Game Boy Advance Reviews E-L

If you're a gamer in need of some Christmas cheer you might want to give this a whirl. Elf the Movie offers a hodgepodge of game styles, and more importantly it captures the good-natured whimsy of the film. You play as a digitized Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) and his motion-captured jumps look hilarious. The first few stages are your typical platform jumping fare with Buddy avoiding polar bears and falling stalactites while collecting candy and bouncing off of gumdrops. The controls are good but it's hard to tell where you're going to land after you bounce high in the air. The winter wonderland scenery looks generic but the orchestrated music puts you in a festive mood. Between stages you're treated to digitized stills from the film and best of all there's no text to read! The wide variety of stages are enjoyable to varying degrees. The overhead glacier-hopper that reminds me of Congo Bongo (Colecovision, 1984). The controls are forgiving but the stage drags on for way too long. Accidently rub against a polar bear and the game could send you back 20 jumps! Likewise the skiing stage gets so repetitive you'll try to dodge clock icons to avoid extending the time! Once Buddy arrives in New York City he'll need collect ornaments in a Frogger (Atari 2600, 1982) style level. I like how you recharge your energy by doing laps in a revolving door. After Buddy lands a job in a mailroom you'll play a series of puzzle games, and the ones with the pneumatic tubes are particularly fun. The snowball battle stage would be a winner if the bad elves didn't appear in such predictable patterns. Towards the end the game you'll scour Central Park to collect parts to repair Santa's sled. My main problem with this stage is the blocky city skyline which was a big missed opportunity for some eye candy. The game ends abruptly with some lame congratulations text. An easy romp you can knock out in an hour, Elf doesn't have much replay value but might prove a pleasant diversion around the holidays. © Copyright 2017 The Video Game Critic.

The original Gunstar Heroes appeared on the Sega Genesis in 1993, and over the years a dedicated following has elevated it to classic status. As a big fan who owned Gunstar "back in the day", I could hardly wait to get my hands on this Gameboy Advance sequel. But much to my surprise, this is more of a remake than a sequel. For those who've never played Gunstar Heroes before, its frenetic, rapid-fire style is a lot like Metal Slug, but much faster. Gunstar Super Heroes kicks off with flashbacks to the original game, complete with the same bad dialogue ("No... the Earth... under one person's power...). After a short intro level, you can select from four familiar scenarios, including the village, airship, mineshaft, and oversized board game. The stages have been visually overhauled almost beyond recognition, and new mini-games have been incorporated. True to the Gunstar legacy, there are some truly wacked-out bosses, including a giant gopher that's periodically run over by a passing truck. The character sprites are significantly larger and more detailed than those of the original game, but their size seems to limit the amount of on-screen mayhem. The run-and-gun action is still fun, but seems more tame. You can switch between three weapons on the fly, but you can't combine them. The developer makes heavy use of the GBA's rotation capabilities, with stages that feature spinning planes and rotating a mazes. Unfortunately, these stages look better than they play. Even a new overhead shooter sequence falls flat due to your oversized ship and limited real estate. I could also do without all of the boring dialogue between stages. Does an action game like this really need dialogue? Definitely not! I will give this game kudos for its high score management, which saves high scores and initials per stage. In the final analysis, Gunstar Super Heroes manages to stay true to the original game, but like most sequels, it can't quite match the original. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

