you'll barely notice.
Old, new... I'll take my Bubble Bobble any way I can get it! Fortunately, both versions of the game are excellent... I'd go so far as to say that Mediakite's translation of the original is better than Acclaim's rather disappointing Saturn version of Bubble Bobble, thanks to its large, crisp characters and reliable control. However, the sound is disappointing, thanks to the inconsistent quality of the instruments playing the classic Bubble Bobble theme. That's all right, though, because the new version of Bubble Bobble picks up the slack with a really impressive, pepped up remix. Bub and Bob, now redrawn and looking surprisingly thin, can even talk, shouting "Babu!" and "Yay!" whenever they collect items. Aside from this and the more detailed backgrounds, New Bubble Bobble isn't much different from the original, with the same rounds and a very handy zoom option that lets you view the game in full detail or keep track of all onscreen enemies on the fly.
I wouldn't have expected this from Mass Media after playing their rather lousy Dreamcast conversion of Namco Museum. This is an excellent collection, though... I'd go as far as to say that it's the best one on the Game Boy Advance. It not only features Pac-Man Arrangement, the fun arcade game with plenty of variety and some downright cuddly monsters, but the best home version of the original Pac-Man I've ever played, and a decent puzzle game for those times when you've munched all you can munch and you can't munch no more. There's also Pac-Mania, but trust me, you don't want that.
Pac-Man's never had much luck in the world of pinball, and this half-hearted release by Human Soft (not to be confused with the folks who first gave the world Fire Pro Wrestling) does little to break that losing streak. Like Mario's own pinball game on the Game Boy Advance, Pac-Man Pinball Advance blends rudimentary adventure elements into the traditional flipper-flapping action, then throws in a heaping cup of computer rendering to give the finished product a 21st century sheen. They may have had the same recipe Nintendo used to make Mario Pinball Land, but it only takes one bite to realize that Namco and Human used store brand ingredients in their own creation. The graphics in Pac-Man Pinball are kind of fugly, with a table that teeters back and forth as if it's been drinking heavily, and the player never really understands what needs to be done in order to make progress. Strike all the targets you want, and eat all the dots and ghosts you like, but chances are, you'll be stuck on the same table for the remainder of the game, listening to the same bewilderingly dramatic background music. If you already have Pokemon Pinball, the crown standard of silver ball sims on the Game Boy Advance, feel free to let this one roll down the drain.
This generic side-scrolling shooter is nowhere near as polished or memorable as Gradius Galaxies, but it does have a few things going for it. First of all, it's a fairly accurate translation of the Super NES game (wait, is that a compliment?). Another plus is that it's fast paced, so you won't have time to think about how ridiculous the enemies look and how similar the game is to dozens of other shooters. Finally, the weapon system is interesting... you can hold up to three guns, and each one has a built in desperation attack you can use to defend yourself (if you don't mind losing that weapon afterwards). It's tough to offer much else in this game's defense, though.
Well, that's a relief. After playing Earthworm Jim, I thought Majesco's second Super NES port was doomed, but this is actually very close to the original. The animation is still fantastic... the vines that were already impressive on the 2600 version of Pitfall! look a whole lot better here, and there's even a subtle reference to the film Terminator 2 when Harry Jr. sinks into a mudhole. The gameplay is also quick and smooth, although using the shoulder buttons for some of the weapons is a little clumsy. The only thing that seems to be missing from the Super NES version of The Mayan Adventure (aside from the hidden version of the original Pitfall!, but you can thank the lawyers at Activision for this) is a lot of color. The backgrounds are so washed out that even the color deficient Genesis version looks more attractive.
Y'know, I had a soft spot in my heart for this one; at first, anyways. I was won over by the ability to aim your character's stinger at not only the bad guys but annoying non-player characters as well. Better yet, after he attacks one of the useless morons, Pinobee takes time to brag about it in his diary, sometimes describing that he stung them because they were too bossy. I could sure use a guy like him in my party the next time I play one of those generic RPGs... those annoying townspeople would think twice before demanding that I find their stupid little trinkets! But oh yeah, back to the review. I can't get into Pinobee now that Sonic Advance has been released... the graphics that were once an impressive demonstration of the Game Boy Advance's color palette just look blurred and messy now. The gameplay is similarly out of focus... Pinobee's got a half dozen ways to cheat gravity but only a couple of attacks, and the enemies just aren't aggressive enough to make the game exciting. Sonic Advance has raised the bar for platformers on the Game Boy Advance, and now matter how high he flies, a second rate mascot like Pinobee will never be able to clear it.
I don't know why Hudson Soft kept this a secret... it's the first Pinobee game people might actually want to play. In this sequel to the underwhelming original, the quest of heart passes from Pinobee to his freshly manufactured sister Phoebee after a nasty looking villain tears it out of her chest (viva la Mortal Kombat!) and scattered the pieces throughout several stages. Both Pinobee and Phoebee are playable, and each have advantages that give the player an incentive to switch between the two characters. You can close the gap between their abilities by collecting CDs in each round, then using them to improve the bees in a variety of areas. It's a much more logical and intuitive power up system than what was in the first Pinobee, and makes the game a lot more fun and addictive. In fact, just about everything in Pinobee and Phoebee is better than in the first game... the graphics are more crisp, there are a lot more cutscenes (sometimes in the rounds themselves rather than just between them), and there's no irritating head bloat once your character runs out of boost power- you're given an easy to read meter instead. There's still too much computer rendering going on for my tastes, but Pinobee and Phoebee has everything else you'd expect from the best Game Boy Advance platformers, right down to the cute sidekick.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI Love it or hate it, Pokemon has clung to the belly of America and won't let go. Now in its third original version, the Pokemon series is, pardon the term, evolving into a much more streamlined RPG. New to this version is much more in depth stats and powers for your monsters, dual battles (two on two, although unfortunately these battles are few and far between, plus they aren't mandatory) and a much higher overall difficulty. You can't cheat and bring in the old monsters you raised, and you can't exploit some game glitch. Welcome to Painsville... population, you and your bitch ass monsters. You will have to do some old- fashioned level up tricks, but that's part of the Pokemon appeal... watching your creatures grow and eventually changing them into more powerful forms. Although a lot has changed, it doesn't look much different. It just looks like there's better use of the color palette and there's a bit more animation in battles. It would have been nice to see a bit more...pizazz added to a Game Boy Advance Pokemon title instead of such a "safe bet approach". Oh well, as it stands, it's not just for kids and it's a time consuming RPG, what more could you want?
