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Showing results for tags 'GBA Chronogaming'.
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This has two big things going against it. First, it's an RPG. I don't know how to play them. So I couldn't get out of the first area. Second, there's also a battle mode which has horribly difficult computer AI and I die first all the time. So right there, those two things combined rival Castlevania for the worst game I've played so far in this blog category. Bomberman is one big BOMB. up next: Pac-Man Collection
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(I couldn't find the Nintendo Power issue that had this game in it, so no specs this time.) This is an interesting game where these red and blue potatoes scroll up the screen. You control a car (or something) with six potatoes in it (two rows of three each). Your job is to launch the potatoes from the car to make matches and clear the potatoes out of the way so the car can go through. This is a good example of a new concept presented in a good way. I didn't expect much from BAM!, but I was underexpecting this one. Although the graphics aren't all that great (I think this could have been done on the GBC), graphics aren't really all that much of a concern in a puzzle game. up next: Bomberman Tournament.
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Company: 3DO Release: 6/11/01 - Launch Title Size: 32 Megabits NP's Rating: 3/5 (v. 146 p.117) ESRB Rating: E (mild violence) This plays like an uber-hard version of Doom. I just don't get how the game expects you to not get hurt when there's three men shooting at you at the same time. I can't complete the first mission because of this fact. And that's on Easy setting. So suffice to say, I don't like the game. The game is basically going around trying to shoot as many tan army men as possible. The game's graphics go for a more cartoonish look rather than realistic men. And with no way to regain health, it's basically a sucky shmup. This ends the launch titles! And up next, I handle a Hot Potato!
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Company: Kemco Release Date: June 2001 (launch title) Size: 32 Megabits NP's rating: 2.5/5 (vol. 145 p. 119) ESRB rating: E Finally, a game I can agree with the rating NP gave! After playing this for a half-hour, it's kind of an interesting game, but I noticed a few flaws, one of them being the helpful turn warnings stay on longer than needed, making the car go into the grass (or beyond the side of the track). Another one is that the cars seem like they speed up after the first lap. I know this because I made a simple oval track in the track editor (yes Virginia, there is a track editor) and sure enough, the cars did speed up after the first lap. Why? Even with these few major flaws, it's better than GT Advance Championship Racing. While most of these launch titles I most definitely will not play ever again, I can see myself maybe wanting to play this again, which is a huge compliment coming from me. After this one, I only have one more launch title: Army Men Advance. I have yet to buy this, so it'll be a while before I can review it.
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Company: Midway Release Date: June 2001 (launch title) Size: 32 Megabits NP's Rating: 2.5/5 (v.145 p. 119) ESRB Rating: E For those of you following along at home (or at work where you're not supposed to), you may have noticed a trend in my GBA Chronogaming blog section: I don't like very many of these games. Well, you can add this list to the sucks pile. Basically what it is is random button-mashing, hoping (and it does get your hopes up) that one of the punches hits the computer. Once I got knocked out in round one and the countdown started, i turned it off in disgust. Mind you this was even on easy mode. I am really wondering whether I should continue this. I mean, the GBA is an amazing handheld system, but as it turns out, I guess I don't like very many games for it. The only games I've even come close to liking are Konami Krazy Racers, Super Mario Advance, and ChuChu Rocket. up next: Top Gear GT Championship
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Company: KonamiRelease Date: June 2001Size: 64 MegabitsNP's rating: 5/5 (v.146 p.114)ESRB rating: T - mild violence, animated bloodThis game is not worthy enough to use to wipe my butt with. It's another one of those games where I can't pass level 1. And you only get one life? Fail. How is one supposed to defeat the poison worms on the ground if you can't whip them? How in the hell are you supposed to know when that stupid Earth Demon is going to attack? Why is the game so f---in' hard? This has to be one of the worst video games I have ever played, not just in this blog, but for all my 27 years of life. I have to go now, I'm going to play E.T. and Pac-Man on my Atari 2600.up next: Either Ready 2 Rumble Round 2 or Top Gear GT Championship Racing.
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Company: KonamiRelease Date: June 2001 (launch)Size: 32 MegabitsNP's rating: 3.5/5 (v.145 p.117)ESRB rating: EA bunch of Japanese video game characters take to their go-karts and emulate Mario Kart. That is the basis, and it does what it's supposed to pretty well. Since I didn't want to go through all the rigamarole of unlocking new courses with what sounds like a stupid license-earning thing, I just had someone else do it for me (I cheated and used one of the save slots that had every track unlocked.) Sometimes it's eerily similar to Mario Kart, and you wonder why Nintendo didn't sue, since most of the things in here are also in Mario Kart: Super Circuit (which was released two months later.) But aside from Goemon and Castlevania's Dracula, I didn't recognize any other faces. The track themes are similar (although this one has more Rainbow Road-themed tracks): Castle, Sky, Ice, etc., there are similar items, but although the game is good, I would just prefer playing Mario Kart, unless you would like to race as Goemon.
