Product Description

This title is now shipping and will not be received any earlier than the street date of 05/01/05.Emerald takes place over land and sea and pits you against the Team Aqua and Team Magma from Saphire and Ruby. This time around, Pokemon will show off their moves prior to battle, perhaps as a sort of taunt. Nintendo also added some new options to the game. A new Battle Frontier area has you play through seven big battles. The Battle Dome places you in a tour ... Read more

Features

• For use on the GameBoy Advance or the GameBoy DS

Amazon.com Review

Early Adopters Pick: March 2003. As theworld's smallest video-game platform, the Game Boy Advance SP is also the first to use a built-in rechargeable battery.

Many decried the original Game Boy Advance's reflective LCD screen and its reliance on external light sources. The Game Boy Advance SP's main feature--optional backlighting--fixes this complaint nicely, but it's the wealth of other features that makes this system so surprisingly good.

At first look, you might think the SP is a sleek travel alarm clock. When closed, it's just as tall and deep as the original GBA, but only half as wide. Due to its clamshell design, the screen is always protected from everyday scratches. A small button in the center of the console turns on the backlighting element for use in low-light situations, like in a moving car.

The SP comes with a well-designed power adapter that recharges a built-in battery; its prongs fold in for easier storage. Our informal tests found that it takes about four hours to fully charge (you can even play it while it's plugged in and charging), and the battery lasts about 11 hours with the backlighting constantly on--your results may vary. Using the backlighting less often will conserve battery power.

Withseparately soldcables, you can connect the Game Boy Advance SP to other GBAsfor multiplayer gaming (above) or to theNintendo GameCube(below) to access secret levels, exchange data, or use other specialfeatures that vary from game to game.

The quality of the backlighting is very good. It's bright and clear when looking directly at it, but degraded from other angles. This is only a problem for friends who are watching the screen from over your shoulder.

But size, power, and affordability do not come without trade offs. There's no headphone jack here, though Nintendo promises an adapter. The system isn't very loud at its highest volume, and the sound can be turned down to socially acceptable levels. The L and R shoulder buttons are a fraction of the size they were on the GBA, and thus are harder to hit. Also, the reduced size of the SP is slightly less comfortable for adult hands than the GBA, but perhaps more comfortable for smaller hands. The cartridge port placement on the lower part of the console is fine for GBA games, since they are flush with the console body, but older Game Boy Color carts will stick out in a way that takes some getting used to.

Open it up and the hinge will seek out a preferred, pre-set angle (about 150 degrees), though you can open it a bit wider or narrower for your own comfort. The hinge stands up well to lateral pressure, and over all, the SP seems just as rugged as its predecessor--which has proven to be very rugged, indeed. --Porter B. Hall

Unit Specifications

• CPU: 32-Bit ARM with embedded memory
• Memory: 32 KB with 96 KB VRAM (in CPU), 256 KB WRAM (external of CPU)
• Screen: 2.9-inch reflective TFT color LCD
• Display Size: 1.6 by 2.4 inches (40.8 by 61.2 mm)
• Resolution: 240 x 160 pixels in a wide-screen aspect ratio
• Colors: 511 simultaneous colors from a palette of 32,768
• Software: Fully compatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Color game paks
• Light Source: Front light integrated with LCD
• Size (closed): 3.3 by 3.23 by .96 inch
• Weight: Approximately 5 ounces
• Power Supply: Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Battery Life: 10 hours continuous play with light on; 18 hours with light off; 3 hours recharging

Features

• CPU: 32-bit RISC-CPU with embedded memory.
• Screen: 2.9" Reflective TFT Color LCD
• Display Size: 1.61" x 2.41"
• Resolution: 240 x 160 pixels
• Color: Simultaneously display more than 32,000 colors.

Reviews (35)

Gameboy Advance SP Review
If you were thinking about buying an original Gameboy Advance I would highly reccomend reconsidering. I recently purchased the new GBA SP and was very impressed with the sleek design and great performance of this product. The visuals are very nice, and there are tons of great games out there available for the system. If you were concered about the small size don't worry my hands are fairly large, and holding the system was very comfortable.The Frontlit screen is probobly the most notealbe and anticipated new feature the system has to offer, I was able to play games in a room without any lighting whatsoever with ease, and with the new Lithium Ion battery being used as the power source you won't be needing to spend money on batteries for roughly 3 years; This feature will pay for itself over and over again. I have owned a good deal of handheld consoles and by far this this is the most innovative of them all, finally Nintendo Got it right! My only complaint was the lack of a built in headphone jack for private listening, so you'll have to pay a bit more for the headphone adapter if you plan on using headphones. Unfortunately it always seems to be bundled with something, other than being sold as a standalone item, But the good that this product has to offer greatly outweighs the bad, which makes it highly reccomendalbe. If you have been searching for a great handheld system your search is over, So what are you waiting for? There's no time like there present and these little handhelds are going fast, better get yours while they are still so abundant. ;)

Superb Portable Gaming Device
I must say, Nintendo has done a damn good job with their Gameboy Advance SP. The only gameboy I had ever owned was the original. At first I didn't want anything to do with any more Gameboys. But after trading a bunch of games in at ebgames, I had about 80 bucks worth of credit and couldn't think of a damn thing to buy. On a whim, I bought a GBA and FF Tactics Advance.
Well that didn't work out to well, as I was plagued by terrible shoulder/arm/back pains at having to sit in the most uncomfortable positions to get decent lighting.

I therefore decided on getting a GBA SP for Christmas, and after some thorough playing I can safely say it's worth the money if you like the GBA's library or find yourself away from home often with nothing to do.

The control is decent, some games such as Mario 3 get a little tough when you have to hold B and pump A, but Nintendo was nice enough to allow the R Shoulder button to act a substitute.
The folding design allows the screen to remain safe from scratches and collects only minimal dust, and is great for fitting in the pocket.
And the backlight can be turned on and off, and you'll want it off when playing in bright areas to reduce color washing.

Thankfully, there aren't too many problems with this device.
The only real problem I have is that it has no stickies or pads on the bottom when folded up to hold it to a surface. This is a bother because most of the surfaces in my house are smooth countertops, or tabletops or desktops, and the wooden ones are glossed. The last thing you want is to have this thing fall off the table and break, and with nothing to help keep it in place I get a little worried.

Overall, nothing to be worried about. The best portable system for the cost.

Great portable game machine
As a grown man, I sometimes hate to admit I'm still a gamer. I play Real-Time Simulations (Command & Conquer etc), flight simulators and shooters. I usually take my SP along when I want to play Chess Master on the plane, or a little bit of Top Gear GT. The backlit screen is awesome and the rechargable battery seems to work fine.

Best thing ever made!!!
I have this SP and I love it!I bring it almost everywhere I go and play Pokemon Silver. I play it in bed and with the backscreen light I have no problem seeing the screen. And, something that most people dont bring up, I like that it has a lever instead of a wheel for volume.The folding design is awesome,especially since it goes to daycare with me and there are alot of little kids that just take it off the table and drop it.I recommend this to all you major gamers out there.

Best one yet
The new game boy advance Sp is the best one yet! The design is perfect, including conviniatly placed buttons.

PROS
- A backlight (a light built into the screen - like a tv has so that you can see it in the dark with out turning on the lights) for at night play, in boring movies, on the airplane, or on long road trips.

- the L and R buttons are convenientily placed

- built in battery that is charged by connecting the gameboy to an in the wall outlet, or car outlet

- while the battery is charging you can still play a game

- you control wether you want the back light on or not

- can play game boy, game boy color, and game boy advance games, as well as the new videos available

- better than a video now player for videos, this screen is lighted like a tv screen, in color, and has a bigger screen

Cons
- there are none! ... Read more

Reviews (21)

This game..is awesome! Much better than Ruby and Sapphire!
This game is much more funner and challenging. After you defeat the elite four, you can go to the Battle Frontier. The Battle Frontier is absolutley awesome! Over all, I will give this game a 9.3 outta 10! Thank you nintendo for making this game so much better! For those who don't have the game, you will love it! It's much more advanced than boring old Ruby or Sapphire. IT'S much more FUNNER! And it's only a measily little price of 35 bucks. That's a pretty good deal! So get the game today! It's AWESOME!!!!

Very Few Flaws
This game, overall, was very good. I believe that even those who have Ruby or Sapphire would like this game. One reason is the new Battle Frontier. this leaves you a major challenge once the core of the game has been completed. There are also many plot changes that make this game, overall, a good buy.

cool
well it might have the same plot, but still pretty damn good.its all around rayquaza though in this one.that kinda sucks cuz i wanted a sequel to do wit the latis.oh well.but i love the fact that they actually gave u a choice on latias or latios.oh and ray,gro, and ky are now all lvl.70.ray is at sky pillar all da time. gro will occor in,um ithink 6,yah probably 6 places called the terra cave.same thing with ky.except he is at the marine cave underwater. oh and now key to the regis.
rock=left left down down then use rock smash
ice=go inside then run around while touching the wall at all times
steel=go in da middle and use flash

oh and u have to check out the battle frontier and tents.the tents let u practice for the frontier.lol.

Pokemon Emerald
You may not think that there is much feutures in pokemon emerald untill you have beaten the elite 4.There is a new area called the battle frontier... You can get both groudon and kyogre in the game and there is lots of new places and new things to do.I have pokemon sapphire and I do not think this game was a waste of money.

Great Game!!!!
i haven't played this game yet but of wat my frind has told me it will be awsome!! there are 14 new badges to collect and other fetures.this game is like crystal,ruby, saphire,firered, and leafgreen all together!! you can catch johto kanto and hoenn pokemon in different places, like (after the elit 4) totodile in the safari zone and much much more.i wont spoil the game but this is a MUST HAVE for rpg pokemon players!! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Early Adopters Pick: March 2003. As theworld's smallest video-game platform, the Game Boy Advance SP is also the first to use a built-in rechargeable battery.

Many decried the original Game Boy Advance's reflective LCD screen and its reliance on external light sources. The Game Boy Advance SP's main feature--optional backlighting--fixes this complaint nicely, but it's the wealth of other features that makes this system so surprisingly good.