Just how many of these lackluster classic collections is Destination Software planning to release, anyway? I hope this'll be the last one, because I just don't think I can take the heartbreak. Anyway, this is a conversion of two Atari arcade games, along with a 2600 classic that was the system's first killer app. Unfortunately, Yar's Revenge doesn't fare nearly as well on the Game Boy Advance... while all the raw sound effects are accurately reproduced, the gameplay lacks the frantic pace that made the original so intense. Your mutant fly no longer darts around the screen, instead sluggishly wading through it like he's stuck in a puddle of thick intergalactic molasses. Asteroids is a more acceptable translation, although its fuzzy vector graphics and cheap animation put it a step behind the port included in Atari Anniversary Collection. Finally, there's Pong, which is... well, Pong. The conversion doesn't disappoint, but then again, it's doubtful that anyone would approach a game this old with high expectations. Put these three games together, and you're left with the most underwhelming classic collection on a handheld system since, er, the last one Destination Software released.
I'm a little tired of the sentence you'll invariably read in reviews of licensed games... you know, where the reviewer claims that "fans of (insert cash cow film or television series here) will enjoy this." I've always felt that, if a game is crappy, nobody should be subjected to it, even if they can name all the droids in the Star Wars series and found ET in the Phantom Menace before everyone else. Anyways, as much as I hate to do it, I've got to start this review by saying, "fans of The Powerpuff Girls will enjoy this." If I liked the cartoon, I probably would have been willing to forgive this game's primitive animation and ugly backgrounds, and would instead talk about the great music, well drawn cut-scenes, and the play mechanics that are reminescent of long forgotten shooters like Air Zonk and Rabbit Punch. I can't get too excited about any of this, though, because I think The Powerpuff Girls are overrated... and I can't blind myself to the fact that the gameplay (as innovative as it may be) is flawed, simplistic, and occasionally frustrating. If Sennari includes Mojo Jojo A-Gogo's promising play mechanics in an improved sequel, they might come up with a game that everyone will enjoy.
I didn't expect much from this game... the title character looked
pretty ridiculous, and besides, it was by Titus! Yes, they're
the Superman 64 guys. They're also the Xena: Warrior Princess
guys, the Blues Brothers guys, and the guys who couldn't get the
rights to Sonic but tried to embarrass Tails anyway with their own
cheesy fox mascot. With this in mind, you'll wonder how
Prehistorik Man turned out so uncommonly good. It's got the
bright, detailed, cartoony graphics you remember from the best Super
NES games, plus solid gameplay, great voices and music, and a
variety of items that helps add to the game's challenge (beware...
finish the round without a lot of goodies and the village elder will
read you the riot act). If you like stone aged side scrollers,
you'll be really happy with this one... Prehistorik Man feels less
stiff than Chuck Rock, looks sharper than Bonk's Adventure, and has
more depth than Joe and Mac.
Sega seems to be the only company that can bring a great puzzler to the Game Boy Advance without compromising it or adding disturbingly weird characters (you know, like the ones in Hot Potato). Considering that Puyo Puyo is one of the few Sega games the Japanese really appreciate, I suppose they felt they couldn't drop the ball- or rather, the blob- on this new edition of the series. Anyway, a little girl named Arle and her pet Karbunkle wander past a gate and meet a series of monsters who battle the duo in puzzle matches. Blobs rain down in each player's section of the screen, and to remove them, you just touch four like-colored blobs together... it doesn't matter how, just make sure they gel together. Puyo Puyo encourages you to be more aggressive than that, though... frankly, the only way you'll win is by attacking opponents with layers of transparent (and therefore unmatchable) blobs, which can only be created by making brainstrainingly complex chains of matches. It may be too tough for most gamers, but experienced puzzle game fans will find it just as hard to go back to the rather plain Tetris after their first Puyo Puyo match.
Inspired by Super Bust-A-Move, Sega took its Puyo Puyo series in a new direction with Puyo Pop Fever, replacing the decade old Arle and Karbunkle with a fresh cast of brightly colored, boldly drawn characters. The difference is that, unlike Super Bust-A-Move, Puyo Pop Fever actually benefits from these changes... the characters are adorable and imaginatively designed, but they're never so abstractly drawn that it's impossible to tell what they're supposed to be. As for the gameplay, there doesn't seem to be any major changes to it... at first. However, you'll eventually notice that the colored blobs you're dropping sometimes congeal into different forms even before they've hit the ground, creating a variety of exquisite patterns. More importantly, using chain reactions to match colors fills a meter in the center of the screen. Once this is full, you'll enter fever mode, a frantic bonus round which doubles as a secret weapon against your opponent. Keep clearing away the patterns of blobs the computer sends your way and you'll overwhelm your opponent with a devastating rain of screen-filling debris! Fever mode is an exciting feature that helps make this otherwise familiar puzzle game stand out from the crowd.