As one of three Jurassic Park III games made for the Gameboy Advance, Island Attack is an action-packed adventure. There's not much of a story (thank goodness for that) but the style and visuals stay true to the film. At the start of the game you find yourself next to some plane wreckage while talking to the coast guard with a transmitter. The guy offers some pretty dubious advice, like "if you run into any dinosaur, just make a run for it." Actually he's right - running is usually your safest bet, considering there are no weapons. The action is viewed from a tilted overhead angle as you explore jungles with wide clearings, a partly-operational control center, and a dilapidated museum. The graphics are so detailed that they sometimes border on digitized. The massive Spinosaurus looks particularly ominous as it rocks back and forth, ready to charge. Some of the smaller dinosaurs however, like the spitting Dilophosaurus, can be a little hard to make out. Your main adversaries are raptors, and the most effective way to subdue them is to lure them near explosives and ignite them with a flare gun. This cat-and-mouse style of play gets a little old after a while. In one area you need to lure five Dilophosaurus into an electrified pool of water, and it's a tedious, time-consuming process. The running controls are awkward, forcing you to double-tap the directional pad. Frankly I wish my guy was running all of the time. A crosshair symbol appears on items of interest (like a breakable crate), but sometimes only intermittently. Aiming the flare gun is frustrating, especially when a dinosaur stands between you and a crate. When it comes to smashing a box or opening a rusty door, the game prompts you to button mash. Most stages are relatively short, and you can save your progress after completing each one. The transmitter comes in handy later in the game when you're in need of a hint. A high-speed motorcycle chase offers a nice change of pace, but it's about twice as long (and hard) as it should be. Jurassic Park III: Island Attack has its highs and lows, but it should appeal to fans of the film. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

The intro to this game features digitized (and pixelated) dinosaurs running wild, and it really got me psyched up to play. Jurassic Park III: Park Builder is a simulator along the lines of SimCity and Theme Park. The icon interface makes it pretty easy to construct a park with roads, hotels, restaurants, shops, and fenced areas for the dinosaurs. The process for making a dinosaur is consistent with the films. First you deploy teams of excavators to various continents to mine for amber. Upon their return you analyze the amber in a research lab, with each piece containing portions of DNA for a particular dinosaur. Once you acquire a full strand you can produce an egg. There are 140 (!) types of dinosaurs in all, and it's fun to "collect" them. As the park comes to life you'll see people milling about with bubbles over their heads indicating if they are sad, happy, or excited. The game lets you customize your park to a surprising degree, incorporating things like landscaping, statues, and fountains. You can upgrade facilities, read what the people are saying, and view a graph of the attendance. There's plenty to do, but your hands are often tied by available funds. Your money is shown on top of the screen, and it fluctuates wildly. When in the red you really can't do much of anything except wait, and the park freezes in time when you peruse the menus. I also dislike how the game is constantly prompting you to "name" things, including every single dinosaur. Not only do I have no desire to "name" the dinosaurs, but the keyboard interface royally sucks. One crucial tip for a novice is to install "rotaries" to connect roads with walkways. Otherwise you get all kind of nonsensical error messages. Once you get the hang of it Park Builder is a pretty intriguing title that packs a surprising amount of content. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

Based on this superb compilation, the Gameboy Advance is clearly well-suited to classic 80's arcade action. Konami's all-star lineup includes Frogger, Scramble, Time Pilot, Gyruss, Yie Ar Kung Fu, and Rush'n Attack. Frogger is clearly the star of the show, and remarkably, this is the first time I've seen it in a compilation! Unlike the arcade version, the screen scrolls up and down as you hop, but this doesn't harm the gameplay. Scramble is one of my all-time personal favorites. It's a terrific side-scrolling space shooter where you fire missiles and drop bombs while navigating narrow caverns. Time Pilot is an intense free-flying airplane shooter with stages that reflect various periods of history. In Gyruss, you move your space ship in a circular pattern and fire at enemies that emerge from the center of the screen. Yie Ar Kung Fu hasn't aged as well as the others, but it still delivers some enjoyable fighting action as you attempt to defeat a series of cartoonish martial artists. Rush'n Attack is a side-scroller that challenges you to infiltrate a Russian military base. All of these games provide hours of addicting fun, and some nifty bonuses are included as well. There's a "prehistoric" bonus level for Time Pilot, two extra fighters for Yie Ar Kung Fu, and "advanced resolution" modes of Frogger, Scramble, and Gyuss. This is how classic games should be updated - improve the graphics but don't mess with the time-honored gameplay! So what's not to like about Konami Arcade Hits? Well, the fact that you can't save you high scores for one thing. That's especially hard to forgive considering all these games have nice high-score screens. Other than that, Konami Arcade Hits is an action-packed blast from the past. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