At first look, you might think the SP is a sleek travel alarm clock. When closed, it's just as tall and deep as the original GBA, but only half as wide. Due to its clamshell design, the screen is always protected from everyday scratches. A small button in the center of the console turns on the backlighting element for use in low-light situations, like in a moving car.

The SP comes with a well-designed power adapter that recharges a built-in battery; its prongs fold in for easier storage. Our informal tests found that it takes about four hours to fully charge (you can even play it while it's plugged in and charging), and the battery lasts about 11 hours with the backlighting constantly on--your results may vary. Using the backlighting less often will conserve battery power.

Withseparately soldcables, you can connect the Game Boy Advance SP to other GBAsfor multiplayer gaming (above) or to theNintendo GameCube(below) to access secret levels, exchange data, or use other specialfeatures that vary from game to game.

The quality of the backlighting is very good. It's bright and clear when looking directly at it, but degraded from other angles. This is only a problem for friends who are watching the screen from over your shoulder.

But size, power, and affordability do not come without trade offs. There's no headphone jack here, though Nintendo promises an adapter. The system isn't very loud at its highest volume, and the sound can be turned down to socially acceptable levels. The L and R shoulder buttons are a fraction of the size they were on the GBA, and thus are harder to hit. Also, the reduced size of the SP is slightly less comfortable for adult hands than the GBA, but perhaps more comfortable for smaller hands. The cartridge port placement on the lower part of the console is fine for GBA games, since they are flush with the console body, but older Game Boy Color carts will stick out in a way that takes some getting used to.

Open it up and the hinge will seek out a preferred, pre-set angle (about 150 degrees), though you can open it a bit wider or narrower for your own comfort. The hinge stands up well to lateral pressure, and over all, the SP seems just as rugged as its predecessor--which has proven to be very rugged, indeed. --Porter B. Hall

Unit Specifications

• CPU: 32-Bit ARM with embedded memory
• Memory: 32 KB with 96 KB VRAM (in CPU), 256 KB WRAM (external of CPU)
• Screen: 2.9-inch reflective TFT color LCD
• Display Size: 1.6 by 2.4 inches (40.8 by 61.2 mm)
• Resolution: 240 x 160 pixels in a wide-screen aspect ratio
• Colors: 511 simultaneous colors from a palette of 32,768
• Software: Fully compatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Color game paks
• Light Source: Front light integrated with LCD
• Size (closed): 3.3 by 3.23 by .96 inch
• Weight: Approximately 5 ounces
• Power Supply: Rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Battery Life: 10 hours continuous play with light on; 18 hours with light off; 3 hours recharging

Features

• CPU: 32-bit RISC-CPU with embedded memory.
• Screen: 2.9" Reflective TFT Color LCD
• Display Size: 1.61" x 2.41"
• Resolution: 240 x 160 pixels
• Color: Simultaneously display more than 32,000 colors.

Reviews (35)

Gameboy Advance SP Review
If you were thinking about buying an original Gameboy Advance I would highly reccomend reconsidering. I recently purchased the new GBA SP and was very impressed with the sleek design and great performance of this product. The visuals are very nice, and there are tons of great games out there available for the system. If you were concered about the small size don't worry my hands are fairly large, and holding the system was very comfortable.The Frontlit screen is probobly the most notealbe and anticipated new feature the system has to offer, I was able to play games in a room without any lighting whatsoever with ease, and with the new Lithium Ion battery being used as the power source you won't be needing to spend money on batteries for roughly 3 years; This feature will pay for itself over and over again. I have owned a good deal of handheld consoles and by far this this is the most innovative of them all, finally Nintendo Got it right! My only complaint was the lack of a built in headphone jack for private listening, so you'll have to pay a bit more for the headphone adapter if you plan on using headphones. Unfortunately it always seems to be bundled with something, other than being sold as a standalone item, But the good that this product has to offer greatly outweighs the bad, which makes it highly reccomendalbe. If you have been searching for a great handheld system your search is over, So what are you waiting for? There's no time like there present and these little handhelds are going fast, better get yours while they are still so abundant. ;)

Superb Portable Gaming Device
I must say, Nintendo has done a damn good job with their Gameboy Advance SP. The only gameboy I had ever owned was the original. At first I didn't want anything to do with any more Gameboys. But after trading a bunch of games in at ebgames, I had about 80 bucks worth of credit and couldn't think of a damn thing to buy. On a whim, I bought a GBA and FF Tactics Advance.
Well that didn't work out to well, as I was plagued by terrible shoulder/arm/back pains at having to sit in the most uncomfortable positions to get decent lighting.

I therefore decided on getting a GBA SP for Christmas, and after some thorough playing I can safely say it's worth the money if you like the GBA's library or find yourself away from home often with nothing to do.

The control is decent, some games such as Mario 3 get a little tough when you have to hold B and pump A, but Nintendo was nice enough to allow the R Shoulder button to act a substitute.
The folding design allows the screen to remain safe from scratches and collects only minimal dust, and is great for fitting in the pocket.
And the backlight can be turned on and off, and you'll want it off when playing in bright areas to reduce color washing.

Thankfully, there aren't too many problems with this device.
The only real problem I have is that it has no stickies or pads on the bottom when folded up to hold it to a surface. This is a bother because most of the surfaces in my house are smooth countertops, or tabletops or desktops, and the wooden ones are glossed. The last thing you want is to have this thing fall off the table and break, and with nothing to help keep it in place I get a little worried.

Overall, nothing to be worried about. The best portable system for the cost.

Great portable game machine
As a grown man, I sometimes hate to admit I'm still a gamer. I play Real-Time Simulations (Command & Conquer etc), flight simulators and shooters. I usually take my SP along when I want to play Chess Master on the plane, or a little bit of Top Gear GT. The backlit screen is awesome and the rechargable battery seems to work fine.

Best thing ever made!!!
I have this SP and I love it!I bring it almost everywhere I go and play Pokemon Silver. I play it in bed and with the backscreen light I have no problem seeing the screen. And, something that most people dont bring up, I like that it has a lever instead of a wheel for volume.The folding design is awesome,especially since it goes to daycare with me and there are alot of little kids that just take it off the table and drop it.I recommend this to all you major gamers out there.

Best one yet
The new game boy advance Sp is the best one yet! The design is perfect, including conviniatly placed buttons.

PROS
- A backlight (a light built into the screen - like a tv has so that you can see it in the dark with out turning on the lights) for at night play, in boring movies, on the airplane, or on long road trips.

- the L and R buttons are convenientily placed

- built in battery that is charged by connecting the gameboy to an in the wall outlet, or car outlet

- while the battery is charging you can still play a game

- you control wether you want the back light on or not

- can play game boy, game boy color, and game boy advance games, as well as the new videos available

- better than a video now player for videos, this screen is lighted like a tv screen, in color, and has a bigger screen

Cons
- there are none! ... Read more

Features

• Play the most memorable and exciting scenes from Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Episode II Attack of the Clones and the forthcoming Episode III Revenge of the Sith.
• Choose from over 30 of your favorite Star Wars characters, ranging from the legendary Jedi Knight, Obi-wan Kenobi, to everyones favorite Wookiee, Chewbacca, to the evil villains of Revenge of the Sith. Every character has unique weapons and abilities--which provides for a different gameplay experience every time
• Use 'The Force' to manipulate environments and objects in order to solve puzzles
• Massive array of vehicles including Naboo fighters, pod racers, speeder bikes, and yet-to-be-unveiled vehicles from Episode III Revenge of the Sith
• Two-player 'drop in, drop out' mode

Reviews (6)

episods 1, 2 and 3
THIS game ROCKS!!!The boss battels are cool!Darth Mual is easy.
A half circle, it's red, get rid of the red and you win the boss battle.different enemies as you go further in the game.
i.e.: droid, canon, droid camander, gunner droids, shild droid,
tusken rader, sarlac pit, (Darth Mual), Super droids, fly droids, cranes, (Count Dooko), battle fileds, Grapler droids,
Super,(Grapler)droid camander, holding fasility, pits, forse filids, Super canon droids and Jango Fett.(that iv'e fased so far.thers more enimys.)

:)
so I felt pretty dumb buying this game.. looks like a little kids game.. sounds like a little kids game - but I love star wars! so I bought it and brought it to school - by the end of the week 5 out of 6 people I showed it to had bought it. the lego idea is really cool - I went and saw revenge of the sith and I kept thinking about how buildings would look as legos.. but anyways. I'm not even remotely good at video games - I don't think I've ever finished a game in my life.. though i have many. I haven't finished this one yet - but I have high hopes. This isn't hard to play - when you finish levels you can go back and play through them again and with different characters that youve unlocked - which is very amusing to a star wars fan.. :)

Too short and gets old FAST
I'll make this short, I BEAT THIS GAME THE SAME DAY I GOT IT. It barley covers episodes I, II and III, note how on the description it says that the game covers the most exciting and memorable scenes from all three movies? WELL THAT'S ALL THEY GIVE YOU! The day after i got it it was still kinda fun but then i played it a little more and it just got plain BORING.DON'T make the same mistake I did. I would rather save my money and buy actual legos or a different game.

Legos Rock
I love this game and can't put it down. It's great that you don't really kill people, they just fall down into Lego bricks. My mom has even tried to play this game. I like using the Force the best. It's cool to switch back and forth between Anikin and R2D2 in the beginning. I haven't gotten through the whole thing yet but it's kind of challenging because there's no talking to give you hints or anything.