MUST... SMASH... GAME BOY ADVANCE!!! Oh, er, sorry. Remember how obnoxiously hard Rayman was on the Saturn and Playstation? Well, the system may have changed, but the frustration remains the same. Digital Eclipse may have taken steps to make this game less blood boilingly aggravating, but they didn't do enough... giving Rayman more hit points and lives is a step in the right direction, but they don't help much when you've stepped off the edge of a cliff. It's worth mentioning that many of the game's rounds are BLANKETED with pits and spikes, and of course, any contact with them means instant death. Don't be seduced by Rayman's gorgeous backgrounds and smooth animation... if you want your Game Boy Advance around to play other games, you won't buy this one.
Don't let the title scare you... this has surprisingly little to do with the abysmal game released for the Playstation a couple of years ago. Actually, it doesn't have much in common with any of the other Road Rash games, playing more like the kart racing titles that are all too common on the Game Boy Advance. The number of racers has been pared down from sixteen to a mere four, and it's tougher to be knocked off your bike... now, collisions with cars and buildings merely leave you dazed for a few seconds, rather than throwing you off your ride. Although you can still fight with your opponents, it's much more effective to collect items from the boxes scattered throughout each track. These range from handy oil slicks to a devastatingly powerful shovel... use this on a fellow rasher and you can guarantee that he'll be left in the dust. The biggest difference of all from the original Road Rash games is that Jailbreak has much better graphics... the roads still twist and buckle like an angry rattlesnake, but they scroll more smoothly and feature more detail than they ever did on the Genesis. If you haven't already had your fill of competitive racing games on the Game Boy Advance, you'll want to make room on your plate for Road Rash: Jailbreak.
Now here's a strong argument for Game Boy Advance ports if I've ever seen one. An original game might not be such a good thing if they turn out like this. The rather questionably named Revenge of Shinobi isn't like the Genesis game at all, but rather a generic new adventure by a team of relatively inexperienced American designers. I guess T*HQ thought that if the game had ninjas in it, that was enough reason to call it Shinobi. Sorry, guys, but that's not good enough for most fans of the series. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of games fit that description, but there's only one Shinobi, and this ain't it. This isn't even a good side-scroller in its own right... it's just another licensed Game Boy Advance game with grainy rendered graphics and uninspired level design. Even the music, an admirable collection of Japanese instrumentals, is much too generic, bearing little resemblence to the intense themes in Sega's own Shinobi games.
After fifteen years, Alex and Ryan have returned to River City for a high school reunion. If you were a fan of their fantastic yet sadly overlooked fighting game for the NES, I'd suggest you attend as well. As the name suggests, River City Ransom EX is an enhanced version of the original game, with sharper graphics, more weapons and attacks, and bosses that are more than just headswaps of all the other characters. On the downside, the additional levels from the X68000 computer version were not included, and the clanking of metal pipes and wooden sticks as they hit the ground lack the impact they had on the NES. Also, Atlus may have gone overboard with the new moves... some of the martial arts skills available in the bookstores make you practically unstoppable. Fortunately, they can be turned off in the options screen if you find yourself abusing them too much. Overall, River City Ransom EX is a good, solid port of the classic NES game... but a true sequel would have been even more satisfying.
First, allow me to clear up a few misconceptions about this game. Contrary to what you've heard elsewhere, Sigma Star Saga is not The Guardian Legend. It is not a sequel to this unsung hero of the NES software library, nor is it a spiritual successor. Yes, Sigma Star Saga combines the rapid-fire action of a shooter with the slower pace and more complex gameplay of an adventure game, but Wayforward's approach to merging these two genres is entirely different from Compile's... and frankly, not as effective. Sigma Star Saga plays out like your typical role-playing game, but instead of turn-based battles, you're frequently teleported into a ship to blast airborne creatures in a low-rent shooter hobbled by some very poor design decisions. The ship you're given during each battle is chosen at random, ranging from speedy space fighters to titanic garbage scows, and the stage design is both bland and repetitive... once you've seen one battle, you've seen them all. However, the other half of Sigma Star Saga redeems the package. The storyline is excellent, full of original science-fiction concepts and snappy dialogue, and the weapon customization system has promise... or would, if it weren't weighed down by the mediocrity of the shooter scenes. Fans of adventure games looking for something fresh and new will want to take to the skies with Sigma Star Saga, but if you're waiting for the next Guardian Legend, keep waiting.
What can I say? I'm even more impressed with this game than I was with the Dreamcast version. They're both great translations, but the scope mechanics people thought couldn't be done on the Dreamcast are that much tougher to do on the less powerful Game Boy Advance. Konami really came through, though, making a fully functional Game Boy Advance version of Silent Scope with tighter, more intuitive control than its sometimes frustrating Dreamcast counterpart. Nintendo's portable obviously comes up short in the graphics department, but they're still quite good thanks in part to the magnifying lens of the scope, which reveals everything from sinister terrorists to ladies in compromising positions (who reward you with extra health despite being both ogled and targeted with a sniper rifle at the same time).
Can I just say that I personally find this game offensive? It geniunely bothers me that Snood is more widely recognized by the public than Bust-A-Move, the puzzle game that it so shamelessly rips off. The designers of Snood may have had a lot of success stealing Taito's ideas, but they can never make their game as fun or as charming as Bust-A-Move. Snood will always be a cheap clone, with an unappealing cast of characters, unprofessionally drawn graphics, and a soundtrack that seems like it would be more at home on a Commodore 64 than a Game Boy Advance. There's nothing wrong with the gameplay... in fact, it seems like it's easier to line up shots in Snood than it is in Bust-A-Move. Despite this slight advantage, I still have to wonder why anyone would settle for this cheap clone when they could play the real thing for the same price (or a whole lot less, if they download Russ Prince's great Game Boy Advance port of the first Bust-A-Move).
