"Nintendo is the master of portable gaming."

June 11th was a wonderful day for me. That day, I received my new Game Boy Advance along with copies of Castlevania and Tony Hawk. While honestly I wouldn't call it revolutionary, or next-generation, it's still damned fun to play, and that's what really counts. Supposedly, Nintendo had the power to make a 3-D handheld system, but simply opted not to make it. They said ''the world was not ready for 3-D gaming'' (translation: we'll make it in a few years to make some more money) or something like that. It appears the world did not completly agree.

Do you want my opinion? I suppose you do, since you have decided to read my review. Well, I really don't care. This is a fine, fine, system, and a 3-D Game Boy will come ''when we're ready''. I haven't had this much fun with a Nintendo product for quite some time. No, I won't say I love the Game Boy Advance, but I'll repeat: it's damned fun. Really. Play Castlevania and see if you don't believe me. Forget 3-D
and enjoy what Nintendo has given us.

But enough of my crap, perhaps you'd like to know about the hardware. Well, in that case, on with the review.

The first time you see the graphics of the Game Boy Advance (particularly in Tony Hawk or Rayman) you will be stunned. I know I was. These are easily the best graphics on a portable thus far. The Game Boy Advance can display thousands of colors, and it really shows in the games. It even show some slight 3-D effects, but don't get too excited. I would say they are about at SNES quality, and with that being my favorite system of all time, I can't really say that's a bad thing at all. The screen is wider, which is always good, and you have the option to enlarge the screen for older games, too.

On the more negative side, the screen is a bit dark. This is very apparent in games such as Castlevania, which is almost impossible to play at night. Don't worry, it won't ruin your vision, as most Sony fanboys would like you to believe.

By the way, I must say Nintendo picked the absolute WORST colors for the hardware. I mean, white and clear are ok, but purple? Actually, purple isn't that bad when you consider on July 2nd their releasing a PINK Game Boy Advance. I really don't know what to say about that.

What about the controls? Well, their pretty much the same as the old Game Boys, except for the addition of the L and R buttons. The feel of the Game Boy is quite a bit different. Older gamers kinda got screwed, since the system is pretty damned small. Too many times have I felt my fingers go numb while playing the Game Boy Advance. The buttons are fine, except for maybe the L and R buttons- they have this weird feel while pressing them. Play the system yourself and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Really, the control is pretty good. The button placement is perfect. You'll get used to it almost immediatly. Also a few other features I'll list here: As your Game Boy's battery power decreases the light next to the screen will slowly change from red to green- a pretty useful feature. The system also contains ports for you to place headphone jacks, link cables, and other crap. This little thing sure has a helluva alot options.

The sound is different from the other Game Boys, as you'll quickly notice. Since I really don't study hardware much, I'll just say it now sounds like the SNES. Which is, of course, great. One thing that really amazed me with the sound is that it can use voice! Perfect examples of this are Castlevania and Super Mario. The Game Boy Advance also has the old Game Boy sound thingy built in, so you can play those classic Game Boy games in bleeping and blooping goodness. Oh, don't forget to use headphones to enjoy the sound to it's full potential (It's almost required for Castlevania.)

Gameplay has had some important advances. One of the biggest is the addition of four-player multiplayer. This is simply fun as hell. It works much like the older Game Boys- you use a link cable. The link cable is changed a bit to include four connectors. A big, helpful and and cost effective change has also been added- you no longer need several game paks to play, you can just use one now. Although unfortunatley many games still require you to have several in order to enjoy full multiplayer abilities. By the way, that weird feature with the Game Boy Color that allowed you to link without a cable is gone. Which I could care less about, since I never could get it to work anyway.

What else? Well how about the games themselves? To describe them in one word: excellent. Although there has already been some crap, the good games outweigh them. Castlevania, Tony Hawk, Rayman, Chu Chu Rocket, Mario and others are all great launch games. And with games like Mario Kart and Breath of Fire on the way, I couldn't be happier.

And lastly, some tidbits that don't fit anywhere else. You'll notice that along with the smaller Game Boy, the games have also been dwarfed. They are so small that it's really amazing how much power they have. Old games can be played on the Advance, and have the option of the regular screen, or a widened screen. This is a great feature, as you would imagine. My only gripe is that the games stick out, giving it an odd look. I wished they had worked to fix that, as it sometimes gives me an uncomfortable feeling. Whatever.

A lot of the old accessories are now obsolete, such as the link cable and AC Adaptor. This will cost you a few more bucks if you plan to play multiplayer or save battery life. Speaking of battery life, most will last will you around 17 hours. Which is ok, I suppose. The system goes for a retail price of $99.99, with the games ranging from 30 to 40 bucks. And that's it for added features- time for the final score:

GRAPHICS 9/10: They aren't 3-D, but their more than enough. However, the screen is just a bit too dark.
CONTROL 9/10: Button placement is fine, but the system is really too small.
GAMEPLAY 10/10: Excellent. Multiplayer is a blast, and the games are great.
SOUND 9/10: Beats the old Game Boys by far. With new SNES quality music, you can't go wrong.

OVERALL 9/10: The days of 3-D portable gaming will come in time. But this is still, by far, the best portable out there.

Buy/Rent?: Well honestly, the only reason that you should rent this game is because you think I'm an evil liar and want to go judge the system yourself. Screw that, just go out and buy this thing right now.

You simply can't go wrong by buying this. I'm enjoying this thing more than my PS2 right now (no offense,Sony). It makes long car rides worth looking forward to. Hell, it's fun to play wherever you are. It's just a great system.

So, until Nintendo does release a 3-D portable, enjoy your Game Boy Advance. I'll be back to review the new portables that Nintendo will release in several years, and probably give them 9/10's as well...uh, what the hell am I talking about? And why are you still here? Go play your Game Boy Advance, now!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/01, Updated 06/27/01