 |
  |
 |
  
 
| ||||||||||
|
Advancing Titles from Gameboy Advance
by Steven Kent for Gamers Today
Wondering if it's time to step up from Game Boy to Game Boy Advance? Frankly, the answer is yes.
Granted, with two excellent new Zelda games created by Capcom and published by Nintendo, Game Boy Color is looking pretty good; but Game Boy Advance is backward compatible and will allow players to enjoy both great old titles and some impressive new titles.
The best reason to move up to Game Boy Advance is Castlevania: Circle of the Moon -- a game that is quite simply one of the best games of the year, portable or console.
As is always the case with Castlevania games, except for that 3D aberration published for Nintendo 64, Circle of the Moon is a 2D side-scrolling game about exploring an impossibly huge castle in search of Dracula.
Make no mistake, this is a brilliant game with first-rate graphics. The pace may be a little slow, but the constant flow of evil critters will keep you on your toes and the big ugly bosses that guard certain chambers are genuinely infuriating -- in the best fashions.
One word of caution, though. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon has dark atmospheres that would be hard to see under most circumstances and are sometimes darn near impossible to see on Game Boy Advance. With their unlit screens, Game Boys have always been a bit dim; but Game Boy Advance's extra large screen is particularly ill-suited for playing a game as dark as Circle of the Moon. But still, Circle of Blood is worth the squinting.
On the lighter side of gaming, Majesco is releasing an exceptionally fun strategy game called Fortress in July. Kind of a combination of Rampart, SimTower, and Age of Empires, this is a game in which players race against each other to assemble castles. The more you build, the more you are awarded defenses such as bombs, cannon turrets, and other automated weapons. Fortress is a multi-player game. You can play against drone players or link up with a second Game Boy Advance and blast your friends.
Need more reasons to advance? Try Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Somehow Activision and Vicarious Visions have managed to squeeze all of the fast-balancing fun and jumps of the Tony Hawk games into a Game Boy Advance cartridge.
And Spyro fans will be impressed to discover the magic that Digital Eclipse -- the company that made Dragon's Lair for Game Boy -- has brought Sony's signature Dragon to the handheld world.
In Spyro: Season of Ice, players will lead Spyro through aerial and ground levels. Published by Universal Interactive, this game looks and plays in a positively PlayStation fashion.
