• Zone Of The Enders: The Fist Of Mars

    Unfortunately, Konami “ended” this series too soon… Ah, Zone of the Enders. The lovable mech-based action games from the PS2 era which time (and Konami) has forgotten. As fate and/or luck would have it, this series also happened to received a GBA entry. However, being a fan of the action based PS2 titles does not necessarily translate to being a fan of this entry. It is common knowledge that the GBA is nowhere near as powerful as a PS2, and because of this Konami took a different approach to the series: a tactics based strategy RPG. While this is a wild deviation from the formula that fans loved, elements of…

  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef Of Destruction

    Reshef of Destruction? Damn near destroyed the franchise… Reshef of Destruction is an odd game in the sense that it shouldn’t exist in the form that it does. This game and the game that came before it (The Sacred Cards) are strange anomalies that can only be explained by sheer laziness and/or somebody at Konami having a really big nostalgia-gasm at their early attempts at Yu-Gi-Oh! simulators. Nobody asked for these games, at all…Ever. From what I remember of the fanbase at the time, everybody was in love with Duel Monsters 5 and 6 (Eternal Duelist Soul and World Championship Edition). With the GBA Konami finally had the processing power…

  • Zone Of The Enders: Fist Of Mars

    The Game Boy Advance seems to be THE system to go to in order to play top caliber strategy games. It has seen numerous hits with Tactics Ogre, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars 1 and 2…the list goes on and on. Even dubious titles, such as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, are still considered quality titles. When all is said and done, the GBA has received a great deal of excellent strategy titles.

  • Rebelstar Tactical Command

    When I was a child, I was fascinated by television shows that depicted aliens, UFOs, and abductions in the middle of the night. Part of that fascination was the fear that it could happen to me. Sure, there have been some decidedly stupid shows regarding aliens (*cough*Alien Autopsy*cough*), but as a ten year old, the thought of extra terrestrial contact had me up late at night, watching far more television than was healthy for my adolescent mind.

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

    I’m not really a fan of the new show; I’ve only seen it a few times, but I’m definitely a fan of the old shows and the old games. I used to watch the old shows every chance I could when I was young, but it wasn’t until I was older, that I actually got chance to play the old games. I managed to get through those without much challenge and this is the same. There are plenty of enemies however, and depending on your difficulty setting, there can be even more.

  • Golden Sun

    In the early Middle Ages, mastery of alchemy was often sought after as a quick means to an end. The most common of these goals included wealth, well-being, and the creation of human life. Many moons ago, it was written off as mendacity and those who practiced alchemy were condemned as heretics and burned at the stake. If you are taking any of this as historical fact and using the material to study for an exam, do not expect to score much higher than a 16%.

  • Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

    Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is the sequel to a personal favorite of mine, Slime MoriMori: Dragon Quest Shougeki no Shippou Dan for the Game Boy Advance. Previously set to be released on the GBA, Square Enix decided that DQ Heroes should be moved to the Nintendo DS because it would work much better on it for what they wanted to do, although this causes the symptom of GBA-caliber visuals. And while their usage of the dual screens isn’t exactly groundbreaking, it does a good job at several other points.

  • Castlevania: Circle Of The Moon

    Castlevania. A name well-recognized by gamers of all ages. As Konami’s first Castlevania game on the Gameboy Advance, Circle of the Moon had a lot to live up to. Did it succeed? Read on to find out.

  • River City Ransom EX

    If there’s one series that has a really convoluted history when it comes to American translations, it’s got to be the Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun [“Hot Blooded Tough Guy Kunio”] games. Broken up by several American publishers, it serves as the root for such NES classics as Renegade, Super Dodge Ball, Nintendo World Cup and my personal favorite of the games, River City Ransom: a cult classic and arguably one of the – if not THE – best beat-‘em-ups ever conceived for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. So, imagine my surprise when I heard the game was being remade for the Game Boy Advance. Does that last line seem familiar? Well,…