Very good game
A very good game. not as good as Pokemon but still very good. ... Read more

Product Description

This latest entry in the series takes place in the continent of Magi Varl. Demons once populated the continent, but mankind gained piece by sealing the evil forces with five magic stones. Time passed, and the stones became the heirlooms of royal families whose kingdoms divide the present-day continent. The story of Seima no Kouseki begins as the most powerful of these kingdoms, the Grad Empire, begins to invade the remainder of Magi Varl. The Lunes Kingdom, a neighboring kingdom to the Grad Empi ... Read more

Features

• Execute your attack! Plan your strategy to take advantage of your strengths and exploit your enemys weaknesses. Guide your soldiers carefully, because if they fall in battle, theyre gone forever!
• Field dozens of soldiers on the field, from the familiar pegasus knights and cavaliers to brand-new units like the mage knights, who wield both weapons and wizardry in battle.
• Discover new ways to improve your army! Take on all-new monster battles and the Tower of Valni, with floor after floor of challenging fights, to gain the experience your soldiers need to master their skills.
• As your soldiers increase in skill, youll be able to choose between multiple classes to customize your army and master your perfect strategy! Will your cavalier become a paladin, or will he sacrifice speed for power and become a great knight? The choice is yours!

Reviews (1)

An Entertaining and Engrossing RPG
If you've played the first Fire Emblem, then you already know that this is a must have.But it doesn't matter if you're new, because the stories are unrelated.

The story is good, but a little cliched.There once was an evil monster who terrorized the world, but then he was sealed up by the Sacred Stone.Fast forward to the present.There are six kingdoms, five of which keep the Sacred Stones.The country of Renais has shared a friendly relationship with the Grado empire, until one day Grado invades.The prince and princess of Renais, Ephraim and Eirika, go looking for help from other nations, and eventually find out that the Grado emporer is trying to destroy the Sacred Stones and release the evil of old upon the world.So of course, they have to stop him.

Now on to the gameplay.It's excellent.It's pretty much the same as the first Fire Emblem.You direct your units on the field, but you have to be careful of the enemy's range.The weapon and magic triangles return, which, if you're not familiar with it, is like a game of rock-paper-scissors.You can upgrade your characters' classes when they get to a high enough level, as in the last game, but now you can choose between classes.For example, a myridian can become a swordmaster or an assassin.Also, if your characters are too weak, there are optional battles with monsters, and places where you defeat monsters floor by floor.

Graphics are good overall.The field animations are average, but the battle scenes are nice and fluid.All the characters look beautiful.No pretty cutscene stills this time around, though.

And the characters are wonderful.This is my favorite thing about Fire Emblem.Each unit is an individual with his own face and personality.Then you have supports.When you put two compatible units together for a while, they can have a support conversation.Through this you learn a little more about the characters, but it also improves their stats when they are near each other on the field.Even more interesting, if you have a high enough support between a male and female character, they'll probably get married in the end.There is, however, a down side to the characters' individuality.It makes it so you don't want to lose any of them, so every time someone dies, you have to start the chapter over.Unless you just want to beat the game and aren't concerned about the characters.

Let's see, what else?Oh yeah, sound is great.The music is good, and appropriate for whatever the situation is.And the sound effects are nice, especially the one for a successful hit.THWACK!

The replay value is good.Ephraim and Eirika split up during the game, and you'll need to play both scenarios to get the full story.Plus if you're like me, you will want every single support conversation for the archive, which takes a very long time.

Nice extras.There's a sound room, and after you beat the game you can view the support conversations you've unlocked.There are also multiplayer options.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is one of my favorite games.It is excellent, and although it is somewhat easier than the last game, it's still hard.A must for RPG fans, but be ready for a challenge.

... Read more

Product Description

When the sorcerer Vaati turns Princess Zelda to stone the King of Hyrule sends Link on a quest that will take him to places he's never imagined. Using the power of a mystical hat called the Minish Cap, the Hylian hero will shrink down for a massive quest ... on a microscopic scale! ... Read more

Features

• Use the magic of the cap to shrink and explore the world of the Minish lying hidden just beneath your feet.
• With the help of all-new items like the Gust Jar and the Mole Mitts, shoot blasts of air or claw through dirt to reach new regions.
• Unravel the secrets of the Kinstones to solve puzzles, unlock hidden areas, and restore happiness to the people of Hyrule.

Reviews (55)

Beautiful! Miyamoto brings back more fun!
Okay, hour 1 of minish cap: It's 6:00pm and I'm still stuck on this one puzzle, the size of a piece of dust and Ezlo isn't helping me... success! I found the Jar of Gusts! I suck the spiderwebs off (You're sick if you're thinking what I think you're thinking I'm thinking you're thinking.) with the jar and get out of the extra entrances, quite frankly I'm entertained.

Drowning in puddles... teardrops and getting jumped by pieces of pollen... what's not to want or need?! Mr. Miyamoto did not fail us, the gameplay engine was solid, the graphics, good for a GBA game, sound... wonderful! I swear, playing as a super-chibbi is fun, so if you want an affordable good game... don't buy this game... buy it if you want an awesome affordable game! Go Zelda!!!

Cool Game
This is fun, even when you play it again. There is a HUGE amount of kinstone fusions to do, it will take a lot of time to come up with everything. I had to make a separate game where I don't finish the four sword, since i miss a lot of fusions from the town. Also, try making your name dude or cheesy. People start saying really weird stuff.

So Much Fun
I had a ball playing this game. It took a while to finish but it was worth it. Going to start all over again.

One of the Best Games for the GBA
Everything about The Minish Cap is good. Like the music. Mixes range from the NES Legend of Zelda all the way to tunes from Ocarina of Time; many of the sound samples take their cues from Ocarina of Time and the Wind Waker respectively. If you find enough of a particular item you can unlock a means of hearing every song in the game, I was actually surprised to hear how close in quality the songs are to their console counterparts. I don?t know if the GBA?s sound capabilities are being maxed out or if the console sound is severely under utilized. Link?s little boy yell is ever present and sounds nearly as good as it does on GCN. Which is good.



Minish Cap is one of the best looking games on the GBA to date, taking after the toony Wind Waker style. Many of the puzzles in this game require Link to shrink to Picori size.This is certainly one of the best GBA games there is, not mention one of the best 2D Zelda games ever. I hope it?s not the last.

A-D-D-I-C-T-I-O-N NUJNIK278
THIS GAME ROCKS! THE ENDNING IS GREAT! BUT! ONCE YOU FINISH THE WHOLE GAME YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO BUT TO START A NEW FILE AND PLAY ALL OVER AGAIN. ... Read more

Features

• Help Mario and Luigi stop Bowser and his trouble-making kids
• Run, crush and stomp over your enemies as you conquer 8 different worlds
• Use power-ups like Warp Whistle and Frog Suits
• Battle in the land, air and sea
• For 1-4 players with Game Link cable

Reviews (113)

Great game!
[Obviously this game hasn't been released yet. This review is for the original NES game.]

After the wildly different Super Mario Bros. 2, Nintendo released a film in December of 1989 about an autistic boy who was a video game master. That film was called The Wizard. In the final scenes of the film he and two others played a new game - Super Mario Bros. 3. Come February of 1990 and the game hit stores. For many years it remained the best-selling game of all time, and with good reason. Read on to see why.

Graphics: 4/5
Very good graphics for an NES title. Not exactly revolutionary, but still excellent. These graphics will stick in your mind after your gameplay experience ends.

Play Control: 3.75/5
A little weird at first if you played the other two Mario games first. Here, for the first time, if you jumped on an enemy and held jump while you did it, you'd jump super high. Likewise, the new suits take some getting used to. However, with a little practice, you'll grow to love this scheme.

Challenge: 4.5/5
This one ain't easy. The game is divided into eight worlds: Grass, Desert, Water, Giant, Sky, Ice, Pipe, Dark. You can use special Warp Whistles to skip between areas, but that does little to reduce the amount of challenge. Some of the stages are maze like, others are just all-out challengers. At the end of every world, you battle one of seven Koopa Kids. These kids aren't easy to kill! You can skip between some individual levels, but not all of them. Of the Mario Trilogy on the NES, this is by far the hardest game.

Theme/fun: 4.5/5
If one NES game defined the world "excellency", it would be The Legend Of Zelda. This would come in a very close second. The new features this game introduced (overworld map, new suits, P-blocks, etc.) make it a stand-out title in the series, and with good reason.

Storyline: 1.75/5
What storyline? Obviously here, Nintendo's focus was gameplay, not a story.

Music/Sound: 2.75/5
The music and sound here are nothing special. If anything, as the NES Mario games were released, the sound and music gradually got worse while the actual gameplay got better.

Overall: 4/5
If you've got an NES, you shouldn't be without this game, period! If you've got an SNES, get Super Mario All-Stars just for this game. It's THAT good. This here is a game you BUY, not rent or borrow. I will stall you no longer - get this game.

First-Rate Mario Brothers Action
Nintendo seems to have found a great cash cow in re-releasing old NES and Super Nintendo games for the Game Boy. I could be cynical about them making a killing on old products, but why complain when it means I can play a game as great as Super Mario Bros. 3 again?
Unlike some old games, where the appeal in the re-release depends on nostalgia, this is a fun game whether you've played it before or not. In some basic ways, it sticks to the formula of the original Super Mario Bros., so you have the comfort of the familiar, but there are lots of new twists here, too. The racoon suit, and the ability to fly it confers, is the most amazing. And there are lots of different challenges, with some easy levels and some quite difficult. The game is paced well, so that you don't finish it in an hour, but you aren't driven crazy by the difficulty, either.
Yes, it would have been nice to have access to the bonus levels without getting the ecard reader (which I don't have, so I can't comment on how those levels are). The only bonus you can access directly through the game is the original Mario Bros., which gets old fast. But just on the merits of the original game, transfered to the Game Boy Advanced with no loss of fun, this is a great game.

Best Release of SMB3
Super Mario Bros. 3 was the biggest video game of my generation. I was 9 when it came out. There was so much buzz to this game (partly due to the movie "The Wizard") I remember practically half my 4th grade class talked about it for show and tell. Granted, I played SMB3 into the ground back then to the point where I became bored to tears with it. Still, it's been 14 years, and what once was old, now is new.

So what's so cool about this release that it earns 4 stars and is actually worth the $30-$35? Well, it's portable, you can save anywhere, you can play with a friend with only one game boy because of the alternating nature of the 2-player game, you can save replays of the level's you've beaten, you can now store up to 4 rows of items as opposed to just 1, there's the obligatory 4 player link version of the original mario bros. which only requires one copy of the game. And then there's the amazing e-reader support that, in theory, gives the game an infinite number of new levels. It's really hard to knock this release even though it's a gross example of how the GBA's library is saturated with ports of games we've all played before (and then some).

