"All your vacation are belong to Nintendo and their slightly flawed-handheld"

The Gameboy Advance is, simply put, my favorite handheld out there.
:-D
Heh, anyway, I'm sure there are better, lesser known handhelds, that are quite superior to the GBA. Kind of like OS's, we know that there are better ones out there than Windows, but the question is, which one has the most software and mainstream support? Windows/Gameboy Advance.
For all intents and purposes, the GBA is the greatest handheld ever made, not for the fact that it was well-constructed, but for the fact that it will be (and is) home to some of the best original and ported games around.
*Pauses to think about how to write a hardware review*

Graphic(al Capabilities):
I'm not really sure about the exact specs, but a major of the GBA games I've had the pleasure of playing look absolutely fantastic for a handheld. A large of amount of vibrant colors, fluid (and frequent) animation, and in some cases, actual FMV. Impressive for something that weighs less than the fourth Harry Potter novel and fits in the palm of your hand (if you have big hands, like me). So although the visual aspects of some games aren't quite up to snuff, the potential is definitely there (heck, some games are even pushing polygons!).
One glaring, insidious flaw on the Big N's part, however, was the lack of built-in backlighting. I've heard things like 'battery-consumption would be too much' and 'would make the unit too big.' These didn't convince me, right away, but then a friend of mine had an Afterburner professionally installed, and I was convinced that the GBA did not need backlighting. I was horrified at the amount of wash-out that occurred. I'm not sure if all backlit GBA's look like that, but I certainly will use my light shield rather than backlighting.
Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that the thing is damn hard to see in less-than-perfect lighting. Which is pretty much all the time.

Sound: 10
I could talk about the GBA's sound specs which I know nothing about, or I could tell you about it in action. WOW!!
The GBA has some of the best music capabilities around! Golden Sun and Sonic Advance are two great examples, and if they don't sell you on the sound, then pop in a Castlevania: Circle of the Moon cart-- you'll think you're listening to a lesser PSX soundtrack. It's that good.
The drawback here, is that there's only one speaker from which this superb sound can flow through, but this is easily remedied. Plug in a nice pair of headphones, and you'll not only hear it better, but you'll pick up all kinds of other details in the music, like bass and quieter sound effects (try Golden Sun's world map theme). Very impressive, indeed.

Buttons + Config: 8
Hmm... a slightly mixed bag. While the buttons are well placed and pretty easy to reach, the number (or lack thereof) of total buttons can lead to some pretty weird control schemes. Also, the L and R buttons are a little sensitive, so while it's not a catastrophe, it can still be an annoyance. The D-Pad is also horribly small, and for someone with large hands (like me), it can make your thumb feel pretty weird after extended play sessions (like mine).

Power Options: 9
This system is light and has no backlighting for a reason. Nintendo set out to make an efficient gaming machine, and they did just that. This system performs extremely well, and will do it for a good 5-7 hours on two cheap AA's. One fault is that there is absolutely no power adapter. You have to buy this weird thing if you want that, but personally, I like the 'mobile-ness' of my GBA, and wouldn't want to plug it into the wall.

Game Library: 11
People complain that the GBA is a port-box, or a dumbed down SNES. If I'm not wrong, the SNES didn't have a 32-bit processor at it's core. Don't get me wrong, I have no idea what this means for the handheld, but most of what I've seen on it easily dwarfs the SNES' capabilities.
I'm a little uneasy with it, but for now I can say the the GBA has one of the best lineups of games, period. You get a good amount of ports, but good ports, like Zelda: The Four Swords, Phantasy Star Collection, and the Mario Advance series, and you get great original games, like Golden Sun, Castlevania, Metroid Fusion, and Tactics Ogre (which I personally hate). Of course, like any popular console, the GBA also has a large amount of lackluster (read: terrible) games, from movie-games, Mary-Kate and Ashley games, to just plain bad ones.

Link Options: 10
I cannot overstate how awesome this feature is. I don't think I'll get bored of playing my brother in Golden Sun duels for quite some time, and the inevitable Pokemon game will no doubt make full use of the link cable. With the ability to play dumbed-down (or even full) versions of some games multiplayer without multiple carts, and games like Advance Wars and (hopefully) Zelda: The Four Swords, how can you possibly go wrong? Multiplayer at it's finest.
In terms of the GBA - GameCube link, some might dismiss it as a gimmick, and at first it was. Then the new Metroid games came out. New suits, unlockable games, and all sorts of good stuff with that, AND Animal Crossing. While I haven't played AC, I've heard that there's all sorts of new stuff you can add into AC via the GBA - GC link, and that further cements the reasons to get a GBA.

Peripherals: 8
Standard stuff: lights, shields, mini-theater setups-- then you get stuff like the Afterburner (which some people like), the TV-hookups, the MP3 player, TV Tuner, and other things. Very sweet deal, and lots of room for new stuff.

Overall: 9
While not a perfect system, the GBA comes close. It's certainly a very good console, with tons of great games out and coming out in the near future, but there's always room for improvement on Nintendo's part.
When it comes down to the big question of buy or don't buy, I say this:
ALL YOUR FREE TIME ARE BELONG TO GAMEBOY ADVANCE!!

(...that means buy.)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/25/02, Updated 11/25/02