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Company: ActivisionSize: 64 MegabitsRelease: 6/01 (launch title)NP's rating: 5/5 (v.146 p.115)ESRB rating: E (animated blood)OK, I am not a skater. If I tried to get on a skateboard, I would probably fall down. So, not knowing what I was doing, I went into this confused. I picked "free skate", which is just doing whatever you want without worrying about scores or anything else. The game looks like something the N64 would do (I haven't played the N64 version), which means great graphics for the little handheld. But unfortunately, the 3D graphics are a bit disorienting. Are you on a ramp or next to it? After doing a bunch of nollies and other things I had no idea what I was doing, I decided this game is not going to make me want to go out and skate. This is the kind of game that made me wonder why to do this GBA chronogaming blog. I mean, what did I get into? There is good news, though: only 5 more launch games to go! But I have to find them first.
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Company: MajescoSize: 32 MegabitsRelease Date: 06/01 (launch title)NP's rating: 3.5/5 (v.145 p.119)ESRB rating: EIs it just me or is this game unplayable? Not only are there too many enemies, some you can't dodge and run into and die. And then there are the shots that are almost utterly impossible to dodge so that hits you too. I lose all 5 lives before level 1 is over. Some may say "difficult", others may say "frustrating", but I think the word to use to describe this game is "broken." How in the world did this game go through playtesting and not one person said "This game is too hard!"? I guess they were counting on the graphics being nice to sell the game, but graphics alone do not a good game make. The Atari 2600 proved this over and over again.
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Release Date: June 2001 (launch title)Company: THQSize: 64 MegabitsNP's Rating: 4/5 (v.146 p.116)ESRB Rating: EWell, it's a racing game. It's not terribly fun, but it isn't lousy. It's not something I would play for hours on end, though. It's more realistic than Mario Kart, which is bad because you often hear the squealing of the tires because of the hairpin turns in the tracks. And it gets pretty hard pretty fast even on the beginner's mode. Once I got up to the Bayside track, I consistently came in at the bottom, this after finishing first or second on the first four tracks. Luckily, the game has passwords, so I bet I could check out every track if I wanted to. The other racing game available at the GBA's launch was the similarly-titled Top Gear GT Championship, but first I have to play the games I got from eBay.
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Company: KemcoRelease: June 2001 (launch title)Size: 32 MegabitsNP's rating: 2.5/5 (v.146 p.117)ESRB rating: EFirst off, this would have been a good game, if the buttons did things right when you pressed them. No, instead, most of the times you press a button and it doesn't do anything. At all. Play control is HORRID on this. And this is a game that needs good play control because it is a minigame collection. I often ended up placing last because of the poor button pressing detection. I tawt I pwessed a button. Nope, says the game, you didn't so you have to stand there while the computer controlled players get to move. It's like the game is punishing you for playing it. Argh! I wanted Elmer Fudd to come in and shoot me in the head to end the misery, but he wasn't in the game, so I just turned the game off.
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Company: AtlusRelease Date: June 2001 (Launch Title)Size: 32 MegabitsNP's rating: 4/5 (vol. 145 p.116)ESRB rating: EI admit it: I've never played dodgeball in PE class. So I had no idea there were rules to the game. And not only that, there are formations like in football and stats to take into account when choosing a team, etc. I thought this was going to be a fun minigame type thing where you hit people with balls. How wrong I was. This makes dodgeball more like a Madden NFL game than dodgeball. I can't play this game, it's too hard, especially when I have no idea what I'm doing. And I'm guessing that it's one of those games where having the instruction booklet is of no use. If you're going to make a game like this, why not replace the rubber ball with a football and have the people run towards an end zone? It doesn't really help that there's also no professional dodgeball league and no dodgeball stars. But kudos to Atlas for trying something different, but I didn't like it because it was more complex than what I thought it was going to be.
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Release: June 2001 (launch title)ESRB Rating: EI couldn't find this one in my two issues of launch title reviews of NP, but its release is still listed as June 2001, and I already had it, so needing a game for this blog, I chose this one. Namco Museum has five classic arcade games: Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position, Dig Dug, Galaga and Galaxian. The controls are what you'd expect on everything except Pole Position, where low and high gears are controlled by the Right shoulder button (in the 2600 version, it is down, and I was trying to push down with nothing happening) My favorite out of all these is Dig Dug. To review this collection would be to review each game individually, but since most people already know what these games are like, I won't waste my time, but I will say that this is the third game out of the launch titles that I like.Up next: I don't know, am going to the used game store soon. If it's still there, I'll get Tweety and the Magic Gems. If it's gone, then Super Dodge Ball advance.