I've still got a few slight gripes. Other than the e-reader feature, there's really nothing new. It's the same game it was 14 years ago. That's generally a good thing, but if you were like me and played it into floor then, the game's liable to wear out on you somewhat quickly. It would have been interesting if they had provided a few more modes of play to make the game new and challenging*. And I really would have liked the 2-player game to be linkable. But other than that, I 'spose you couldn't ask for much more really.

* I concede, there is a nice all clear mode that let's you pick any world and play any level you've beaten (all 90 of them!) if you beat the game. But...that's about it.

Awesome game!
I got this game a few days ago and it is awesome!It's challenging and it's fun!I think it's a great game for all ages!

A great game but not exactly a classic.
I admit it Im one of the ones who think that Super Mario Bros 3 is the most overrated game of all time.Sure its fun but the graphics and controls were better in the sequel that is known as Super Mario World.I have to say though out of the 3 Mario games that were available on the original N.E.S. this is the best one with the original coming in a close second.This was also the first sign of Mario's evolution.I mean take the last level for example.The last levels in Mario 1 and 2 were pretty hard but not this hard.There is a fortress in the middle of it that is extremely comples.This is a game of skill and strategy.
Also I think that the graphics here are some of the best available on the Game Boy Advance.They arent as good as Metroid Zero Mission but they are excellent for a 2 dimensional Mario game.Super Mario World is a better showcase but this comes in a mean second.If you have a Game Boy Player hooked up to your Game Cube to play this game it will be like having a Super N.E.S. all over again. ... Read more

Features

• Game Boy Advance SP Classic bundle
• Comes with a free carrying case from ALS
• Just like the classic Nintendo Entertainment System
• Features the classic games Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, and ExciteBike
• Comes with headphones designed exclusively for the GBA SP

Reviews (2)

WOW
This kit really makes me wish I would have waited to get my SP... The classic NES design on the SP is outstanding and the games that come included are some of the best games that I have ever played... Overall this is a great package :)

Animaniacs Jammer
I think the game boy Advance sp-platinum is a great progranmed for all to play. my two boys love playing all the game on there have. Iam think about geting the game boy advavce sp flame. ... Read more

Features

• Game Boy Advance SP Classic bundle
• Comes with a free carrying case from ALS
• Just like the classic Nintendo Entertainment System
• Features the classic games Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, and Ice Climber
• Comes with headphones designed exclusively for the GBA SP

Amazon.com

Pokémon Sapphire's updated graphics with weather effects, amazing sound, more than 200 Pokémon with over 100 new species--as well as its faithful adherence to the existing series of Pokémon games--makes for a welcome evolution in the series.

First, the game has a lot in common with Pokémon games Silver, Gold, and Crystal. For example, players can choose to be a boy or a girl trainer, an internal clock sets events at certain times, and the game's handy-dandy Pokédex helps players keep track of the many stats. You're main goal is still to beat all the Gym Trainers and become the Pokémon Master. If you've played the old games, you will be right at home. But not all is the same.

The most obvious change is in the battles themselves. Now that two Pokémon can fight on your side at the same time, you can tag-team them against an enemy by taking advantage of the strengths of your Pokémons while covering their weaknesses. For example, you can now have a water Pokémon watch your fire Pokémon's back.You can also attack more than one Pokémon at a time.

A whole new element to the game focuses on how berries are used in battle. And if you collect enough berries, you can take them to a Berry Blender and make a PokéBlock, which is a little super-charged candy that raises your Pokémon's "Condition" attributes. You can then groom your Pokémon for regional contests and compete for ribbons like "Best of Show," which will unlock additional contests. There's even strategy in how to best use your berries: pick too many and the berry tree will disappear; plant berries, though, and a tree will grow. You can also build a Secret Base in special areas of the game, which you can decorate just like you can your room.

And let us not forget that Pokémon Sapphire has a kickin' multiplayer system, too. You can trade Pokémon, and link up to four players for incredible battles. The only downside is that you can't link up with the old Game Boy Color games. --Bryan Karsh

Pros:

• You can control two Pokémon in battle
• Much needed graphic and sound facelift
• Nice multiplayer feature (requires link cable and extra game cartridge)

• Can't trade Pokémon with Game Boy Color

Reviews (227)

Pokemon Sapphire is a nice piece of work
I have been playing the Japanese version of Sapphire for about 20+ hours now, and I believe I might be able to shed some light on what to expect.

Overview: The game starts out with the ability to choose between a boy and a girl character. Like previous games, you may choose the name of your character HOWEVER you can not choose the name of your rival. After taking care of some basic things, you head out to become a Pokemon master. The same aspects of the previous games once again apply, and of course, Team Rocket(in the form of Team Aqua) will once again try to stop you. The game is very easy to follow and manipulate, so even the youngest fan won't have a hard time becoming a Pokemon master.

Graphics: Unlike Crystal, the Pokemon are no longer given an "intro" animation. While this does reduce battle time significantly in the long term, it might be a dissapointment for many younger players. However, the animation for attacks and item usage has been greatly improved. Certain attacks, like "attract" are now given a greater spotlight and have become long-term status effects. This new addition, along with many other new TMs, will greatly delight even the oldest Pokefan.

Music: The music is rather cheesy. This newest release does feature variations of the battle themes that most G/S/C fans are accustomed to, but the variations aren't incredibly good.

Pokedex: Yes, the Pokedex has once again gone a major upgrade and it will not be a dissapointment. The most interesting feature is that your Pokemon will now be shown relative to your character, giving the player a better idea of how large each Pokemon is.

New Pokemon: If you expect the new release to have lots of cutesy Pokemon, you will be in for a let-down. 186 of the "old" Pokemon are not availble in either Sapphire or Ruby, and as you can not trade with the earlier versions of the game, completing your Pokedex will be impossible until further versions are released. The nice thing is that, until Milo Town(3rd town), you won't encounter any of the old Pokemon. This means that you can not longer rely on familiar faces like Mareep and instead you'll have to adapt to new Pokemon like Jigumaguma. There are 5 Pokemon featured in this game that can not be caught in Ruby; Habunake, Hassboh, Latias, Kyogre and Runatoon. Both Latias & Kyogre are "legendary" Pokemon.

Overall, despite the music and the inability to trade Pokemon with previous versions, this is a great game that will keep anyone busy for hours on end. Sapphire is definetely worth the [price].

Pokemon Sapphire for Gameboy Advance SP Rules!!! #1 GAME!
This game is absolutly the best Pokemom game I have ever played. It has cool all new and better sound effects and music, it has more citys and bigger citys and towns to go to than other games, and you can fight with two on two battles! The graphics and colors are magnificent and the different Pokemon are awesome!
The contest is cool because you can see if your Pokemon is cool, cute, tough, ect. It has more TM and HM moves to choose from and it even has a cool new feature that lets you use a special HM on an odd looking tree or cliff and you can create your own secret clubhouse base! The story begins as you choose a boy or girl. Then you start in a small town, Little Root, and your goal is to
become the best Pokemon Trainer in the Hoenn Region, the contenent you play in. It is fun and I assure you it will probobly be a great adventure for anyone. Overall this game is
the best I've seen and I would give it more than 5 if I could!

Greatest Pokemon Game Ever!!!!!
Trust me, you've got to get this game. I think that that the originals were fine and there graphics were lagging but sapphire has a great story and great graphics, the game is great because you are in the all new Hoenn Region and only 52 of the original pokemon were kept and the new pokemon are so cool, if you have any intrest in this interview you obviously are thinking about buying it, buy it! The game is the best, the features are the best, buy it!<br /> <br /> Sapphire rules all. Sapphire kicks the originals out of commission. Sapphire is definitely, a game that will be remembered as a great game.

Awesome
This game is amazing! I love it. Please, by all means buy it. I don't feel like writing a huge review so u can live with this.

Best game ever better then retarded ruby
I love this game and i am still playing it and my favorite pokemon is deoxys. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Oh no! It looks like your granddad was right--things really were better in the old days. At least they were if you liked 2-D platform games, and Yoshi’s Island is indisputably one of the best ever made.

Yoshi’s Island goes back in time to recount the touching story of the various Yoshis' attempts to unite Baby Mario with his parents. You don’t actually control the Italian plumber-to-be but instead his dinosaur pal, who has the curious ability to eat his enemies and then immediately turn them into eggs, which he can then fling at more enemies.

Since Yoshi isn’t particularly fast and can float in midair for a few seconds after making a jump, the whole dynamics of the normal Mario gameplay have changed, but the same incredible attention to detail and endless imagination that mark all of Nintendo’s best efforts are still here in full effect. In fact they’re joined this time, after the rather plain-looking prequel, by some wonderful pastel-shaded graphics that were jaw-dropping when the game was originally released in 1995 and still manage to impress now.

As with the other Super Mario Advance titles, this game also contains a four-player version of the original Mario Bros. arcade game, making it even more of a bargain than it already was. --David Jenkins, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Reviews (96)

One of the greatest games for the SNES is finally back!!
Ah, I remeber way back in 1995 when my Aunt came to my house. She brought over a bunch of games for us to play. As I looked through the pile, I noticed Super Mario World, a game I had played before. I quicly grabbed it and then noticed another game... I instantly recognized Yoshi on the cartridge, so I decided to try it out. Within 5 minutes I fell in love with this game. It had awesome gameplay, sweet graphics, and a beautiful storyline. I borrowed it from my Aunt for about a year, and finally forked it over. After she moved, she lost her SNES and her games. I was depressed that I could no longer play Yoshi's Island. Then, when I first heard of the rumors of Yoshi's Island on GBA, I went nuts. I bought it and I was infatuated once again with the beautiful platformer. Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 has all of the old Levels and the tricks and treats of the SNES version. The controller is easy to master and feels great. After you complete the game, 6 new challengeing levels are accessible. This game is packed with hours and hours of fun! Bottom line: BUY IT.

