Advanced beyond recognition ... (Game Boy Advance in General (GBA))

Member Name: assistant_14

Product:	Game Boy Advance in General (GBA)
Date:	27/01/02 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great graphics, Retro gaming oppertunities, Fantastic battery life

Disadvantages: No Backlight, Expensive games

The Gameboy has always been a success for Nintendo. They have relied on it in their darkest hours and it hasn?t let them down yet. Not so long ago the Playstation One couldn?t be dislodged from its dominant position at the top of the console market and the critics said that Nintendo had nothing left in the tank, they thought that Sony had won. How wrong they were, while the N64 went down like a fart in a lift the morning after a curry the Gameboy continued to sell in its millions. There is one dreaded word that tells everyone why they continued to sell: Pokemon.

The success of Pokemon took everyone by surprise and as the Pokemon series brought the trusty Gameboy back to life Nintendo began working on its next onslaught on the handheld games market, which it has dominated since destroying the Wonderswan and other feeble copies. In the world of the handheld the Gameboy is king and I'm now moving onto the point, which is why.

The first Gameboys were chunky 8-bit affairs that played Tetris really well as well and loads and loads of other games that were so small they could be carried around, perfect for long car journeys or boring flights. Nintendo realised that the Gameboy needed a facelift and so in the mid-nineties decided to release the Gameboy pocket. A new slim line version of the old Gameboy that was available in silver, green, yellow, red and blue. This was a revelation as although not yet in colour it was much smaller and literally could fit in your pocket. Next up came the Gameboy colour, which signalled the start of the revolution. Totally re-designed and in glorious Technicolor the Gameboy was given a new lease of life in its 16-bit re-incarnation. Much-improved graphics with, yes I know it?s hard to believe, rounded edges and colourful backgrounds! Finally 2001 saw the release of the ultimate Gameboy. Again Nintendo have started from scratch and brought out the most complete Gameboy to date.

The Gameboy Advance is a 32-bit
console unlike any other handheld. The classic Gameboy look has been lost and replaced by a much more ergonomic landscape layout with the 16:9 aspect ration screen in the centre with the D-Pad on the left and the A and B buttons on the right. Now with new shoulder buttons on the top of the console on the left and right the Gameboy is as comfortable to hold as your favourite games console controller but it has its own screen.

The graphics are defiantly the best ever seen on a handheld and games such as Mario Kart and Doom look better than ever. The sprite animation on the GBA version is actually better than the SNES version in both games although the GBA struggles to match the 3D backgrounds for the N64 version of Mario Kart. Doom gets its first new release for a few years and as with many other games, gets a retro feel for the GBA. This new console seems to have given life to so many classic games that it is unbelievable. It isn?t just doing it for the sake of it either, it?s doing it well. Fantastic games such as Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 and F-Zero meet up with classic such as Super Mario.

The screen is of excellent quality with a suitably hard covering over it to prevent damage. The only minor complaint that I have about the design itself is that the screen isn?t backlight. This probably doesn?t sound like a problem to most people but it means that it is difficult to play in anything other than artificial light coming directly down on it. Without using a light pack it isn?t possible to play in the dark or any other lighting conditions for that matter.

The sound is something else that Nintendo have obviously taken a lot of time over and the old beeps have been replaced by excellent crystal clear sounds (Doom actually sounds better than on the PC) with the Mario Kart characters shouting their catch phrases and making strange noises when they accelerate. A great improvement over previous incarnations.

The GBA is an excellent con
sole with all the power of a SNES in a tiny box. How do they do it? Nobody knows, but there?s plenty of life in the GBA yet with a new ability yet to be proven. Connectivity with the forthcoming Game cube. With the promise of multiplayer gaming with each person using his or her GBA as their own personal screen seems like something that needs to be done and this and many other new games makes the GBA a definite buy for anyone looking for a bit of retro fun or something to do on the train other than play with their mobile phone. Please go out and buy one and fund the development of the next Gameboy ? surely they can?t get any better than this?

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