GAME BOY ADVANCE

2D gaming’s last hurrah Manufacturer: Nintendo | Year: 2001

it’s easy to forget that the Game Boy advance was succeeded by the ds within four years, such is the number of great games released on the system. the 32-bit handheld was an oasis of 2D gaming in an industry that had embraced 3D graphics, and hosted many retro conversions.

steve Lycett, Sumo Digital How much of an improvement did you feel the Game Boy advance was over the Game Boy?

I always thought of the original as a portable monochrome nes, and at first glance, the GBA appeared to be a portable Snes. early games suggested that, like F-zero; but as developers got to grips with the system, it proved to be quite a step up. It was reasonably capable of 3D as Doom, Crazy Taxi and Stuntman proved, but it was 2D of course where the system shined, and with loads of sprites, smooth scrolling and transparency effects, it was starting to border on Playstation quality!

do you feel the snes conversions overshadowed the original games?

It was a bit of a wonder to be able to play Super Mario World on the go for sure! However, this is a system that spawned Advance Wars, Mario Superstar Saga, plus the connectivity that gave you four-player Mario Kart and Zelda Four Swords, nintendo was really pushing multiplayer in a way others weren’t.

What game best sums up the system?

tough question, it’s home to many classics. Probably my favourite game was Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow, as Konami was really firing on all cylinders. this was a game as good as the Playstation Symphony Of The Night in all respects, especially on the audio front, running on a system that fit in your pocket and ran on two aa batteries!

do you remember when you first got your GBA?

I actually secured mine from nintendo before the uk release. except… of course it didn’t come with any games! So I had to buy imports of F-zero and Castlevania: Circle Of The Moon which, not speaking a word of Japanese, made it quite interesting to play the games!

Which is your favourite GBA model and why?

I loved the feel of the original, but the GBA SP is where it is at. You could actually see the games! no more needing to get a chair near a window so sunlight could illuminate the screen. It’s a shame about the headphone port (and yes, I did buy the adapter). Honourable mention must go to the GBA Micro, but my eyes were never quite up to it!