Don't be fooled by this game's cuteness.
This game is FUN.The replay value is awesome!The graphics are outstanding and so is the sound.You play as Yoshi the dinosaur and you have to carry baby Mario across all of Yoshi's Island to find baby Luigi.But there are lots of enemies.There are 6 different worlds with 8 levels.There are also to castles in each world with a boss.Most of the bosses are easy except for Bowser.This game may look cute but it's really tough and you really have to be good at pressing buttons.Definitely buy this game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

F.U.N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My sister and I have this game and totally love it!!! It is sort of strange how mario and luigi are babies but it grows on you! I am at the last level called Bowser's castle and it seems unbeatable! It is a really fun game that will have you engaged for hours! Perfect for traveling! Something good about this game is that you can revisit any level you want anytime and improve your score! We definentally recommend this game!

Hint: To practice bonus games you need to be in world 4 or 5, press select while your cursor is on a stage and press these buttons in order "L-L-B-A-R" and you should come to another screen with many choices for mini games! A great way to get free items!!

Have fun gaming,
(...)

Cool!!!!
It is the coolest game ever with yoshi + mario put together in one game. The best part about it is that it has sleep mode in it (which is not in many games), and all it means is that you can turn off the game boy (but not really) and when you turn the game boy back on (you press R,L,and select)your back at the same spot that you turned sleep mode on and you can countenu playing!

A Good Port but the same minor flaws as the others
Yoshi's Island was one of the best selling games on the SNES and now its on the GBA for the gamers enjoyment. Of course if your SNES version still works, the differences are very minimal.

Once upon a time there was a stork delivering a couple of babies to their parents when out of nowhere the evil koopa Kamek storms by and snatches one baby and the other plummets to the land below. Meanwhile, on Yoshi's Island the baby that managed to remain unsnatched lands on Yoshi's back with a map. The Yoshi's then decide to rally together and help baby Mario find his twin brother, Luigi. Back in 1995 the story was very original and even today there has been no game like Yoshi's Island.

Yoshi's Island presents a different tone to gameplay than any other Mario game to date. For example, you can either jump on enemies or you can have Yoshi slurp them up and make an egg to throw. Throwing eggs also has its benefits; you can grab coins or out of the way items that Yoshi normally can't reach. One con for the game I can pull out now is you have to get used to the shoulder buttons early on. The R button fires eggs and if you're still used to the SNES version you may still have the "A" button embedded into your mind as the release button for throwing eggs. Yoshi can also hover from place to place.

The entire objective of Yoshi's Island is to keep Baby Mario safe. You can do this by collecting stars (carrying up to 30). Each time Yoshi gets hit or sustains damage Baby Mario will be tossed off his back and the countdown (which depends on the number of stars you have) will begin. If the Countdown reaches zero Baby Mario will be kidnapped and you'll lose a life. If the countdown reaches below ten and you grab baby Mario then the countdown will refill up to ten.

The levels in Yoshi's Island are rather exciting. Each level has a score of 100 points you must obtain by collecting 30 stars (one point each) 20 red coins hidden among the yellow ones (one point each) and five flowers (ten points each). Each time you beat a level two things happen. You're points will tally up based on the collection of times and depending on how many flowers you got you may or may not get a bonus game. Five flowers gives you a 50/50 chance.

The levels are also rather challening and LONG. Some levels may also have mini games inside that can be frustrating. Some are fun such as when you grab a watermelon and shoot your opponent before he shoots you. But others like popping balloons or throwing the balloon before it pops aren't fun but rather frustrating.

Each world has eight levels, two of which are boss levels. Each world also keeps track of your score. If you score 700 points total in a world (out of the possible 800) then you get a bonus mini game that would normally be presented to you if you grabbed some flowers in a normal stage. Score 800 points (meaning you get 100 points on EVERY stage in that world) and you'll get an Extra Level. Keep in mind these Extra Stages are beyond hard and require some great skill.

The music as with every Mario Advance, doesn't sound as good as the original. In fact, Yoshi's Island sounds the utmost worst of the whole bunch. The noises that Yoshi makes eventually get annoying and repetative and what's worse he has a noise he makes for EVERYTHING he does, even jumping. The graphics look about the same as they did on the SNES but because of the GBA's pixle problem some of it actually looks a tad bit worse.

As for the bonuses in Yoshi's Island that weren't previously on your SNES version. Well, after you beat the game you can unlock six "secret" stages that will really test your skill. Yoshi's voice, which I already talked about and then there's the "Classic Mario Bros." But I bet most of you have classic Mario Bros. on another Mario advance game already. At least the six secret stages will keep you busy for a while, but that's the only real "Bonus" you get.

Overall of the GBA re-release frenzy Yoshi's Island doesn't fare too badly. A couple of minor flaws that can easily be overlooked.

The Good
+Re-release of one of the greatest SNES games
+Fun levels
+Original Gameplay
+Original Storyline
+Still looks good
+New Secret Stages

The Bad
-LONG levels
-Yoshi's voice is ANNOYING
-Limited amount of bonuses may not make people rush out and buy the product. ... Read more

Features

• Card-style role-playing game
• Includes wireless adapter so you can join up to 39 other trainers for battle
• Trade or battle Pokemon among Ruby, Sapphire, and Colluseum editions of the series
• Breed Pokemon to take advantage of evolved characteristics
• For 1 to 4 players

Reviews (20)

A small step for mankind, but a great leap for Pokemon!
Title; Pokemon Fire Red
Players;1-40 (in the union room)
Genre; RPG
Introduction; Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green are both remakes of the original two Pokemon games that launched in Japan which were Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green. The mass popularity of these games then led to the release of Pokemon Blue, and then Pikachu (Yellow as we know it)version.
Review; Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green are definately my most anticipated titles at the moment. Why? Because of four reasons.
1.It's OFFICIAL POKEMON!
2.It comes with the super-cool Wireless Adapter which clicks into the holes either side of the link cable port and the link cable port and allows you to play Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green WIRELESS!
3.Every place has had a complete makeover, and the sound has been improved too, making the graphics as good as Ruby/Sapphire!
4.Nine new islands have been added to these games, but they aren't like Johto, Kanto, Hoenn or Orre. No, they are just a few towns each.
(...)

Nostalgia+Technology=A Really Great Game!
This game is great! If you want Kanto pokemon in your Ruby/Sapphire, this game is for you. It offers the original 150 pokemon (Mew is currently unobtainable), some Johto pokemon and even Deoxys in two cool new forms.

Travel to some of your favorite original places, from the Viridian Forest to the Unknown Dungeon, and some new places, including the 9 brand new "Rainbow Islands!" Even use the wireless adaptor to travel to the Union Room, where you can chat, trade and battle others in the room without a link cable (even though the link cable is still compatible with the game)!

Good news for you Charmander fans: Charmander can learn metal claw at level 13, meaning Brock's going to be a whole lot easier with Charmander!

Overall, this game combines the latest GBA innovations with nostalgia, and I find it a great (and fun) game. I could play it for months.

AWSOME!!!!
MAN I JUST I GOT S GAME! AND ITS OFF THE CHARTS.This game is so much better than all the restput together.This game starts u all the way back in the Kanto region and u go through the old story line.But the sounds effect are better,better grafics.Not only do you get this game you also get the wireless adapter pack witch alows u to play wirelessly theres a new feature caleed the union room its like a chat room but better u can trade talk battle as long as you got a wireless adaptor and a version of the game its awsome. SO WHAT ARE WAITING FOR GET OUT THERE AND GET THIS GAME!!!!

pokemon fire red
I'ts awesome I love it and reccomend it to people who like pokemon.

this one awesome game
At last a pokemon game that allows you to catch em all plus this game comes with an Wireless adopter which is way better than a link cable.the first time l saw this game in a maganzine l thought wow. also l try out the other pokemon games and beat it(except for the catch em all)and l bet this game will do too ... Read more

Features

• Marshall your forces and draw your steel -- the legendary Fire Emblem roleplaying games have arrived on the GBA
• Defend against usurpers and assassins as you aid young lords on their quest against evil
• Assume control of a diverse and powerful army of soldiers loyal to your cause
• Persuade powerful enemy heroes to leave their evil armies and join your growing cause
• For 1-4 players over link cable

Reviews (86)

Awesome Game
From the creators of Advance Wars - This game is one of the best on the GBA console. Although I'm sure that many people would find this game incredibly boring, I believe that it certainly lived up to my expectations.

Learning about this title from Super Smash Bros.: Melee, I looked into it and decided that I might as well buy it. After all, I had been a huge fan of the Advance Wars series (even though it's only two games), and this game was supposed to be very similar. I found out that while this game IS similar to Advance Wars, the feel for it is very different.

The game is a turn-based strategy RPG where you control a small army fighting to accomplish various tasks in the game. Each character has a certain strength, defence, movement, etc. rating which effects it's overall usefulness. There are many character classes, but roughly half of them come from previous forms (i.e. an archer changes class to become a sniper).

The game is pure fantasy, with no guns or the like in it. It's based entirely on "traditional" weapons like swords and lances along with it's own supply of magic.

There are more than one "story-line" in the game, but since I don't want to spoil anything for you, I'll just say that each story-line builds upon the previous one.

I only have two complaints about this game...

My first problem is that you can only get a certain amount of characters in the game. If that unit "dies" (even though they really only get injured), then they're out for the rest of that story-line. This can get EXTREMELY annoying if you're not smart about who you use as cannon fodder. Every unit that you get can be crucial at certain times.

My second problem comes from my first problem. The first problem wouldn't be so bad if you could save in the middle of a battle. It IS possible to save, but it's not really like a save. It's more like putting the game on hold. If you choose the "suspend" option, then your game will be reset and you can continue a the place that you left of on. However, this does not work like a save in that you can restart and come back to that exact same place. Once you continue a suspend, the game automatically saves after each battle sequence. Because of this, you can not got back to the middle of a level where you last "saved."

