Handheld Reviews

I have not been a big fan of the Tactics series. While I have tried to play them, they have been very difficult, hard to get started, and not much fun to play--especially when you find yourself dead after the first or second encounter. When I got my hands on Tactics Ogre: The Knights of Lodis, I reluctantly started it up. However, instead of screaming at the incredibly cheap AI, I found the title to be fun. In fact, it is as good as many of the classic "big screen console" Strategy/RPG's.

In the past there have been several games based on the popular anime, Dragonball, but most of them have been rather forgettable. Well, the folks at Infogrames and Webfoot Technologies set out to change all this and released Dragonball Z: The Legacy of Goku on the Game Boy Advance.

Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? In his latest adventure, he isn't battling the NWO, Hogan, or even Chris Jericho. This time, he is once again taking on the persona of The Scorpion King. Fresh off his great performance in The Mummy Returns, The Rock stars in a prequel to the Mummy series, The Scorpion King. While we won't be going into detail about the movie (this is a game review, remember?), I should mention that there have been only a handful of good movies that have been transformed into good videogames. There have been even fewer good videogames that have been transformed into good movies. With that in mind, I was not looking forward to playing The Scorpion King: Sword of Osiris on the GBA. Lets face it, a movie tie-in on the GBA? I thought it was going to be a bore and a cheap way for Universal to make a "quick buck" by releasing the game near the opening of The Scorpion King movie. However, like my mom always told me, don't judge a book by its cover. While this is a videogame and not a book, I soon found that principle to be true after playing The Scorpion King Sword of Osiris.

You gotta love that little Bandicoot. Whenever I think of Crash, my mind goes back to the days of the original Playstation. Sony utilized him as their spokesperson for the "ultra-hip and cool" Playstation. Now this same Bandicoot has found his way onto a Nintendo system... While I understand that Universal Studios now hold the rights to the Crash Bandicoot, something seems ironic about Crash appearing on a console he used to trash. Despite the irony of Crash being on a Nintendo system, I popped in Crash Bandicoot The Huge Adventure for the Game Boy Advance and was quite surprised by how much fun it was.

So you have played through Advance Wars and are ready to continue with another Strategy title. One quick look around will tell you that there isn't a lot to choose from out there for the Game Boy Advance. Fortunately, Konami has developed the second title in their Zone of the Enders series. In Z.O.E.: The Fist of Mars, things aren't quite the same as in the earlier Playstation 2 title. Fist of all, there is no demo of Metal Gear Solid to make people go out and buy this title. Despite this, whether or not you liked the original Z.O.E., The Fist of Mars is fun and different enough to warrant a look.

Even though the two Sonic Adventure games on Dreamcast were kind of mediocre, I still really liked them. I realize the Sonic Team opted for the different types of gameplay to enhance the "adventure" aspect. And even though I liked the games, my question is why mess with a winning formula? Luckily, Sonic Advance bursts onto the scene with tight old-school gameplay and plenty of extras. Read on to find out why Sonic Advance belongs in your GBA collection.

Just when we thought we have seen the last of that purple dragon Spyro, he has returned to the gaming scene--this time on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. Since his last adventure on the Playstation, Spyro has been taking it easy on the beach with his buddies. However, his rest was short lived as the evil Grendor seals 100 magical fairies into a frozen sleep. Spyro and his dragonfly buddy, Sparx, must locate these fairies, use fiery breath to unthaw them, and ultimately stop the evil Grendor along the way. While the adventure can be frustrating at times, it ends up being an ultimately satisfying experience.

The GBA is a great system. Its graphics are crisp (despite the darkness problem), its sound is superb (despite the mono speaker), and (save a lot of third party titles) the game library is phenomenal. But perhaps the best thing that the Game Boy Advance has going for it is the wondrous ability to transport a gamer back to his early days, the glory days of the SNES, even while on a boring bus ride or - not that I condone this (innocent grin) - a crappy class.

Continuing their line of poor Game Boy Advance titles, Midway brings gamers Cruis'n Velocity--a game so bad that it comes close to matching the horrific gameplay of NFL Blitz 20-02 for the GBA and Cruis'n the USA for the Nintendo 64. If you have had the opportunity to try either of these titles, you will know that Midway's latest release, Cruis'n Velocity, is in a select company of some of the worst titles ever made. If you are intrigued to hear more about how bad this title is, read on...

Advance Wars is one of those games that you'll just pass by in the display case, because it lacks a brand name or fancy packaging. But Advance Wars is one of the most engrossing and lengthy titles for Game Boy Advance yet. This game is packed with so much to do, you'd be hard pressed to finish this game anytime soon, especially with replay-value modes such as the various multiplayer options and the map creator. Even if you're not a strategy fan, AW is designed for gamers of all ages with different tastes.