Before the Game Boy Advance, Sega didn't take their handheld versions of Sonic too seriously. If you need proof, just look at Sonic on the game.com. However, Sega can't afford to laugh off any game system these days, even the smaller ones. Knowing this, the designers at Sonic Team, along with the creators of Sonic Pocket Adventure for the Neo-Geo Pocket, handled Sonic Advance with the utmost care. They added more playable characters, more special effects, more detailed backgrounds, and more animation than has ever been in a side-scrolling Sonic game, and ended up with a contender for both the best Sonic game AND the best Game Boy Advance title ever made. It's fun, it's inventive, it's charming, and it's even got the virtual pet simulator from Sonic Adventure. After playing this, you start to wonder if Sonic joined forces with Mario just so he could humiliate the fat little plumber on his own turf.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI Holy smeggin' crap. As if Sonic Advance wasn't amazing enough, Sega comes along and throws out this gem (seriously, no Chaos Emerald joke intended). The graphics are great, with fine detail in the running and standing animations, plus there are awesome cutscenes, tons of stuff to unlock, and a new character... go Cream! Also back is the tiny Chao Garden for more digital pet caretaking. There are even more multiplayer modes, and nothing can improve a game quite like multiplayer link support, even when it isn't necessary. The only thing weighing this awesome package down is insanely hard stages, some with indeterminate paths and others that force you to collect all the SP rings (collect all the SP Rings? You're drinking...). The action's also a bit too fast for the Game Boy Advance, but otherwise it's completely worth your money. You'll definitely be sitting for hours playing it anyways, considering how hard it is. How else will you earn Amy, dammit?
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI You'll play it. You'll say to yourself you wanna like it, but something just isn't there. That's the feeling you're left with after playing Sonic Pinball Party. It's got three clever tables based on Sonic Team's most popular titles (Sonic Adventure, NiGHTS [Damn you for the NiGHTS tease, Sega!] and Samba De Amigo), but the control and the ball physics just aren't there. It doesn't prevent you from having fun; it just detracts from the package, which is unfortunate because it's typical Sega goodness. The story mode (in a pinball game?) is lackluster, mostly due to the fact that some of the goals (fifteen million in five minutes?!) are ridiculous. The bells and whistles are definitely there, however. There's music from three of Sonic Team's games and a few others (imagine my surprise hearing Chu-Chu Fever on the Samba table...), and all the cool little modes in the game (there's a hidden Samba mini game, plus a great new puzzle game in the Tiny Chao Garden. YAY!) makes it still worth getting. Add the fact that it's a Target store exclusive, and you have a potential collector's item plus along with a neat time waster.
Wow... it's a Nicktoons game by T*HQ, and it's actually good! Thank goodness for outside developers! As you may know, I love the cartoon, but the first Spongebob game (on that video game landfill commonly referred to as the Game Boy Color) was so rotten that even I couldn't stand it. This, however, is definitely an improvement. Sure, it's just a Mario/Sonic clone, but it's done well, and episodes of the show aren't just mentioned in passing... they're actually part of the gameplay. For instance, in Sandy's air bubble, you've got to jump in pans of water to keep Spongebob from turning into Spongedust. The only thing that's missing is the humor... the music is still wacky, but the dialogue is boring, and although Spongebob is well animated, it's not the kind of over the top cartoon animation you'd expect from Stephen Hillenburg.
Many were convinced that Majesco's series of videos for the Game Boy Advance would instantly obsolete the VideoNow player. After testing out a couple of these cartridges, however, I've got to say that Hasbro shouldn't worry too much about its future in the portable video system wars. Yes, Majesco's cartridges are in color, and yes, they've crammed a lot of video into each one, but the blotchy video and missing frames of animation wring most of the fun out of shows like Spongebob Squarepants. The interface is actually pretty keen... you can preview clips of each episode in a tiny window before you select them, but the designers are going to have to greatly improve the overall video quality before these cartridges can become the VideoNow killer that Majesco intended them to be.
Oh, yeah... 'tis the season to be jolly, especially if you find this in your stocking! Spyro's latest quest on the Game Boy Advance is extremely faithful to the excellent Playstation games, and the isometric perspective that some Spyro fans were worried about isn't an issue at all... it never impedes your movement or hides items you need to finish each of the rounds. In fact, this viewpoint offers plenty of benefits, including great graphics and the freedom of movement that made the Playstation games so popular. In short, Seasons of Ice looks, feels, and especially sounds (thanks to a Stewart Copeland inspired soundtrack and perfectly sampled effects) like a legitimate Spyro the Dragon game. As far as I'm concerned, that's exactly what it is.
Who wants Spyro? I do, I do! And you will too, if you like adventure games. You'll find plenty to do in Spyro's latest quest... after a nutty professor's mistake brings the nasty Ripto and his goons back to Dragon Shores, you'll need to collect a handful of hearts with the power to drive the Rhynocs back to their own land. Of course, the owners of the hearts won't just let you have them... you'll have to run dozens of errands before you'll get a shot at Ripto himself. Why don't the non-player characters in these games ever realize the gravity of the situation and just let you have the items that will ultimately save their lives and the world? Who knows. Just be glad the journey for the hearts is filled with vibrant graphics and inventive play mechanics... for instance, to open vaults containing valuable items, you'll have to locate and press two hidden buttons within the span of thirty seconds. The isometric perspective can make it difficult to judge the position of platforms, and the constant item collecting can get tedious, but it's still worth taking flight with this superb Spyro sequel.