Overall, I would recommend to this game to almost anyone who like to play the GBA. I'm sure that anybody who plays this will be hooked for at least a day.

if u dont buy this ur a complete idiot
this game is awesome. its the best tactical rpg ive ever played. unlike advanced wars once your characters die there is no bringing them back unless you restart the chapter. This adds an interesting layer of strategy. In advanced wars if your units die you just make fifty more and no one cares. You can win advanced wars by making thousands of units the mashing the buttons with your backside. In fire emblem the tactical part of the tactical rpg is actually present. The characters are all greatly drawn and they each have different personalities. You can learn much more about the characters by making them talk to each other when in other games all you get is "this is bill, now go kill someone with him". basicaly the game is set in medeival times with magic and dragons. There are three stories one with 10 chapters, 2 with 20+.You command your units into battle and supply them with weapons and armor. You sre only a tactician so you dont fight. the hand drawn backgrounds and characters are amazing. This is a fun simple game. most good games have been lost to the void of complexity but not this one. The controls are simple with extensive menus which allow you to control most aspects of the game. and unlike rpgs like zelda you dont have to spend hours looking fo the triforce shard or the old man...etc
simply put this game rocks and if you dont buy it you are a stupid moron.

It's about freakin time.
For those of you who aren't game savvy, we got our first taste of Fire Emblem in Super Smash Bros Melee, with two hidden characters, Roy and Marth. But when some of us looked into it further, we discovered that Fire Emblem had been around for about six or seven games from the SNES days. When some of us saw how cool Roy and Marth were, we wanted to see the actual game. So the newly announced GBA game was brought to US shores. And it was good.

The US version of Fire Emblem takes place in "Roy's storyline" but Roy isn't really in the game. Instead it revolves around Eliwood, his father and Prince of Pherae, his good friend Hector, Brother of Marquess Ostia, and a new friend Lyn, granddaughter of Marquess Cailen. A dark power in the form of the Black Fang rises, kidnapping Eliwood's father. Eliwood sets out with his friends too find his father and stop the Black Fang.

The gameplay is technically RPG based but is tactial strategy. In your turn you select your characters to move to certain locations based on the map. When your turn is over, your opponents do the same thing on their turn. It repeats until the mission goal is achieved. Leveling up is in the form of battling your enemies.

The gameplay is fun and the storyline is wonderful. There are several challenges for the advanced gamers, like support conversations and fully leveling up, or if you're pretty straight forward, that works too. The game's graphics are good and cinematic sequences are shown in artistic format, which is very effective for the storytelling game.

Overall, if you're an RPG fan, this is a must have game. It is the best game I played that came out in 2003. I reccomend it to anyone with a GBA/SP.

amazing!
Fire Emblem is amazing.

In the game, you are a tactician, and it is your job to direct your army to victory through many hours of wonderful gameplay (divided into chapters). There are three main lords, and each has their own story line (Lyn's is the "tutorial" stage while Hector's and Eliwood's are very, very similar with the exception of a few different stages). Each chapter starts off with a little clip about the storyline, and then after making preparations, you are off to war.

Each map is different, and on the map there are many kinds of terrain (different terrains offer different advantages), shops, houses, and enemies galore. You have your characters on the map ("sprites") and you direct them where to go, whom to talk to (if possible), what items to use, and so forth. Yes, it's turnbased. When you attack, the enemy is given the chance to counterattack (unless it can't).

Fire Emblem has a nice hierachy when it comes to weapons and magic. Lances beat Swords, Swords beat Axes, and Axes beat Lances. Anima (Nature) beats Light. Light beats Dark. Dark beats Anima. Like rock paper scissors, it is not hard to get the hang of.

What I like (unlike its counterpart, Advance Wars) is the fact that every character you acquire is unique with their personality and looks. As you may know, when a character dies in battle (except for the tutorial stage), you lose that character forever, and if you're like me, you develop a fondness for them, so losing one could cause you to turn off the game immediately and starting over :) One thing you must be careful: if any of your three Lords die (Hector, Eliwood, Lyn), it's game over.

There are many classes, each with their own advantages/disadvantages. For example, archers must strike at least two squares away, and they cannot counterattack in melee. Most of these classes can upgrade to more powerful units, and you'll have fun leveling up.

The graphics are really nice (if you like anime). When they talk, they show their heads, and they even blink and show facial expressions/turn their heads when appropriate. The sprites on the battlefield are, in my opinion, adorable, although some people beg to differ.

The music is riveting and fits the mood. You feel like you're really about to go to war. Not to mention the storyline is beautifully written, and you'll be anxious to play through the chapters.

There is also a "support" system, where on the battlefield, you put two characters next to each other for several (cumulative) turns, and after awhile, they can talk (Support) each other, thus increasing stats. If you get two characters' support levels high enough, they may have a special ending, ie: they get married :) This gives the game yet another great replay value because support conversations are recorded.

However, if you're looking for great multiplayer action, you might want to look somewhere else. You pick 5 characters from your file, and you fight your opponents' 5 characters. A little unfair, since the person who gets the first strike often sets the tide of the battle. Plus, you can't take healers in, and there's no terrain advantages, just a little square of an arena.

All in all, Fire Emblem is a wonderful RPG/strategy game that fans of these genres should not pass up.

Wish This Had Been Brought to NA Earlier!
I try to be honest in all of my reviews, and this will be no different. I wanted not to like Fire Emblem. I assumed that there had to be a really good reason that a strong-selling title from a beloved Japanese series would not have made it to North America. As you can tell from my score, this was not the case. I absolutely LOVED every minute I played this game, and continue to play it at least once a week.

Story
To discuss the story in great depth would certainly lead to spoilers. I do not want to ruin the intricate attention to detail that the authors have so lovingly crafted into this title.

Without going into great story-ruining detail (beyond the ''Tutorial'' chapters), you are placed in the role of a Tactician. As such, you are responsible for assisting Lyn, a woman who is attempting to rid her locale of invading hordes. Along the way, you meet up with several like-minded characters who wish to help you with your quest. Some first appear as enemies, however. If you choose to attack them rather than talk to them (which are different menu commands), you will find yourself possibly missing out on their contribution to the storyline.

As your cabal increases in number, you have a choice as to which characters to choose from. There is an ''old woman'' who can do a reading for you where she occasionally recommends that you take someone along (usually because they will be needed to talk to another character). This ''Augury'' costs you money, but is very helpful to the newbie turn-based strategist.

Characters
The story really has strong character development, and a wide range of characters you will encounter:
* Archer
* Cavalier
* Paladin
* Monk
* Magician
* Lord
* Wyvern Rider
* Pegasus Knight
* Nomad
* Fighter
* Thief
...

Most of the characters have a deep back-story that unfolds throughout the game. Like many RPGs, the characters level-up through an experience-based system, which automatically improves their personal statistics as well. Items throughout the game also act as power-ups, allowing your characters to evolve into a ''super'' class based upon those which they started from.

Gameplay
This is a turn-based strategy game. When two characters are near one another, they have the opportunity to attack one another (depending on their attack range). Each class of character has their own type of attack (largely dependent upon the weapon or magic that they wield).

The fighting in the game is based upon a triad, much like rock-paper-scissors:

* Axes beat Lances
* Lances beat Swords
* Swords beat Axes

The same can be said for magic, where you have 3 types of magic and each has one type that it is strong against and one that it is weaker against:

* Elemental Magic beats Light Magic
* Light Magic beats Dark Magic
* Dark Magic beats Elemental Magic

This makes for very interesting gameplay, as you can have a relatively low-level character with light magic beat the heck out of a higher-level Dark Mage, simply because of the magic balance.

SNES Level Animation and Good Attention to Detail
I expect GBA games to have decent animation and sound, and Fire Emblem does well on this platform. The music is great, the sound effects are appropriate and well-timed.

What really caught my eye was the attention to detail. If a unit is holding one type of weapon, when you cut to the battle sequence, they fight with that weapon (not their default). I was especially impressed with the fighting sequences, although I eventually turned them off for the later chapters so I could spend less time watching fights and more time strategizing!

A really great feature of this game is the ability to save almost any time. At any time that you are in control (e.g. not when computer or ''other'' is moving), you can choose to ''Suspend'' your game. This means that all moves up to that point will be saved, and you can continue from that point on. This was very important to my enjoyment, as later battles can take upwards of an hour a piece. If you want to try a silly ''blitz'' approach to map out the level, you can have a throw-away save spot and use it to store your explorations.

Well worth noting is the automatic saving feature. A couple of times I found myself up very late at night, trying to finish a level before the power of my GBA ran out. Ignoring the orange light, I continued to battle. When the machine ran out of power, as all batteries inevitably do, I was very worried that my progress would be lost! Luckily, all moves up to the point that the power went out were saved to the slot I was working on. I wouldn't recommend this approach, as I am sure I jeopardized the stability of said save file, but it is good to know that if you get too involved, you won't lose everything!

Will This Gather Dust?
It certainly won't in my collection. I have played this game to death, and still have a few chapters left to conquer. This is the kind of game you play, then rethink how you completed the chapter...could I have saved more guards if I had only...could I have reached that village before it was sacked by barbarians???

Well worth its price, and I do truly wish this series had been brought to North America earlier. I look forward to the next Fire Emblem game reaching our shores!

Overall Recommendations:
You'll like this if:
* You like RPGs.
* You like medieval-themed games.
* You liked Warcraft I or II or StarCraft. ... Read more

Features

• Classic video game originally created for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
• Action- and puzzle-based gameplay
• Rescue a princess locked in a castle
• Explore secret areas
• For 1 or 2 players

Reviews (25)

NES Classic Perfectly Ported to GAEMBOY ADV
If you want to buy one of the RETRO Classic NES carts Nintendo is offering this is definitely #1 on the list for sheer ease of play and memories. SUPER MARIO BROS is a perfect port of the NES game (minus one glitch at the end of the 3rd world that gave you infinite lives). Several have bemoaned you can not save your progress, and that's true ... but in the original game this was not an option. Learn the game well enough and you can WARP your way through the beginning levels anyway! You play as Mario or Luigi jumping your way through many worlds (levels) to get to save Princess Toadstool and her courtiers. Set in a land where evil mushrooms, turtles, fish and birds attack from all directions (okay 90% of them are on the right!).

