Japanese Xena for the Game Boy Advance! (Lady Sia (GBA))

Member Name: CaptainD

Product:	Lady Sia (GBA)
Date:	28/10/05 (156 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful graphics, atmosphere, good gameplay

Disadvantages: Iffy collision detection, control takes a while to master

Lady Sia is a platform game for the GBA. It takes a lot for a platform gam to capture my interest, but this one manages it.

Released by TDK, better known (to me at least) for blank audio cassettes than console games, this game features the eponymous heroine in a quest to defeat the evil enemy and bring peace to her land. Yeah I know, we’ve heard it all before, but at least it’s a relevant storyline. In order to do this she must retrieve her trusty sword and trusty ring-that-shoots-things-at-people, and then take on the enemy on their own turf. After a short animated sequence explaining what’s going on, the game begins. (1-player only for this one I’m afraid.)

Lady Sia features beautiful graphics, easily among the best I’ve yet seen on the GBA. They are anime-style, extremely colourful and detailed, and the animation is superb – smooth and detailed, with lots of nice touches. (Try leaving Sia to her own devices for a while and see what she does.) There’s even more than one layer of parallax scrolling! Sia needs to climb up ladders and flick switches as well as battle past beastmen, and the background is fairly dynamic in that there’s a lot of movement independent of the main character (some of which is interactive, some just scenic) and you find yourself moving up and down levels as well as horizontally. There’s a helpful but unobtrusive tutorial mode and certain narrative points along the way.

All in all it feels like more than just a platform game, which I guess is why I like it. The difficulty is judged about right although some parts will definitely have you cursing it in frustration. As always with these sorts of games, timing is crucial, though often if you slightly misjudge a jump she’ll grab the edge with her sword and can haul herself back up. The levels are large and well designed. Sound effects are good and the music is high quality, though occasionally rather annoying (some of the tracks are really good but others… not so good!). You certainly won’t be completing this anytime soon, but it’s enjoyable enough to keep trying, even the bits that take you ages to manage… there’s a real sense of accomplishment when you do!

It's not without it's faults, of course... there are some points that seem impossible, at least for a while, and there’s nothing worse than getting into a game only for it to stump you again and again in the same place! Also the collision detection for interaction with objects, most noticeably switches and ladders, is a little picky. It is often frustrating trying to line Sia up in exactly the right manner to get on a ladder, for instance. However I found that after a little practise the controls seemed to flow very nicely and that this problem became less noticeable.

As it is I really enjoyed it, much more so than I expected. Recommended for those who like their platform games a little more interesting and involved than usual.

Final Ratings
--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--

Graphics: - 94% - superb graphics and animation

Sound: - 81% - variable music and good sound effects

Playability: - 80% - control is a little tricky at first but I found it got easier after a bit of practice.

Longevity: - 84% - … pretty touch so it’ll take a long time to complete

Replay Value: - 78% - perhaps not so good in the long run but still not bad

Value For Money: - 82% - I picked it up for ?5 second hand at Game Station, so very good VFM!

Overall Rating: - 85% - a very good game that due to some fiddly control and slightly dodgy collision detection fails to be a classic

Summary: A platform game that rises above its genre, very good stuff and brilliant graphics.