No matter what console you own, you can't escape games based on the Star Wars films. Believe me, I've tried... when even the 3DO got one, I gave up and accepted the fact that the Force will always be with video game fans, whether they want it or not. Even if you don't like Star Wars, you've got to admit that Jedi Power Battles is a great idea for a game, letting you race through scenes pulled straight from The Phantom Menace as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui Gon Jinn, or Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson gets a lot more legwork here, unlike in the film where he could have used a cardboard cutout as a stand-in). Unfortunately, just like the film, Jedi Power Battles has a lot of irritating problems. The Jedi Masters don't have enough attacks, and despite the fluid animation that distinguishes their fighting styles, they're too much alike... each character should have had his own special abilities rather than sharing the same basic light saber attacks and worthless laser deflect. Furthermore, the feeling of being overwhelmed by droids that was in Phantom Menace isn't here... the most you'll find onscreen at once is five or six, and they're not particularly dangerous. That is, of course, until they start shoving you into pits. That's when Jedi Power Battles turns to the dark side... there are sections where you'll have to leap over chasms, and even if you make it across, a punch or laser beam from a droid might send you into the abyss anyways. I've said it a million times, and I'm not afraid to say it again... game designers, people don't LIKE to be thrown into pits. That's also why they won't like Jedi Power Battles, even though it's faithful to the Star Wars films right down to the excellent (unlike everything else the man's written lately) John Williams soundtrack.
STREET FIGHTER ALPHA
3 CAPCOM
(CRAWFISH) Only the most unreasonable gamer could complain about this exceptional conversion of Street Fighter Alpha 3. The late, lamented design team Crawfish had to take out a few features from the Dreamcast and Playstation versions, but the game still has a great deal to offer, including an immense selection of characters, crisp, colorful backgrounds, and superb animation. Most importantly, the gameplay is still intact... it's fast, smooth, and fun, just the way Capcom fans like it. The only legitimate complaint one could weigh against the game is that the sound doesn't have as much impact as the graphics or gameplay. The voices are heavily recycled and the music manages to be both hit AND miss at the same time thanks to inconsistent instrument quality, but explosions and hit effects still carry the same weight as they had in previous versions. Overall, Street Fighter Alpha 3 was more than worth the long wait... it's just a shame that its design team didn't last long enough to outdo themselves with Game Boy Advance ports of other Capcom fighting games.
Oops, Altron did it again. They made another game for Taito that was just good enough to put on shelves but not enough to impress fans of either the Game Boy Advance or the game they were translating to the system. Their latest half-effort is Super Bust-A-Move, a watered down port of the Playstation 2 version of Bust-A-Move which, it's worth mentioning, isn't even the best game in the Puzzle Bobble series. The basic gameplay is good enough, the still pictures and backgrounds are vivid, and the music is faithful to the Playstation 2 game... but like the similarly disappointing Neo-Geo Pocket version of Bust-A-Move, the bubbles and just about everything else is so damned tiny. I suspect that a punch to the face would hurt your eyes less than playing this on an actual Game Boy Advance.
I've never had the "pleasure" of watching the cartoon that inspired this game, but if it's even half as stupid and insulting as this, I think it's safe to scratch it off my viewing list. Super Duper Sumos stars a trio of sumo wrestlers... the first is Japanese, as you can tell from his slanted eyes and tendency to punctuate every sentence with the word "honorable". The second is a painfully stupid white guy, and the third is a token black dude, apparently inserted at the last minute to ensure that every race is equally insulted. They fight the forces of evil in the appropriately named Generic City, using the power of "phat" and other predictable sumo stereotypes. The game itself is just as uninspired as the premise... it's a side-scrolling beat 'em up that's competantly designed but unbelievably boring. You'll be hard-pressed to find any difference between the three heroes, and it's even harder to find a reason to keep playing after you've knocked out the millionth big-chinned thug. With Double Dragon and River City Ransom EX currently in development for the Game Boy Advance, why would anyone even consider buying this dreck?
What's so special about a portable version of a Super Mario Bros. game most players have already spent hours with on the NES and Super NES? Well, not much, really. However, there's just enough included in this remake to rekindle your interest no matter how many times you've beaten the original. The designers added a couple of new features that make this already tricky game even more challenging... for instance, there are five (sadistically placed) Yoshi Eggs that you can collect in each stage, but to keep 'em, you've got to finish the round without dying. The game also keeps score now, giving players the incentive to knock out as many enemies as they can with one Shyguy toss. Finally, the graphics and sound are better they've ever been... they're similar to the Super NES remake but with more scaling, rotation, and voice. Not everyone appreciates the voice-overs, but I was OK with them after finding out that Clawgrip sounds like Mr. Crabbs from Spongebob Squarepants!
You know it, you love it, you've beaten it at least three times already... it's Super Mario World, with an unwelcome side order of Classic (?!) Mario Bros. This time, Nintendo didn't add much Game Boy Advance exclusive content to this port of the Super NES game... about the best you're going to get is the inclusion of Luigi rather than a second Mario in green overalls. Yes, there is a difference. Luigi's thinner, for starters, so he stays in mid-air a little longer than his brother. The downside is that it takes more effort to land him safely afterwards. He's more awkward to use than Mario, but I'm sure Luigi fans who felt he got shafted in Mario 64 and the RPGs will be happy to get used to his quirks. Past that, this game is a 95% accurate translation of Super Mario World... Mario and Luigi are drawn in drab pastels and the music hits the occasional sour note, but it's still the same exceptional game you remember on the Super NES.