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Company: Sega / Sonic TeamRelease date: June 2001 (launch title)Size: 32 MegabitsNP's Rating: 4/5 (v. 146 p. 116)ESRB Rating: EI bet this would be a blast using Multiplayer, but unfortunately, time goes on, and few people still play their GBAs, let alone Chu Chu Rocket. The object of this game is to lead mice (called Chu chus) on a grid into rockets using arrows they follow to blast them off to safety. In some puzzles, there are cats that try to catch the mice, but they too have to follow the arrows, so it's best to use this to your advantage, also. The snag is, there's only usually 1-3 arrows per level, so there's some strategy involved in placing the arrows. This is a thinking person's puzzler, and, beside from Super Mario Advance, one game I actually enjoyed playing. This game reminds me of Chip's Challenge for the Lynx and PC, and fans of that game should definitely have fun playing this one. This game is also available on the Sega Dreamcast console, but I don't have a Dreamcast, so I couldn't compare the GBA port. By the way, I'm putting this as a launch title even though it wasn't reviewed in Nintendo Power until the issue after the launch for reasons unknown to me.Up next: Namco Museum
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Company: MajescoRelease Date: June 2001 (launch title)Size: 32 MegabitsNP's rating: 3/5ESRB's rating: E, mild violence"Oh, goody! Pitfall!" I thought as I first put this game in the Game Boy Micro's slot. I was highly disappointed. David Crane must be spinning in his grave. What? He's alive? Well, he's not making games any more anyway. The result of bringing Pitfall to the Game Boy Advance is a graphic upgrade, and basically what it is is an Earthworm Jim clone with jungle elements with a literally impossible first level boss. I mean, how are you supposed to attack this lion coming at you with nothing but a whip and automatically get hurt each time you do it? Before the boss, though, there is a bit of "where do I go?" questioning, and one false move can get you behind pretty far. And there is no average health meter, instead a picture of Harry and an alligator, with each painful infliction getting Harry closer to it. You lose a life when the Harry icon gets eaten by the gator icon. A pathetic attempt to be clever. Just give me a stinkin' health meter! This game is extremely difficult, and if you want Pitfall on the GBA, it's much better to just get Activision Anthology.
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Company: UbisoftRelease Date: June 2001 (launch title)Size: 64 MegabitsNP's rating: 4.5/5ESRB rating: EGBA Chronogaming is back! Rayman is usually known for its colorful, great graphics, and his first foray onto GBA is nothing short of beautiful as terms of graphics. It's not a bad little platforming game, either, especially if you buy it used and have some levels already beaten for you to browse through. (I cheat, I know.) One thing I don't like is that you learn moves. This isn't the only platformer that does this, either. Why not have all the moves available in your arsenal at the beginning? I also have Rayman for Sega Saturn, and I think that this first-gen GBA game has graphics as good as that Saturn game. Yes, that's saying a lot, but this game has shown the capabilities of what the GBA can do. I think I have about half the launch titles mini-reviewed at this point, so that's good.Next up: Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
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This would have been a good racing game except for one thing: Bumping into the walls is bad. What I wonder is how do they expect you to take sharp corners WITHOUT bumping into the walls? Naturally, I find myself bumping into the walls all too frequently, which leads to me losing power and eventually having to quit the game. And that's in Training mode with nobody else on the track. Stupid move with the punishing you for something you have to do a lot. It's like the game is punishing you for playing it. Now I thought I was a decent enough video game player, but after playing those last two games, I feel like I suck at playing them. But I think things will be brighter. These are what's left of the launch titles I've yet to try: GT Advance, Chu Chu Rocket, Rayman Advance, Konami Krazy Racers, Namco Museum, Pitfall, Tweety and the Magic Gems, Iridion 3D and Super Dodgeball Advance. I'm going to my used video game store tomorrow to see what I can find of these and hopefully I'll begin liking GBA games.
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It's back! GBA Chronogaming is back! Seeing as how this is from BAM! Entertainment, which has a lousy track record, I was expecting a lousy game. And that is exactly what I got. It could have been a contender, but instead, with the difficulty setting on ONE, I was being wiped on the floor. This didn't last three minutes until I turned it off in disgust. The CPU opponent was kicking me, punching me and outright beating me up. Sure, I got a few kicks in (or did I? I couldn't tell.) but I suck at this game. One thing I can say is that the music and graphics are good for a launch title, but if the play control is lousy, does that really matter? I think I'll leave professional wrestling to the professionals. Next Up: F-Zero: Maximum Velocity.
