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Game Boy Advance First Impressions
The Beginning
Key Elements
Game Play
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A lot of Game Boy web sites have the first impressions from people who have played with the Game Boy Advance. I love reading personal experiences and seeing what people think of things. That's why I decided to post some of the things that stood out to me the first couple of times I played Game Boy Advance. Enjoy!
Originally, I planned to import the GBA from Japan so I'd be one of the first people to have it. However, for several different reasons I decided to wait until the US release. The first time I actually was able to play was when I walked in to Stop and Save Software (Owned by Electronics Boutique) to pre-order my GBA package. There it was, just laying on the counter...well...secured to the counter. I don't think anyone in the store even knew what it was! Nobody even gave it a second glance. Some time after that I was walking through the electronics section of a Wallmart store when I saw a display model. The following is just some of the things the stood out in my mind when I first played it.
This thing is small, that's all I can say! I know you've read that the GBA is about the same size as the GBC but I can't emphasize enough how small the unit really is! What really makes it’s small size stand out is the fact that compared to the Game Boy Color, the screen is huge. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s no big screen TV, but it’s the perfect size screen for a handheld gaming system. I think perhaps that the second thing that I noticed was that it’s very comfortable to hold and play. Much more comfortable than Game Boy Color, at least for me. I have pretty big hands. A Game Boy Color feels so small in my hands it’s like playing something that came out of a Cracker Jack box. One of these days I have to post a picture of me holding a GBC, it’ll be worth a few laughs. But getting back to my point, because of the horizontal configuration, it’s fits in my hand much better yet even someone with small hands will be comfortable holding it. The next thing in line is definitely screen clarity. The resolution is so much higher than GBC it’s incredible. The Games look so much sharper and detailed. Because of the I believe that the screen resolution is one of the systems best features. Of course while I’m speaking about the screen I have to mention that the graphic are vastly improved over the GBC. But you already knew that, that’s basically the whole point of the GBA.
The game that was running on both of the demo units I tried was Mario Advance. I love Mario. but I have to admit that it wasn’t the launch title I was looking forward to the most. As much as I love Mario 2, I’m really looking forward to play games like F-Zero and Advance GT. I’m a huge racing fan and I’m really excited about finally having decent racing games on a Game Boy system. I never really consider Top Gear for Game Boy to be that great. Even though it was one of the best racing games ever made for the Game Boy. I sincerely believe that midway did the best that could be done on an 8-bit system. It just wasn’t really enough to excite me. As usual, I’m getting a little ahead of myself here. What I wanted to address was what I thought of the Mario Advance game. Compared to the SNES version of Mario 2 (Super Mario Bros. USA in Japan), this game really looked great. It’s isn’t just that, the game looks great in it’s own right as well. To see graphics of this quality on a handheld system is nothing short of incredible. That graphical quality is much better than SNES. I still can’t believe that just 10 years after the release of the Super Nintendo, the technology exists to put double it’s power into a handheld system. The only really complaint I have about Mario Advance is the voice sampling, here’s why. It’s almost too good! Mario, Peach and Luigi sound great. But Toad is annoying! When I get the game I’ll probably either not pick him or turn down the sound when I do just because the sound of his voice is so annoying. Imagine the most annoying vocal sound you’ve ever heard come out of Toad. Now, raise it a semitone and magnify it be a thousand fold! In short, it’s bad. I’d better just stop myself before this turns into a full blown rant. Other than this minor problem, I think this game is excellent. The music is great and the voice quality is excellent.
In conclusion I have to say, if you’ve been really excited about Game Boy Advance, you have reason to be. If you haven’t been very excited, you have reason to become so. This system is the best thing since game and watch games! I still can’t believe how much Game Boy has evolved in the past 12 years. The Game Boy Advance is going to set the standard when it comes to portable gaming, just as the original Game Boy set the standard back in 1989. The finale words of advice I would like to offer you are this, get this system as soon as you can. There will be no putting off until fall and certainly not Christmas. I predict that the GBA will become impossible to find. I really do believe this is one of the best products Nintendo has ever released. Please, look for a complete review coming to Gamers Cove very soon. Please send any questions to me (Anthony) at gamerscove@aol.com and don’t forget to put “Gamers Cove” in the subject line.
© 1997 gtrnpen@aol.com