Originally released on the NES in 1986, this revolutionary title effectively fused arcade action and RPG-style adventure. As one of Nintendo's flagship franchises, Zelda is still going strong today, but has this original installment stood the test of time? Absolutely, and this throwback cartridge leaves no doubt. It had been a while since I had played Zelda, and the first thing that struck me was how unlike recent Zelda adventures, this one doesn't "hold your hand" through the first few stages. No, this one tosses you straight to the wolves, and you'll die repeatedly before you gain enough health to face down monsters. Stick with it - the game gets easier and more interesting as you progress. Zelda's world is a rectangular patchwork of screens containing forest, desert, water, and mountain environments. Scattered throughout the landscape are wandering monsters, multi-level dungeons, merchants, and wise men that offer advice (like "walk into the waterfall"). When your life meter is full, your sword can also fire projectiles, making combat a heck of a lot easier. It's neat to see how so many of the weapons, monsters, and musical tunes from this game have endured throughout the whole series. Legend of Zelda may be timeless, but it understandably lacks the polish of subsequent Zeldas. I don't like how the monsters materialize briefly after you enter a screen, resulting in some really cheap hits. It's also annoying how when you reach the edge of the "world", the screens just start to repeat in a confusing manner. Some of Zelda's graphics are a bit hard to discern on the small Gameboy screen - many creatures are hard to see at all. But despite these minor quibbles, Legend of Zelda is still a very satisfying experience. Plus, it's refreshing to play a Zelda game that you can finish in a weekend. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.

One of my defining video game memories was playing Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Super Nintendo) in 1993. That game absolutely captivated me from beginning to end, and few adventures I've played since have been as enthralling or satisfying. Over the years, Zelda has transitioned to 3D, and the modern adventures are great but lack that charming 2D simplicity. Now, after many years, Nintendo has returned the series to its 2D roots. Firing up Minish Cap for the first time, those warm feelings began to return. The game's overhead graphics are very appealing, and the majestic musical score is first rate. Much of the music and sound effects are lifted directly from Link to the Past. The storyline doesn't take long to develop. An evil being has turned princess Zelda to stone, and he can only be defeated by a special sword. The sword has been broken into pieces, but it can be reforged by the legendary tiny "Picori" people in the Minish Woods. Once Link acquires the power to shrink himself down and visit these little people, it opens up a whole new dimension of exploration. After so many Zelda episodes, you might expect the formula to be wearing thin, but Minnish Cap introduces some truly innovative new wrinkles, such as rotating a barrel from the inside. Unfortunately, everything doesn't come together perfectly, and it's possible to become terribly stuck. The new feature of "fusing coin pieces" requires you to slash every bush and talk to every person, and it gets old. Even so, the game has a wonderful sense of charm and discovery, making for a pleasant but imperfect Zelda adventure. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

If nothing else, I was enthralled by The Two Tower's sky-high production values. Crisp video clips, lavish ornamentation, and a heroic musical score make this a very attractive package. Under the covers however lies a rather conventional hack-n-slash solo adventure in the tradition of Diablo. You guide your selectable hero through locations inspired by the first two Lord of the Rings films, from snow-swept mountains to cavernous mines. Unfortunately, there's not much to see and the dungeons and wilderness areas get monotonous. You view the action from a tilted overhead perspective, giving the 2D graphics a modest illusion of depth. Despite the small size of the characters, each is meticulously rendered and nicely animated. Enemies like Orcs and Wolves can be hard to discern, but at least they splatter nicely when defeated. The audio samples are simply amazing. During battle, the sound of a clanking sword or ripping flesh lets you know when you've landed a blow. In addition to hacking and shooting arrows, you can execute special moves like brandishing two swords at a time or shooting fireballs. The somewhat repetitive action is spiced up by the ability to outfit your character with various weapons, armor, and other items. You'll acquire loot from defeated monsters and not-so-hidden treasure chests. In theory, you can save your place at any time, but you always have to restart your latest level, which means repeating large chunks of a stage. Despite its flashy appearance, Two Towers wears thin after a while. Fans of the films will find plenty to like, but casual gamers may have a hard time maintaining interest. © Copyright 2004 The Video Game Critic.