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Company: Majesco size: 64 MB NP's Now PLaying review: vol. 145, page 118 (3/5) When I saw that Earthworm Jim had been remade for GBA, I thought "Hmm. I remember that, kind of mediocre." Of course, the last time I played the game was on the SNES 15 years ago or so. Playing the GBA version reminded me why I got rid of it. The game is insanely difficult, partly because the play control sucks and the controls themselves are weird. You jump with the B button and shoot with the A. And it's difficult to kill the enemies, too. In level 1, the level design makes it difficult to shoot the rabid dogs and crows coming at you. And the bosses are even tougher. I know what they're trying to do with the guy that barfs up frogs when you hit his butt with a box, and I do like the humor involved, but the insane difficulty level makes it very hard to appreciate. Cows...in...space! Launch the bovine, Jim. Also, the non-linear platforming levels makes it very difficult to try and figure out where to go. I got stuck on level 2 (called "What the Heck?!") twice because i couldn't figure out where to go because it seemed like it was a dead-end. So we've got crappy play control, crappy controls, crappy level design, crappy enemies. What does that make this game? Wrong. More like "sucky." rating: 3.5/10
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company: Activision size: 64 MB NP review: volume 145, page 116 (4/5) This game unfortunately didn't come with an instruction booklet, which is where I'm guessing all the important info is. Luckily, I have the NP issue which explains the stuff in it. The game is a basic platformer. Except there's no lives. Instead, there is a life meter (stupid), which once it gets to empty, the game ends. I don't know why, though, since there seems to be infinite continues. Each level ends with a "diary" which explains what stuff you did in the level. With it, I figured out that it's good to kill the golden enemies in each level (if you can find them.) Killing enemies is easy, it's just like in Mario's world (jump on most of them.) There is one special move you can earn called a dash. The last saved game i went in had 6 in a row. I erased one and so far i've gotten to be able to use 4 in a row. All you need to do is press up, and then jump, and you dash upwards, or sideways (depending on which way you press the control + after you press up.) This move gets you on ledges that are out of reach with a normal jump. All in all, the game is kind of fun. The graphics are great for an early GBA release. My final score: 6.5/10 next up: Earthworm Jim.
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Taking a page from Mezrabad, I've decided to do my own chronogaming thing on my 2nd favorite handheld, the Game Boy Advance (the first being the DS. My Lynx is 3rd. I'm sorry all you Lynx fans, but Lynx does not have Mario or Mario Kart.) I'll start with 2001 and go all the way until the end of 2006. I'm not going to do the games I can't find (since I can't find them. ), but I need to look for most of them. So, starting with the launch titles, here is Super Mario Advance. company: Nintendo size: 32 MB NP's Now Playing review: vol. 145, page 117 (3.5/5) The game is a port of the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 (Doki Doki Panic without Mario and the gang in Japan) with a bunch of extra stuff thrown in. Mario and the gang have voices. Toad's is the worst, stupid annoying shrill high-pitched voice, but unfortunately, he's the best character in the game besides Peach. Fortunately, Mario sounds like his normal self, and so do Luigi and Peach. These voices I think were put in to show off the capabilities of the new machine. Another drawback is that the bosses have voices, too. Birdo's is the worst, but puts to rest "is Birdo female or male?" debate. This is definitely a woman. "This is as far as you go!" she says at the end of 1-1. I highly doubt it. The green one says "I'm gonna finish you off!" which she did at the end of 7-1 (twice, I got two game overs.) I don't even know why there is a lives counter since once you get game over, you start at the beginning of the stage you died in (if you die in 7-2, for example, you start at the beginning of 7-2.) Fortunately, all the warps are the same as in the original version, and you can jump while holding a potion (something you can do in SMAS but not in the NES version.) And also introduced (but not seen in any other game) are huge Shy-Guys. If you pick them up and then drop them on the ground without killing any other enemies, you get a free heart. If you're missing a few, just repeat, the giant Shy-Guys don't die. Basically, if you liked SMB2, you'll like this game. Also included in this (and all future Super Mario Advances) is a port of the original arcade Mario Bros. game. While it does have some graphic changes, it's still basically the same thing as the original. I'm sorry, but I like the Atari 2600 version better. Final Score: 7.5/10. Next times: The rest of the launch titles (those I can find, anyway): Rayman Advance, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Pinobee: Wings of Adventure, Super Dodge Ball Advance, Konami Krazy Racers, Earthworm Jim, Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, Iridion 3D, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2, Top Gear GT Championship, Fire Pro Wrestling (whew!)