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Game Boy Advance SP review (New Zealand All-Blacks limited edition)
SPECIFICATIONS |
It may not look the part, but this tiny little slab of plastic contains endless hours of entertainment and fun. The Game Boy Advance SP is the latest iteration in Nintendo's long running Game Boy series of handheld consoles. Much tinier but packing a lot more processing power than it's original 8-bit ancestor, it has continued Nintendo's dominance in the hand held videogame console market despite competition from the likes of Sega, Bandai, or even Nokia over the years.
This is technically the second version of the Game Boy Advance, with the original being a rectangular shaped object that is much bulkier in size and highly reminiscent of Sega's Game Gear handheld. Despite being smaller in size thanks to it's unique folding design, this unit also sports a front light allowing for better viewing of the screen especially in poorly lit areas, a problem that affected all colour handheld gaming machines since the inception Game Gear. Another innovation is the elimination of the dependency on AA batteries. Instead, it has a built in Lithium-Ion battery similar to those used in mobile phones that can be recharged and has a life of roughly 10+ hours with the front light enabled.
Powered by a 32-bit ARM7 processor, similar to those found in mobile phones and other electronic devices, it's graphical capabilities is somewhere between that of a Super NES and a PlayStation. It's sprite manipulation capabilities is in fact equal to that of the original PlayStation or the Sega Saturn, and it even has rudimentary 3D capabilities. And while it's rendering powers is not quite as advanced as the old 32-bit consoles, it's better than the 3DO or Sega 32X, which by itself is a breakthrough for handhelds. Surprisingly enough, it only has 256KB of main memory and 96KB of VRAM, making it only marginally better than that of the venerable Super NES.
While the graphic capabilities of the Game Boy Advance is definitely impressive, it falters with it's audio. Armed with only a mono speaker, the sound produced has a very thinny quality to it and often feels no more better than a Sega Genesis at best or an NES at worst. Using earphones is only marginally better with stereophonic effects put into play, but it is nothing worth shouting about.
For old school gamers such as myself, the Game Boy Advance is a god send as it forces software developers to concentrate more on gameplay and intuitive game design rather than pumping all of the game development budget into fancy graphics as is often the case for modern games thanks to the advent of 128-bit consoles such as the PlayStation2 or X-BOX.
Controls are highly similar to the original Game Boy, with a digital directional pad and the standard A and B buttons, both of which are digital, as well as the Select and Start buttons. New are the inclusion of the L and R shoulder buttons, something that is very much welcomed allowing for greater degree of control as well as accommodating game genres that demand more buttons, such as the fighting genre.
Software is housed in ROM cartridges, which have a maximum capacity of 32MB. Again, this is a vast improvement over other cartridge-based videogame systems such as the 8-bit and 16-bit consoles, and the only other consoles that have greater cartridge capacities are the Nintendo64 and Neo•Geo. I suspect some form of compression algorithm is employed as I am very impressed at the fact that games such as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Street Fighter Zero 3 can fit into a tiny cartridge that measures only 34.5mm × 60mm × 9.5mm.
Multiplayer capabilities are provided via a link cable that's capable of linking four Game Boy Advance units simultaneously. The Game Boy Advance SP shares the same proprietary ports as it's older counterpart, although an adapter is required for linking with the old 8-bit Game Boy machines, irregardless of whether or not it's linking to the original Game Boy or the Game Boy Pocket or Game Boy Color. Some games require everyone to have a copy of the game cartridge for multiplayer play, while some can send out a tiny 256KB data packet allowing for everyone else to play without extra cartridges. And of course, there is the recent introduction of the Wireless Adapter in Japan allowing for wireless multiplayer gaming as well as the anticipated digital camera add-on peripheral. Needless to say, the Game Boy Advance definitely has a bright future in store.
I have already sampled Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Super Mario Kart Advance, Pokémon Ruby Red, and Super Mario Advance 3: Super Mario World, and I like what I see. The speedy graphics seen in Super Mario Kart Advance are particular impressive, equal to that of any racing title found on the 32-bit consoles. The texture mapping and 3D camera work are really impressive.
And then there's the cool factor associated with it. Looking more like a fancy piece of electronics rather than a typical videogaming machine, it has garnered a lot of oohs and ahhs from friends and colleagues alike. Kudos to Nintendo for the great design work put into it. Sporting a black plastic housing adorned with the familiar fern logo of the New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team, this is one sexy piece of hardware and well worth the NZ$260 it cost me. The wide variety of custom Game Boy Advance SPs available in the market has made it into a fashion statement for both gamers and non-gamers alike. I am very much enamoured with the Famicom and Rip Curl versions, available only in Japan and Australia respectively. As a side note, this All-Blacks edition is not available outside of Australia and New Zealand and it comes with a cute little rugby emblazoned with the Nintendo and Game Boy Advance logos.
Of course there is the competition from the Nokia N-Gage and the upcoming Sony PSP. There is no doubt that the Game Boy Advance features the weakest hardware specs if compared to the N-Gage or PSP, but what it lacks in power it makes up for in quality games. I haven't yet been able to sample N-Gage software, but from what I've read online, it doesn't look very good although the fact that it manages to bring a fully 3D game such as Tomb Raider to the handheld arena is an impressive feat all by itself. The Sony PSP is at least a full year away, so that's best ignored for the moment. For the present, the Game Boy Advance rules the roost and there is no shortage of quality games to be found for it.
ESSENTIAL GAMES:
ACTION - Metroid: Zero Mission, Super Mario Advance series
RACING - Super Mario Kart Advance
FIGHTING - Street Fighter Zero 3, Street Fighter 2 Revival
RPG/STRATEGY - Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Advance Wars