The Game Boy Advance launch is only a few days away, and we're already excited. Despite its diminutive size, the loads of top-notch games arriving with it are of by no means bite-sized quality. In truth, there are a great many robust games to choose from at launch, games that can easily compete with their full-sized brethren in terms of quality-of-design, if not technical complexity.
There's no question that Nintendo has a stranglehold on the handheld market, and it seems as if it doesn't plan on relenting, with this new machine. Great handhelds have come and gone, many of which were several times more powerful than the original Game Boy, whose technical specs have not changed a great deal in the twelve years it's been around. Remember the Atari's full-color, albeit only marginally portable Lynx? It came and went. As did wonderful, but over-priced NEC's Turbo Express, Sega's resource-tapping Nomad, and, most recently, the multiple incarnations of SNK's Neo Geo Pocket. Yet through all this, Nintendo's handheld remained in vogue, despite its aged hardware set, and frightfully unbacklit screen.
Maybe it's Pokemon. Or, rather, more specifically, it's the fact that Nintendo's strong first-party franchises have a great way of gracing its handheld platform. We've played dozens of trimmed--and some not so trimmed--versions of great Nintendo games, on our Game Boys. Think Metroid II, Wario Land 3, Mario Tennis, and all the rest. The fact is, we can be sure that this trend will continue on the GBA. In fact, it has already begun; Nintendo is throwing a couple of great ports-with-frills, once the GBA becomes available on Monday, both of which are very clean, tight, and playable. More are on the way: Super Mario Advance 2, Metroid IV, and the as-of-yet unannounced Zelda game. There's no doubt that Nintendo is treating us right, and that makes its new handheld fine by us 100 percent.
Not to dismiss the contributions of third-parties, however. In fact, the GBA's best launch games are non-Nintendo. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Fire Pro Wrestling, and the rest, were all brought to us by gracious (albeit profit-seeking) third-parties, and we couldn't be more grateful for the support.
As launch day is approaching, though, we were struck with a question: if we could only have one of the launch games, which would it be? It's hard to ponder, as we have them all here at our disposal, but as you know, we've all been there, strapped for cash, and forced to make a very good decision. Check out what our editors said, and take this information with you on launch day, along with our game reviews. We're here to help you out! And, as always, let us know if you have any questions--we're eager to hear from you!
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E3 News 2001