This is the best kart racing game on... well, forget about the Game Boy Advance for a second. This is the best kart racing game on anything. I didn't even like the Super NES version, but that's the beauty of this sequel... it's faster and a lot less flat than Super Mario Kart. The courses are longer and more complex, the computer opponents are more fun to race against, and there are more features, including the ability to record a race and go head to head against yourself! The control is terrific as well... Intelligent Systems didn't cut any corners while designing this game, just to make sure that you can. The music isn't the least bit compromised, and even the voices are enjoyable (finally, a Game Boy Advance game where Luigi doesn't sound like the spawn of Satan!). Super Circuit is of such high quality that you might think about making it your first GBA purchase, even if you weren't really shopping for a racing game.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI You have to at least give Sega and WOW Entertainment credit for converting the GameCube game... you know it wasn't going to be easy at all. Seeing the same textured polygonal floors, tilting and tumbling monkeys and Dole bananas on the Game Boy Advance is a joy, but unfortunately, wonky controls (B and A control the rolling speed and substitute for the analog control) overshadow the absolute insanity that this could be ported to the GBA so accurately. Furthermore, the aggravating turning time is only made worse by the faked analog. It's too bad, because Super Monkey Ball on the go is a fine idea. It's just not meant to be played without an analog control and that's final. Even still, the game is a pretty faithful conversion of the GameCube game and there's still mini games to unlock... those are still pretty good even without the analog control. Maybe next time...
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI One of the best puzzle games ever made has arrived on the GBA, and... unfortunately... it's simply nothing special. Don't get me wrong; Puzzle Fighter is a fine game, and it's FAR better to buy it on the Game Boy Advance than shell out eighty to a hundred dollars for the Playstation version. Still, for a game that's been out for roughly three or four years, you'd think Capcom could have added some sort of extra bonus SOMETHING. Unfortunately, there aren't any bonuses here. No additional characters have been added, no new modes were included, there aren't any new ways to play... there aren't even new gallery shots for Crimminy's sake (although with the bad compression, I guess I should be glad). You just get the same modes that were in the Playstation and Saturn versions. That's really disappointing, but at least the game is there right? Well, yeah, but the graphics look really washed out, like they took them straight from the Playstation version and compressed the hell out of them. Thankfully, the sound isn't scaled down too badly for a handheld, still retaining some of the voices from the original. I suppose if it ain't broke, don't fix it or bitch about wanting it fixed. Besides, it could always be worse... it could be like Altron's version of Super Bust a Move. Brrrr... scary.
I know... you're holding out for Street Fighter Alpha 3, right? Well, don't. I'm sure that game will be great, but who knows when it'll be released? You might as well play this while you're waiting for it. You'll be glad you did, too, because Super Street Fighter II Revival features exclusive new rounds and astounding full screen character portraits. The gameplay hasn't changed, however... it's just as good as Capcom's other Super Street Fighter II conversions, and the control scheme is a big improvement over the mode switching they'd used in other systems with a limited number of buttons. Even with Alpha 3 around, you'll kick yourself if you miss out on this outstanding portable fighting game.
Hey, I'm really thirsty... I could go for some Tang Tang right now. Oh wait, you're talking about the crappy Solomon's Key clone on the Game Boy Advance. No, I don't have an appetite for THAT at all. I loved the Solomon's Key games but even I can't get excited about a contrived rip-off like this one. Instead of an elfen dungeon explorer, Tang Tang gives you a quartet of suspiciously familar robots. Instead of memorable medievel enemies like spinning demon heads and hunchbacked trolls, you get orbs, spiked orbs, and floating orbs (the variety in this game is just overwhelming). Instead of a wide variety of helpful items and valuable treasures, you get some spinning golden ring gem things and the occasional bag of gold.. And finally, instead of getting addicted to the game and playing it for hours, you'll drop Tang Tang in your cat's litter box and hope he buries it, recognizing it for the turd it is.
I'll be honest with you... I would have been much happier if Konami had released a conversion of the original TMNT arcade game or the Super NES version of Tournament Fighters. However, this new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles release, based on the most recent animated series, is a decent game in its own right. It's got all the bells and whistles you've come to expect from Konami, including a catchy soundtrack inspired by the tunes in the television show and dynamic animation that helps make the somewhat repetitive gameplay more exciting. That gameplay is what keeps TMNT from being as memorable as Konami's previous Turtles releases... you're not given the free range of movement that you had in the classic arcade game, and the fighting is never as deep or strategic as it was in Tournament Fighters.
From now on, if anyone asks me what I hate about Tekken, I'll just point to this cartridge and leave it at that. I guess I should be impressed that Namco tried to port this game to the Game Boy Advance, but all they've done is make the series' flaws that much more obvious. Fans of Tekken would call the games raw and intense. Personally, I'd use the term "ugly", and Tekken has never been uglier than it is on the Game Boy Advance. The playfields are overflowing with dull browns and greys, and the characters move even more stiffly and awkwardly than they did on the Playstation. The constant scaling just adds a whole new dimension of ugly to the game... after a few rounds you'll be begging for the N64's blurry anti-aliasing, or at least a belt sander to take the edges off the blocky fighters. Tekken Advance even PLAYS ugly thanks to the single punch and kick which further encourages players to mash buttons for combos. The music seems to be the only thing that benefits from the Tekken treatment (punk is junk, heavy metal rules!). Even with its high-impact tunes, I'm not complimenting Tekken Advance when I say that it's a faithful adaptation of the arcade and Playstation games.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI Is it written in stone on some hillside somewhere that most movie licensed games (and comic games for that matter) must be sub-par? That seems to be the case here... unfortunately, while the home versions of The Incredible Hulk are great, the GBA version is blah. Middle of the road graphics and repetitive gameplay have done this one in. See Hulk Punch! See Hulk Bash Open Door! See Hulk Throw a Barrel! See Hulk....sit on my dresser because I'm not playing him. There IS a multiplayer game, but it doesn't look all that great to me. On the whole, the game is not that terrible as some of the animations are pretty fun to watch (like soliders flailing as you beat on them), and so is seeing "SUPER SMASH!" float across the screen as you thunderously clap and lay waste to the army. Come on, though, there's way better platformers out there and the Game Boy Advance version of Spiderman clearly shows that a superhero game CAN be really good. It's not hard to see that they tried a little (Multiplayer Hulk....oooooooookay), but for today's discriminate GBA shopper, they didn't try hard enough.