The graphics and controls are the same ... no embellishments or "lost zones" or challenge modes ... just straight up classic MARIO and LUIGI in their first adventure back in the NES days. It's a very nice port, and I like the ability to take it with me on the road in my SP. It also brings back memories when I hook it up to the TV and get to see it normal size!

I've kind of gone off about paying $20 for Donkey Kong, Ice Climber, and Excite Bike (why not a compilation of those on ONE cart - especially when you can get the e-reader versions for $5). But this one is well worth it because you have many levels to play, and the ability to play 2 player! This is still a fun game, and I can't believe how instantly likeable it still is even after playing all the latest! Cute, simple, and fun! Any age can enjoy it! Highly reccommended - not just for nostalgia freaks. Though they will get a kick out of the perfect replica packaging - from the instructions, the cart, and the box -- it all looks old school! Trademark classic 80s game that helped build an empire around Italian plumbers attacking mushrooms! Wow!

Classic Mario
The formula for the best Mario games started right here at number one. Yes he was featured in Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. before this game came out, but SUPER Mario Bros. invented platform games. To this day the game remains as playable as the first time you opened the box of your NES (back when they packed in games, I miss it). The graphics are great for the time period they were developed for. Remember a true reviewer considers the age of a game and doesn't compare to games that have the benefit of todays technology. Back in 1985 this game was top billing at arcades and at home, the fun factor and replay value was the top priority back then. Unfortunately that philosophy has practically died, and your lucky to even want to play a game after you beat it the first time now days. This game echoes a time when games were fun, replayable, and didn't require a large investment of time to beat. As you get older you find you like these games better and better because life is so busy. SMB is a fine example of Nintendo's trademark quality and the roots of gaming for most of us in our twenties +.

Awesome Classic
ok for the last review said it was the worst game cuz its originial and that there isnt a way to continue o yes there is after a game over u hold a and press start at the title screen and u will continue at the first level of the world like if u died on 7-3 and if u did that code u would be on 7-1 but overall this game rocks!!!!

Yay :D
Another great ninetendo classic game... I gotta say I have been waiting for this one to be available... Its one of my fave mario games... and agian like I said for the Donkey Kong game... for those of you who dont like it cause its simple... Its supposed to be... Doesnt have to hi tech to be a good game... some of the best games were the orginal ninetedo games

THIS GAME ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(...) writing this from my vacation spot on lopez island. I thought I'd check out the first mario vs bowser game, and I found that IT WAS THE BEST MARIO GAME I EVER PLAYED!!!!!!!!!!! I can see why this game lifted mario to the top of the video game tower of success. this game has goombas on almost every level(goombas are the funnest to kill in my opinion), the famous doo dee doo doo da da tune, and in every castle you fight bowser. the graphics aren't great, but it makes no difference because of the awesome gameplay. In fact, once I started playing, I couldn't stop. rent this game first if you're not sure, I guarrentee you'll be hooked. ... Read more

Product Description

Atari (26085) Backyard Baseball 2006 GBA ... Read more

Features

• An all-star MLB lineup: Carlos Delgado, Alfonso Soriano, Nomar Garciaparra, Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro, Albert Pujols, Eric Gagne, Pedro Martinez, Ivan Rodriguez and Vladamir Guerrero
• Additional bonus pros to unlock: Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Dontrelle Willis and Jim Thome
• All 30 MLB team logos
• Choose from 10 MLB Pro players - as kids
• 30 Backyard Kids & original Backyard team names & logos

Amazon.com

Pokémon Ruby's updated graphics with weather effects, amazing sound, more than 200 Pokémon with over 100 new species--as well as its faithful adherence to the existing series of Pokémon games--makes for a welcome evolution in the series.

First, the game has a lot in common with Pokémon games Silver, Gold, and Crystal. For example, players can choose to be a boy or a girl trainer, an internal clock sets events at certain times, and you’re the game's handy-dandy Pokédex helps players keep track of the many stats. You're main goal is still to beat all the Gym Trainers and become the Pokémon Master. If you've played the old games, you will be right at home. But not all is the same.

The most obvious change is in the battles themselves. Now that two Pokémon can fight on your side at the same time, you can tag-team them against an enemy by taking advantage of the strengths of your Pokémons while covering their weaknesses. For example, you can now have a water Pokémon watch your fire Pokémon's back.You can also attack more than one Pokémon at a time.

A whole new element to the game focuses on how berries are used in battle. And if you collect enough berries, you can take them to a Berry Blender and make a PokéBlock, which is a little super-charged candy that raises your Pokémon's "Condition" attributes. You can then groom your Pokémon for regional contests and compete for ribbons like "Best of Show," which will unlock additional contests. There's even strategy in how to best use your berries: pick too many and the berry tree will disappear; plant berries, though, and a tree will grow. You can also build a Secret Base in special areas of the game, which you can decorate just like you can your room.

And let us not forget that Pokémon Ruby has a kickin' multiplayer system, too. You can trade Pokémon, and link up to four players for incredible battles. The only downside is that you can't link up with the old Game Boy Color games. --Bryan Karsh

Pros:

• You can control two Pokémon in battle
• Much needed graphic and sound facelift
• Nice multiplayer feature (requires link cable and extra game cartridge)

• Can't trade Pokémon with Game Boy Color

Reviews (249)

Pokemon Ruby Preview
I know it's a bit late but I'm here to tell you (in 1,000) words about Pokemon Ruby. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire will have 135 new Pokemon! Instead on the usual 100 new. You can do 2 on 2 battles which will make the game a little more interesting. NO MORE TEAM ROCKET!!!! Yay! Boo! Now there are two more teams, Magma and Aqua. Team Magma (which u battle in Ruby only) wants Groudon while Team Aqua (which u battle in Sapphire only) wants Kyogre. Instead of there only being 5 or 6 legendary Pokemon, there are 8 legendaries! To take over the 3 birds and dogs there are minerals. Rejiice: Ice Type, Rejisteel: Steel Type, and Rejirock: Rock type. Mew and Celebi are taken over by Jiraachi: Psy./Steel! Mewtwo says hello to Deoxys: Psy. type. Lugia and Ho-oh will be taken out by the two new birds, Latios: Psy./Flying, and Latias: Psy./Flying. Everyone give a warm welcome to Rekkuza! Rekkuza: Dragon/Flying. In both you have the choice of being a Boy or a girl. But they are different in each game. Here's some bummers: Mostly all of the Pokemon between Bulbasaur and Celebi, you cannot capture (without cheating). #2 You don't go to: Kanto, ORANGE ISLANDS (obviously), or Johto!
Tata that's all for now!

get's easier further in the game
Okay, first of all I bought a copy of this in late March at Wal-mart. Many of my friends had either Ruby or Sapphire already and I was ready to rejoin the Pokemon games (just the games not the cards and shows) I popped the game into my clear colored GBA and began my adventure throughout the game (luckily I had the game guide with me while I was playing.I decided to pick the water pokemon Mudkip as my starter because soon it evoles into a massive water-ground pokemon that knows Earthquake AKA Swampert. I received all the nessecery equipment before I went on my trek and I had a great time playing. I gave my character the name Jimmy. If you think that sounds absurb then wait til' I tell you that I named myself Barfbag in Silver. I was sort of bummed that I couldn't name my rival and that you only battle your rival about 3 times. Luckily, there's another person that fires up power to the game. His name is Wally and is a timid and sickly boy whom your Dad (the Petalburg City gym leader) asks you to help him catch his first pokemon (Ralts). Wally soon becomes very important to your quest.As I went on I captured pokemon such as Shroomish and Taillow who are now in their late 40's and 50's. I now have 96 pokemon and many of them are evolved because of the wonderful EXP Share which helps them receive experiecnce points without having to put them in battle. The gym leaders aren't as tough as their puzzles surronding the gym, although it took me many times to beat Tate and Lisa. I soon found myself confronting the Elite Four. Team Magma who replaces the worn out Team Rocket and very slick and commanding even though I knock the crud out of them they are still an excellent addition to the game. There's also a little side show entertainment values such as two on two battles and pokemon contests. I don't really want to say moch about thise simply because there isn't much to say. I found Groudon the featured legendary pokemon was difficult to catch but I got him after my 29 ultra ball. I soon went to the Elite Four and I struggled greatly with them but now I've beaten them 26 times! My favorite of the Elite Four is Sidney who sports a mohawk along with a toothy grin and he's veery sly even though he's easy for me. I disliked the champion Steven because he seems very mean and nasty when you talk to him. After the Elite Four I went on to catch more pokemon, battle the Elite Four over 20 times in order to raise my pokemon to highter levels. Then I did stuff like played the slots at the game corner and try to beat the Battle Tower and complete my Pokedex. That's all I have left to say about the game but I am still enjoying it for a great amount. I is truly a game that's worth the wait. Before I go, I'll show you all the pokemon in my party. SWAPERT: level 68 GROUDON: level 81 METAGROSS:level 64 0r maybe 65 GIRAFARIG level 63 RAYQUAZA level 74 and KECLEON level 56.

one of the best pokemon games to date.
Yes this game is the old same old same old. Additionally, many of the best features of gold and silver are missing, however the game still stands tall above the rest!

Recommended for anyone who can read! Seriously it is that good.

4.5 stars - Not the best Pokemon RPG but excellent still
Pokemon 3 (Ruby and Sapphire versions.) The third installment in the Game Boy Pokemon RPG series.

Nintendo's Pokemon franchise became a massive success in its native Japan relatively quickly. Although it took the franchise a little longer to catch on in America, it finally did catch on, and when it did, it took the nation by storm. Pokemon games and products sold like crazy, despite the fact that the franchise was virtually unrecognized in America at its time of release. By 2003, the phemonenon was pretty much dead in America, but still, Nintendo went ahead and released the two latest adventures in the series, Ruby and Sapphire. How do these games up? Read on for my review.

