GameBoy Advance Launch Preview
If you have ever pondered how portable gaming will evolve over the next few years, the GameBoy Advance will have figured somewhere in your thoughts.
The original GameBoy, though souped up recently in the GameBoy Color (essentially the same hardware) has completely dominated the handheld market since its birth in 1999 and typified the dreams of Miyamoto to “create large worlds in little boxes.”
The GameBoy Advance is gearing up for launch in March this year, and what has been described as a “tentative” launch line-up has hit Japanese web sites. At present the list is very much Japan facing though a good idea of what can be expected in Europe can be easily worked out. First up we’ll tell you what will definitely make our shores.
As with every platform launch since the Super Famicom, the New GameBoy brings with it its very own suffix, this time rather predictably it’s “Advance”. The first title to bear this honour will be F-Zero Advance from Nintendo.
Following on from the success of the original SNES title, Nintendo released the brilliant F-Zero X on the N64. The GameBoy Advance version looks like an upgraded port of the SNES game; in as much as the look and feel of the games is almost identical.
Another Super Nintendo title revamped and renamed is Mario Kart Advance. This has been around in playable form for around eight months and it goes like a dream. Unlike Mario Kart 64, which disappointed most players with it’s badly scripted catch-up play, Mario Kart Advance is an amalgamation of the best parts of both titles. The game plays just like the SNES version but includes various N64 enhancements, the most notable of which is the weapons system. Weapons and power-ups are now collected in levitating multi-coloured cubes instead of yellow floor tiles and triple shells have been included. All the usual characters are there, and some familiar tracks.
Called J League Soccer in Japan Konami has confirmed International Superstar Soccer Advance as a GBA launch title. One of the biggest crimes in the video games world is the fact that Electronic Arts hold the licenses to pretty much every league in Europe, meaning that the far superior Konami games have to make do with fictional footballers and in doing so, miss out on the large “blind spend” that official licenses afford publishers. ISS Advance as it will be known will be another SNES revival, with the 2.5D graphics and game play preserved.
Another gem from Konami is Silent Hill Advance. Known as Silent Hill Novel in Japan at present, the game promises to be the first large-scale on-line portable game as it will be compatible with the Mobile Adapter. This has only been confirmed in Japan at present as excessive mobile use there is considered the norm. About the only other place on the planet with a comparable mobile phone usage is the United Kingdom so we probably have the best chance of anyone. The game is set to be expandable, with further levels being made available in the future.
Shown at Spaceworld and more importantly for us, ECTS, was Adventure of Pinobi from Japanese developers Hudson. The game is a great looking platformer in which the player controls a bee. This is said to be the first completed BGA title and is as playable as it is difficult.
Nintendo of Japan has also just announced that Mario Advance is well into development. Every Nintendo platform has launched with a Mario title and the rumour mill swung into overdrive when Nintendo failed to mention a Mario title when it announced the GameBoy Advance. It is unclear how the game will look and play but keep reading for more.
The GameBoy Advance is gearing up for launch in March this year, and what has been described as a “tentative” launch line-up has hit Japanese web sites. At present the list is very much Japan facing though a good idea of what can be expected in Europe can be easily worked out. First up we’ll tell you what will definitely make our shores.
As with every platform launch since the Super Famicom, the New GameBoy brings with it its very own suffix, this time rather predictably it’s “Advance”. The first title to bear this honour will be F-Zero Advance from Nintendo.
Following on from the success of the original SNES title, Nintendo released the brilliant F-Zero X on the N64. The GameBoy Advance version looks like an upgraded port of the SNES game; in as much as the look and feel of the games is almost identical.
Another Super Nintendo title revamped and renamed is Mario Kart Advance. This has been around in playable form for around eight months and it goes like a dream. Unlike Mario Kart 64, which disappointed most players with it’s badly scripted catch-up play, Mario Kart Advance is an amalgamation of the best parts of both titles. The game plays just like the SNES version but includes various N64 enhancements, the most notable of which is the weapons system. Weapons and power-ups are now collected in levitating multi-coloured cubes instead of yellow floor tiles and triple shells have been included. All the usual characters are there, and some familiar tracks.
Called J League Soccer in Japan Konami has confirmed International Superstar Soccer Advance as a GBA launch title. One of the biggest crimes in the video games world is the fact that Electronic Arts hold the licenses to pretty much every league in Europe, meaning that the far superior Konami games have to make do with fictional footballers and in doing so, miss out on the large “blind spend” that official licenses afford publishers. ISS Advance as it will be known will be another SNES revival, with the 2.5D graphics and game play preserved.
Another gem from Konami is Silent Hill Advance. Known as Silent Hill Novel in Japan at present, the game promises to be the first large-scale on-line portable game as it will be compatible with the Mobile Adapter. This has only been confirmed in Japan at present as excessive mobile use there is considered the norm. About the only other place on the planet with a comparable mobile phone usage is the United Kingdom so we probably have the best chance of anyone. The game is set to be expandable, with further levels being made available in the future.
Shown at Spaceworld and more importantly for us, ECTS, was Adventure of Pinobi from Japanese developers Hudson. The game is a great looking platformer in which the player controls a bee. This is said to be the first completed BGA title and is as playable as it is difficult.
Nintendo of Japan has also just announced that Mario Advance is well into development. Every Nintendo platform has launched with a Mario title and the rumour mill swung into overdrive when Nintendo failed to mention a Mario title when it announced the GameBoy Advance. It is unclear how the game will look and play but keep reading for more.
Companies:
Nintendo
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