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Game Boy Advance - GameBoy Advance FAQ - Game Boy Advance - by NekoFever - GameFAQs
Game Boy Advance - GameBoy Advance FAQ - Game Boy Advance - by NekoFever - GameFAQs
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IF YOU ARE FOUND TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THESE GUIDELINES LEGAL ACTION WILL
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=
1.1 CONTENTS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
1.1 CONTENTS
2 INTRODUCTION
3 HARDWARE REVIEW
4 FAQ
5 LAUNCH GAMES
(i) JAPANESE
(ii) US
6 SPECS
2.1 GBA vs GBC vs NGPC vs WSC
2 FEATURES
3 BEST GAMES ON THE SYSTEM
4 PERIPHERALS
5 RETAILERS
6 DISCUSSION
7 UNDERSTANDING THE BOX
8 THE AFTERBURNER
3.1 CONTACT ME
2 CREDITS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
1.2 INTRODUCTION
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ever since Nintendo's original Game Boy (DMG, Dot-Matrix-Game) was released
with the immortal puzzle game Tetris, there have been rumours of an updated
Game Boy. This came (sort of) in 1998 with the release of the Game Boy Color
(GBC). The GBC had a faster processor, more memory, and a colour TFT screen.
Despite these little improvements, it was inherently the same outdated,
8-bit machine.
GBC was a stop-gap for the GBA but no-one knew for sure when the DMG's true
successor would be released, but it was finally annouced and confirmed by
Nintendo on September 1st 1999. It was formally shown to the public
alongside the N64's successor, GameCube, at Nintendo's Space World 2000 show
in Tokyo on August 24th 2000.
It was released in Japan on March 21st 2001 and was released simultaneously
in the US and Europe on June 11th 2001.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
1.3 HARDWARE REVIEW
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
The Japanese box is nice-looking and is in a nice silver colour. The console
itself is a nice size and weight.
BUTTON ACCESSIBILITY:
The buttons are well-placed, and the shoulder buttons feel perfect. My only
complaint is that the Start and Select buttons are quite small and hard to
reach quickly if you have to pause in a fast-paced game. It's a good set-up
though. 8/10
DISPLAY:
The screen is the same as the GBC one but it's bigger and is in widescreen.
It seems darker than the GBC one though or is it just me? You'll forgive any
minor misgivings when you see the visuals this baby's pumping out. Look at
the FMV in Pinobee's intro to see what I mean. 9/10
SOUND:
The music is a little tinny in some games but speech is crystal clear
(hopefully it won't be as annoying as in Mario Advance in future!). Very
good overall. 9/10
AESTHETICS:
The machine looks like a futuristic Game Boy Color - which is what it is.
It's very nicely proportioned. The only real downside is that old Game Boy
games stick out the top which looks quite strange. It's no biggy, though.
10/10
OVERALL:
The perfect portable machine! Total: 45/50
=-=-=-=-=
1.4 FAQ
=-=-=-=-=
Email me any questions that you have and they'll go here and I'll reply
within 24 hours (95% of the time).
Q. GBA is 32-bit. The SNES was 16-bit. Is the GBA more powerful than the
SNES?
A. It's actually about the same. The GBA is limited by it's screen,
whereas the SNES could use a bigger TV. The GBA can use polygons to
make 3D graphics, but only as well as Starfox (Starwing) on the SNES.
It could do more if it had a 3D chip, then it could theoretically do
almost PlayStation-quality graphics.
UPDATE: Since this was last updated, a group called AGB Games
(http://www.agbgames.com) has developed an amazing 3D Engine
for the GBA. It originally had a demo of the original Resident
Evil running on GBA, but now has Quake, Grand Theft Auto, a
racing game, and more. Check them out.
Q. Is it backwardly compatible?
A. Yes, it contains the CPU of the GBC so it is 100% compatible with all
old DMG and GBC games. About 5 games (all obscure Japanese games with
the exception of Disney's Tarzan) do have small sound problems but all
games play 100% perfectly. The GBA carts are smaller, though, so older
GB games stick out of the top (see a picture of this here:
http://pocketmedia.ign.com/media/news/image/gbastuff/gbagbccartridge.jpg).
Also, the GBA has a wider screen so old games can either be formatted
with borders or stretched to fill the screen by pressing the shoulder
buttons.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
1.5 LAUNCH GAMES
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
A star (*) designates a game worth getting.
(i) JAPANESE
-------------
1ST PARTY:
Super Mario Advance *
F-Zero Advance *
Napoleon
Kuru Kuru Kuru Rin *
3RD PARTY:
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon *
Chu Chu Rocket *
Dodgeball Advance
Dungeondice Monsters
EZ Talk
Fire Pro Wrestling A
I Am An Air Traffic Controller
Konami Wai Wai Racing *
JGTO Golf Master
J-League Pocket
Megaman EXE *
Momotaro Festival
Monster Guardians
Mr Driller 2 *
Pinobee: Quest of the Heart
Pocket GT Advance
Powerful Pro Baseball
Silent Hill Play Novel
Top Gear All Japan GT
Tweety and the Magical Jewel
(ii) US
--------
1ST PARTY:
F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
Super Mario Advance
3RD PARTY:
Army Men Advance
Chu Chu Rocket
Dodge Ball Advance
Fire Pro Wrestling
Fortress
High Heat Major League Baseball 2002
Iridion 3D
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
Rayman
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Top Gear GT Championship
Tweety and the Magic Jewel
=-=-=-=-=-=
1.6 SPECS
=-=-=-=-=-=
These are the specifications as they come from Nintendo with a few additions
from me.