When a company with a strong reputation releases a dud like, say, Buster's Bad Dream, some reviewers feel obliged to cut them some slack, since they've made so many great games in the past. Not this reviewer, though. In fact, the quality of their previous games is exactly the reason I won't let them get away with releasing something that doesn't measure up to their normally high standards. In this case, it doesn't matter that this is Treasure's first Game Boy Advance game, or that it's chained to an old, withered license like the Tiny Toons. Buster's Bad Dream is not what I would have expected from this company... it's repetitive, simplistic, and frustratingly linear. The straight side view offers little freedom of movement, and the short, blandly designed rounds offer little else but the same three enemies for Buster and his friends (called out for brief attacks a'la Marvel vs. Capcom) to fight. The only compliment I can give this game is that it's true to the show and cartoons in general, with well drawn and animated characters set against brightly colored backgrounds. Past that, Buster's Bad Dream is just a bad clone of Guardian Heroes. C'mon, Treasure, you can do better than this. You CAN still do better than this, right?
Well, Mr. Hawk, I don't get too excited about skateboarding, but if you're good enough at the sport to get your own game series, and responsible enough to make sure every game in the series turns out great, you can count me as a fan. Handheld ports of popular Playstation games aren't usually a good idea, but the Game Boy Advance's limitations actually make this better than the original. The playfields are much easier to navigate now that they're in 2D, and the instrumentals are a lot more imaginative than the generic heavy metal and rap tunes in the game's Playstation counterpart. Finally, since you've got fewer buttons to deal with, the control isn't as intimidating to Tony Hawk newbies. Instead of just watching slackjawed while my friends pull off dozens of great tricks, I actually have a shot at performing a few of them myself.
This is the last of the old-school Tony Hawk games, back when the game was all about skateboarding, rather than satisfying the demands of obnoxious non-player characters. It's also my opinion that this is the last Tony Hawk title that really works on the Game Boy Advance... the levels translate well to an isometric perspective, unlike the next two games which went overboard with the rooftops and wires. On top of that, the control isn't as complex in Tony Hawk 3 as it is in the two sequels, so it plays more intuitively on a system with only four action buttons. So, how does the game compare to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2? Well, the levels are longer and the character models are more detailed, but at the same time the music lacks variety... it's all heavy metal, rather than the even blend of hip-hop and head banging rock that was in the previous game. In the end, Tony Hawk 3 comes out on top thanks to its introduction of Bam Margera to the cast. He's almost as hilarious in the game as he was on the television show Jackass!
All right, I admit it. I don't like Electronic Arts. No, scratch that... I didn't have a problem with the Electronic Arts from the 80's and early 90's... that was the company that gave designers the credit they deserved for creating fun and innovative games like Seven Cities of Gold and Archon. However, sometime after the release of the Playstation, Electronic Arts got lazy and arrogant. They started calling themselves EA, because it sounded cooler, and they stopped making original games because the ones based on hit movies and professional golfers and plus-sized sports commentators made them a lot more money. The new EA even turned their backs on Sega, the company that helped establish them in the video game industry, after they refused to build the Dreamcast with Electronic Arts' crappy 3Dfx technology. You'd think that because of all this, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2 wouldn't have a chance of getting a good rating on this web site. You'd be wrong, though... Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2 doesn't have a chance of getting a good rating because it's not a particularly good game. It's an average side-scroller with ugly rendered graphics, an unappealing title character, and dull racing scenes wedged between the already boring platforming stages. Good luck trying to tell the difference between Ty 2 and all those other titles on the Game Boy Advance that fit that description.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI Why? Why does everything Bandai touches have to be utter crap? I swear they are the Japanese 3DO. How they survived for as long as they have is beyond me. But enough about that, this game sucks. That's terrible, because the game stood a chance with neat characters (wrestling superheroes! Tell me where that could go wrong and nobody mention Los Luchadores), decent color commentary from the announcers at the bottom of the screen, pretty innovative moves from the villains (like the sign guy's detour attack... it makes you crash into the ringpost) and almost passible graphics. It even has a pretty good training mode, so you can practice not playing this game. Unfortunately, the goddamn controls and filthy, rotten ultra cheating computer bodyslam this thing before it even gets going. Ugh, the damn computer. A good example of this is when you perform a grab in the game. A meter shows up on the side indicating when you can perform a grab. Well, the computer will perfectly execute throws within a split second of the grab at times. Also they use super moves WAY too quickly, sometimes at the start of the match. It's a damn shame really, because like I said, this had potential to be really fun. The multiplayer no doubt is a little better, but the controls rough it up a bit. Pass this jobber by and head straight for Fire Pro Wrestling 2.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI Even stranger than Wario Ware, this has to be the one game on the system most likely to make you shout, "What in the name of all that is righteous and holy IS that supposed to be?" You play...as a yeti, looking for a mate in the city. Let me repeat that for those of you in the back who didn't hear that. You play a YETI. Who's looking for YETI BOOTY. Riiiiiiiiiiight. So anyways, you run around the city, dodging the police and riff-raff, rummaging through dumpsters for half eaten hotdogs, and trying to find your mate. The events leading up to this meeting are hilarious, and even though the game's standard perspective (similar to the first two Grand Theft Auto games) isn't too hot, the mini games that you play when not prowling around the city are pretty fun, especially since they're based on old arcade games such as Toobin', Tapper, and Tron Deadly Discs. The graphics are pretty pixelated, but the sound is crazy with burps and digitized voice all over the place. If you can't think of any other reason, you could always get this game just to say to your friends, "Yeah, I went out and bought....URBAN YETI."