PROS:
-THIS GAME GIVES YOU MORE OF THE SAME MONSTER CATCHING AND BATTLING ACTION THAT YOU HAVE GROWN TO LOVE IN THE FIRST AND SECOND GAMES. To put it simply, if you liked the first game, it's quite unlikely that you won't like this one.
-THE GAME GRAPHICS ARE DRASTICALLY IMPROVED OVER THOSE OF THE PREDECESSOR TITLES. In this game, the graphics are not only improved, but the game is also optimized to make usage of the Game Boy Advance's thirty-two bit technology. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it's as good as a Game Boy Advance game like this can look!
-IT'S NOT JUST A REHASH OF EARLIER GAMES. Although the game uses the same general formulas, the game is entirely new, and the world is much larger this time around. Even after you beat the game, there is still a ton of stuff to do, like capture all of the creatures in the game and train new monsters. The game even introduces the concept of two-on-two battles!
-NINTENDO DESIGNED THIS GAME WITH PLAYER CONVENIENCE IN MIND. Remember how in the first games you had to go through all those menus just to use an item (like your bike or fishing pole?) Well, in this game, you can set the select button to use an item! This really comes in handy and speeds up the general flow of the game.
-TONS OF NEW CREATURES AND ABILITIES. Many of the old Pokemon are gone, but there are tons of new ones! And some of the new ones are pretty damn cool. Needless to say, there are new legendary ones as well.
-YOU CAN TRADE WITH POKEMON SAPPHIRE, AND THE UPCOMING FIRE RED AND LEAF GREEN GAMES. This is necessary to complete your Pokedex, since no one game has every creature.
-THE GAME REUSES THE CONCEPT OF BREEDING POKEMON. If you get a male and a female Pokemon together at the Daycare center, they just might lay an egg! This concept is necessary to get many of the "baby" Pokemon in the game.

CONS:
-YOU CAN'T TRADE WITH THE OLDER GAMES! This is a huge problem which is the major reason the game doesn't get a five-star rating in my book.
-MANY OF THE PROBLEMS THE OLD GAMES HAD WERE NOT FIXED FOR THIS GAME. Examples of this include not being able to rename Pokemon you get in trades, not being able to unlearn HM moves on your own, and the general pace of the game moving too slow.
-CONSIDERABLY MORE DIFFICULT THAN EARLIER GAMES. Chances are you're a gamer who is looking for a challenging portable RPG, but in many ways this game is TOO difficult. It seems that no matter how much you level up your monsters, it just doesn't seem to be enough in many places.
-THE MYSTERY EVENT/EON TICKET CONCEPT IS FLAWED. Why, you ask? YOU NEED AN E-READER FOR THEM! And, to say the least, the E-Reader is a rip-off! Why didn't Nintendo find another way to incorporate these elements into the game?
-WHY DOESN'T THIS GAME USE THE TIME OF DAY AND DAY OF THE WEEK SYSTEM THAT THE PREVIOUS GAMES USED? This was one of the best things about the previous games, and I am disappointed not to see it here.

OVERALL:
Pokemon 3 is a damn fine RPG, even if it doesn't quite top Pokemon 2. If you have a Game Boy Advance, this is an excellent game to add to your collection. A little word of advice - you can NOT get all of the Pokemon in one game, so if you get Ruby, you might want to make sure a friend owns or will buy Sapphire, or vice versa. Also, these games are going to be compatible with the forthcoming Fire Red and Leaf Green, so you might want to start building up monsters in this game now so that you can import them into that game when it comes out! Either way you look at it, Pokemon 3 is a damn good portable RPG.

Great game
I llllllllooooooooovvvvveeeee Pokemon! Pick Treeko if you want to lose. Pick Torchick if ya want to win! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Nothing lends itself better to portable gaming than the arcadeclassics. They're addictive, replayable, and fun--plus it's nice not tohave to pump endless streams of quarters into them. That's what makesNamco Museum such a must-have title for the Game Boy Advancesystem. People too young, or too impatient, to enjoy a good coin-op hadbetter stop reading now.

Like the PlayStation and N64 versions, Namco has packed a few of itsbest games onto the cartridge. For the GBA we get only five titles(four are listed on the front of the box, but Galaxian is alsoincluded). We have two versions of Ms. Pac-Man (one that showsthe whole maze but is dreadfully small, and another that scrolls),Galaga, Pole Position, and Dig Dug. They arelovingly ported, complete with all the music and sound effects intact.What we don't get is the amusing Museum portion and trivia found onother versions.

Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga are the real winners here. Bothare perfect renditions complete with all the extras (music, colors,sound effects, and bonus stages/cartoons). The controls on these twoare also perfect. Pole Position is amusing, but features twitchycontrols and pales in comparison to other GBA racing games.Galaxian, on the surface, seems the same as its sequel,Galaga, but it isn't. The fire rate is much slower, so the paceof the game is different. Galaga is certainly better, butGalaxian is a nice addition regardless. Dig Dug is aclassic, pure and simple, and it still plays well. It rounds out thecollection nicely.

Arcade fans, especially those who used to line up (or line theirquarters on the machine) to play these games, will be very pleased withNamco Museum. Those unimpressed with retro gaming probably won'tbe converted. However, here's hoping we see more arcade classics in thefuture, because I can't think of a better platform for these than theGame Boy Advance. --Andrew S. Bub

Pros:

• Perfect recreations of arcade classics
• A nice, diverse slate of games
• Nice of them to include two versions of Ms. Pac-Man

• Pole Position isn't so hot anymore
• No Museum features, such as trivia questions

Reviews (63)

Galaga good enough by itself
Galaga is enough by itself. I bought the game the day it came out.I couldn't believe that all my favorite arcade games were in the palm of my hand. All the games are awesome. There all exactly like the arcade versions. I know that most older people will like the game. Im only 13 and its one of my favorite games ever. The highlight of the game is GALAGA. GALAGA is by far the best game in the package. Just incase you didnt know the 5 games in the package are Galaga, Galaxian, DigDug, Ms.PacMan, and pole position. For you youngsters out there, take it advice from somebody your own age, buy Namco Museum.

A history lesson, not a game
Museum Games are more of a lesson in classic gaming than an experience.

Namco's Gameboy Advance release of the Namco Museum follow the same path the Williams has taken in their several Greatest Hits releases. This current installment of the Namco museum includes a roster of five games. These games are: Ms. Pac-Man (1980), Galaxian (1979), Galaga (1981), Dig Dug (1982), and Pole Position (1982). These games have been fully restored on a single GBA Cart for your portable convenience. Granted it is nice to have five different games on one cartridge, but I would hardly call this a worth while title.

I can not site any performance issues, nor can I compare the Namco Museum to any of the current games out there. My reasoning behind this is because Namco fully restored Atari classics and packaged them for a modern system. Though I personally am not keen on this idea, I will admit, it is nice to remember the simple times. Each game is configured to interface with the D-Pad and the face buttons, whereas the shoulder buttons have no function in this package, leaving the controls as simple as the games themselves.

To my disappointment, both Galaxian and Galaga are virtually the same game. This means that you are paying for four games, when they advertise five. The slight difference between Galasxian and Galaga is the entrance of the enemies. In Galaga, enemies fly into view and bombard you as they enter. In Galaxian, the enemies are just lined up at the top of the screen, waiting for you to shoot them. All NAMCO needs to do at this point is throw in Space Invaders and advertise six games, but you will still only have four unique games.

The bottom line is, the NAMCO Museum is more of a history lesson than a worth while game. I rated this a 2 stars because Ms. Pac-Man and Dig Dug are still fun titles, but the other three just don't have a lasting replay value. I would pass this title up, unless it was on the discount rack for less than five dollars.

Great Game
I think that most of the people that have been saying that this is a hard game, just have been used to the large screen. They need to think about what a cartrisge game can do. they aren't going to be perfect, and I have grown up with them unperfect. Don't look too hard to find a game that doesn't have any flaws. The game play is good knowing that the games were originally made a while back, and don't expect to see any high grafics, since they were made around the early 90's and older. If you want the feel of the old Atari, this is a perfect selection of games from the classic line of Atari. Good grafics no, but the same great games, yes.

Great Games but Poor Conversion
Namco Museum lets you play old Atari classics on your GameBoy Advance. These include Galaga, Galactica, Dig Dug, Pole Position, and Ms. Pac-Man!

This is of course a great idea in theory - I *love* some of these games. But while the games might be really fun to play on a big-screen console, they are REALLY tough on the tiny screen. For example, Ms. Pac-Man comes in two modes - a full screen mode and one that scrolls up and down showing you a partial screen at a time. The full screen mode has REALLY really tiny ghosts and characters, you can barely time your movements and often get stuck on walls. The scrolling mode is better in the sense that the characters are larger, but now you can easily scroll down into an enemy and the same character control issues occur.

On Pole Position, it's all about sliding left and right as your racecar goes around curves. With the arrow-control of the GBA, it's one light tap to make a hard turn. If you accidentially press too hard on the arrow, you smash into the side signs or nearby cars. It makes driving very difficult.

Dig Dug is a great game, where you burrow in the ground and try to drop rocks on the heads of dragons. Is this Revenge of Smaug? Again, I love the game but the controls make it difficult. You can be planning a careful tunnel to a rock and end up off by a bit, making the tunnel useless.

Galaga and Galaxian are both classic space-shooting games. Galaxian is a "secret bonus" in that it's not mentioned on the box but is provided on the cartridge. I really love both of them, but the controls are just as sluggish and imprecise here. With Galaxian having the penalty of "only one shot on the screen at a time", those missed shots make a huge difference in playability.

If you have a regular console, I'd recommend these games on a differnet system. I love the games themselves! But the GBA version is rather awkward. Everyone I had try this out got frustrated very quickly.

Best Handheld Arcade Compilation Ever
A compilation of 5 old-school arcade games including: Ms.Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Pole Position, and Dig Dug. The best part is that all five games look and play just as good, if not, better than they originally did in the arcades, pretty impressive for a handheld sytem, though it would have meant a lot more if the high scores saved. - Kit Oxton ... Read more