-------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2.1 GBA vs GBC vs NGPC vs WSC
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Out of these 3 portable consoles - Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, the
sadly-departed Neo-Geo Pocket Color, and Bandai's Wonderswan Color - we all
know which is going to be most powerful. But by how much? Let's compare
specs (the abbrieviations are taken from above apart from the bottom one,
number of games):
L: GBA/GBC/NGPC/WSC
S: GBA
R: GBA
D: GBA
C: GBA
M: WSC
S: GBA/GBC/NGPC/WSC
L: GBA
B: NGPC
S: WSC
W: WSC
C: GBA
P: WSC
R: N/A
G: GBA
GBA: 9
WSC: 6
NGP: 3
GBC: 2
GBA WINS!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2.2 WHY YOU WANT ONE
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Here is a list of all the reasons why you WILL get a GBA:
32-bit
SNES conversions
Mario Kart!
Over 1000 GB games
Widescreen
Games from Sega!
Mode 7 graphics
GameCube connection
Cell phone connection
4-player with one copy of a game
Less than $100
20 hours on 2 AA batteries
More action buttons
3D graphics
Different coloured casings
Over 60 developers
At least 40 games in the first year
Namco games
Yoshi's Story
Crash and Spyro
No territorial lockout
Pokemon (ahem)
It's Nintendo!
Relive the SNES days
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2.3 BEST GAMES ON THE SYSTEM
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
At the Japanese release, the the pick of the litter that are available are:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2.4 PERIPHERALS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
GBA Communication Cable:
This is the Link Cable by another name. Halfway along the cable is a small
box to plug in another cable so that you can have 4-player games on one copy
of the game (you would have needed 4 copies with GBC), but potentially
there's no reason why by plugging in more copies of the game and more cables
you can't have 8+ player games. This will be essential for those multiplayer
sessions on Chu Chu Rocket or Mario Kart. You'll still need 2 copies of the
game for 2 player on your old DMG or GBC games. It will probably cost between
20 and 30 dollars, but will only work on GBA games. Keep a GBC cable for
those games.
E-Card Reader:
I'm not sure how this will be used but special Pokemon trading cards can be
swiped through this and give data to the GBA. This could be used for a
sequel to GBC's Pokemon Trading Card Game where you have to add special
cards to your deck by buying them in real life which would be quite a nifty
feature.
Mobile GB Adaptor:
This will allow downloading and playing online through a cell phone. It is
available in Japan for GBC for the new Pokemon Crystal in which players can
trade and battle online. It probably wouldn't work brilliantly for 'twitch'
games like shoot-em-ups, though. It has been confirmed that Mario Kart
Advance will utilise the adaptor to allow online racing. The network will be
provided by a Konami/Nintendo company called Mobile 21.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2.5 RETAILERS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
You can get import GBAs from the following stores:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2.6 DISCUSSION
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This is a list of Message Boards where you can disscuss GBA. Email me any
good ones and I'll add them.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2.7 UNDERSTANDING THE BOX
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
For those of you who imported a GBA with a game (or three), the box is
probably completely indecipherable unless you speak Japanese. As a
semi-Japanese speaker I thought I'd help you out with the important info on
the back that doesn't have a symbol to show it's meaning. The main thing
that you'll notice is that huge box with X and O in it. This is to show you
what Game Boy's it is compatible with. Here is my translation (not literal):
__________________________________
| GBA | GBC | DMG | Super Game Boy |
|_____|_____|_____|________________|
| O | X | X | X |
|_____|_____|_____|________________|
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
2.8 THE AFTERBURNER
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
For the uninitiated, the Afterburner started life as a small project found
at http://www.portablemonopoly.com to make an internal light for the GBA. It
grew and grew, until eventually the long-awaited Afterburner internal light
modification was released from their new site, http://www.tritonlabs.com
(they were forced to change after copyright issues with Hasbro over the use
of the name Monopoly).
-------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
3.1 CONTACT ME
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Email me at olly@nekofever.com with any questions, suggestions, or
contributions to this FAQ. I will elaborate on anything in this FAQ that you
may be confused by and will gladly accept any additional info or any
corrections that you may want me to add.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
3.2 CREDITS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Thanks to Nintendo for making such a great system and games. May the Game
Boy Legacy live on forever!
Thanks to Lindy M for correcting me over the cart size (megaBYTEs not
megaBITs!).
-------------------------
Game Boy: Over 100,000,000 addicted.
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