Dead to Rights - GBA

Essentially a GBA port of the console game from Namco, the Destination-developed shooter that is Dead to Rights for Nintendo's handheld pits players in a classic 2D scrolling scenario in which they must dispose of myriad henchmen, search for weapons and find keys to progress from one stage to the next.

Meet Jack Slate, a good cop in a bad town. On a quest for vengeance after the murder of his father, Jack finds himself in the middle of a cop's worst nightmare. Framed and jailed for a murder he didn't commit, Jack escapes to seek justice and things get complicated. Dogged by fellow cops, gangsters, and hoodlums, Jack works tirelessly toward uncovering the conspiracy and finding the man who murdered his father. Grant City is tough… Jack Slate is tougher.

Sure, it's a plot reminiscent of an early 90s cheesy action flick, but in games it's sort of forgivable. Getting into the adventure proper, your mission begins in the midst of a not-so-friendly industrial complex where you'll quickly come under fire from dozens of gun-wielding foes. After a very brief tutorial explaining the basic control method, you're on your own. The formula is fairly routine, and is played within ten maze-like levels that boast both action and puzzle elements of play. There is a variety of enemies, and each stage is host to the obligatory-but-welcome end-of-level boss.

While there's nothing ground-breaking or particularly innovative about the GBA port of Dead to Rights, it does serve well as the classic retro shooter it set out to be. more