Attention, Rolling Thunder fans... until Namco releases the long overdue sequel to their excellent Namco Museum, this is as close as you're going to get to a Game Boy Advance version of your favorite side-scrolling shooter. Yes, it's an embarassing license. Yes, Pamela Anderson looks even more ridiculous in this game than she does in the show. You're just going to have to suck it up and take it, because no other game on the system reproduces the feel of Rolling Thunder as well as V.I.P. It even improves upon Namco's game by offering you a larger selection of playable characters, each with their favorite weapon and close range attacks. The graphics are only slightly more detailed than the plain artwork in the Rolling Thunder games, and the boss fights are pretty crummy (usually, you've got to gun down a thug who mindlessly tosses grenades from behind a crate), but you'll still be surprised that the programmers put as much effort as they did in V.I.P. After all, the only thing more embarassing than admitting that you own a copy of a game based on a silly television series is acknowledging that you helped design it.
REVIEW BY RUSS BELESKI Those who played this on the Dreamcast will be on familiar ground because this version is extremely similar to the much beloved title (actually it's more like the 2002 edition, not the first one). The World Tour mode is where it's at, with all the training mini games and RPG-like aspects of powering up your player for tournaments to win prize money for better gear. It's extremely involving watching your players slowly get better as their individual stats go up. But don't get me wrong, the tennis is here. Virtua Tennis plays a solid game of tennis on the Game Boy Advancee, although the early matches are painfully easy. The computer simply doesn't try hard enough until you've beaten it a few times, then it says "Okay, I've been nice to you long enough. Let's play." Graphically, there's no detail on the players, but high detail shouldn't really be expected on this system. The animation is smooth enough, but the sound is definitely nothing to write home about. Fortunately, it's still really, really fun. You'd be amazed how you'll blow an hour just powering up your player. Seeing as you can find this game on clearance, I highly recommend getting a copy.
Holy crap, who put this Playstation game in my Game Boy Advance? I didn't even know it had a CD drive. Huh? You're saying that this beautiful rally game with incredible texture mapped polygons was designed specifically for the Game Boy Advance? No way. I mean, look at it! I can't believe the system can actually do this... the option screens alone are just astonishing. Well, you do make a point... the game IS a little more sluggish than Super Mario Kart, and there's never more than one car onscreen at a time. And yeah, I did notice there's no music while I'm driving, even though the techno tracks in the options screens are almost as amazing as the graphics. But still, I never thought the Game Boy Advance could be pushed this hard... the game looks even better than Iridion 3D! Heh, yeah, you're right... it IS a lot more fun to play, too.
If you thought Little Joe had it rough when he had to fight Mike Tyson in his prime, consider the plight of one Wade Hixton. This scrawny redneck has to battle everything from seven foot tall gorillas to the minions of Satan himself before he can stand victorious in Counter Punch, the latest Punch Out!! clone for the Game Boy Advance. This game was in development for a long, long time, but when you play it, you'll quickly realize it was worth the wait. When it comes to boxing titles on the Game Boy Advance, Counter Punch is in a weight class all its own... competitors like Punch King and Ready 2 Rumble don't even come close. The characters are absolutely massive, filling over half the screen, and the graphics are a happy marriage of Don Bluth's exaggerated animation and the loud, sharp-edged artwork made popular by the web comic Penny Arcade. The gameplay is pretty good, too, although it doesn't quite measure up to the standards set by Punch Out!!... all the characters seem to have the same fighting style, and it takes exact precision to avoid their most damaging body blows and right hooks. Nevertheless, even Punch Out!!'s biggest fans will have to admit that Wade Hixton's Counter Punch puts up one hell of a fight.
Let's face it, folks... Mario's a great character, but he's not a very realistic plumber. Instead of a polite little Italian with an innocent crush on the princess he's always saving, wouldn't you expect someone fatter, greedier, and more surly? Well, Wario's that guy. And instead of living in a shiny happy place where even the bad guys are two steps away from starring in a Care Bears episode, Wario's land is filled with weird characters like a bald archeologist that doubles as a projectile and a huge, incredibly angry baby eggplant that'll make you think twice about digging into last night's lasagna. If that's not enough to differentiate Wario Land 4 from the Super Mario Bros. games, try this on for size... sometimes, you'll HAVE to be hit by enemies to finish rounds, because the cartoony side effects will let you reach items you couldn't get otherwise. Because of this, you'll need to think outside the box and inside the looney bin to finish Wario Land IV's long, convoluted rounds.
Wario's been around for a while, starring in great games for over a decade, but this is his fastest, most exciting, and, um... weirdest one yet. It's designed for the world's shortest attention spans, with dozens of very short mini-games that play in rapid succession. If you're looking for depth, you won't find it here... many of these games end with a single button press. You won't find a Game Boy Advance title more diverse (or more intense!) than this one, though. You'll blast spaceships, devour an apple, play ancient Nintendo games, and shake hands with a collie, all in the span of thirty seconds. The best part about Wario Ware is the metric ton of hilarious jokes and in-jokes packed into the game. Nearly every chapter of Nintendo's history is covered here... you'll even find references to the toy guns they made in the 70's, before their introduction to the video game industry. The worst part of Wario Ware is that no matter how complete the games look, you won't be able to play them for more than a few seconds. That's a shame, because a few of them look and feel very authentic. AND WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED TODAY?
WISHFUL THINKING... ADVANCED
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