F-Zero: Maximum Velocity - F-ZERO really puts the petal to the metal with graphics, fun factor and challenge. Start with four machines and unlock six more as you progress through the game. There are six modes to choose from. The Grand Prix, Training, Multipak Link, Single-pak Link, Championship Ghost, and Raking. To move up in the game, you must complete four series then a Championship Circuit. If you have one game pak you can play the Silence: Open Circuit. To do the Multipak Link, you must have as many GBA systems as FZMV game paks. There is plenty high speed fury and is hard enough to keep you playing for a very long time.
Army Men Advance - The Game Boy Advance premier for these little guys is a bit of a deviation from the other Army Men games, both in look and in gameplay. Though it's still an overhead-style game on the GBA, it's no longer a slow-paced strategic design. Instead, it's a game much like the classic Commando, or better yet, Midway's Smash TV follow-up, Total Carnage. Take your pick between two characters , Serge or Vicky.. 12 different missions lie ahead, and it's all about blasting your way through the onslaught of Tan enemies, completing mission objectives to get to the next round. Your character can run and shoot in eight directions, and with the R button pressed it'll lock your guy facing in the current direction to strafe, making targeting enemies a lot easier to pull off. The game's a bit of fun, but it's a serious challenge because you only get one life bar -- once it's gone, the game's over and you'll have to start over from the beginning of the mission. The early missions are of the simple "blast everything that moves, and others that don't" type, opening doors by flicking or shooting switches on the wall. The Game Boy Advance's sprite capabilities are put to good use in the game -- in some levels you'll be attacked from all sides by as many as 10 soldiers. The final boss level is probably the biggest stain on the game design, as it's seriously anticlimactic -- he's a breeze to beat...and the ending is nothing more than a congratulations and a credit scroll that can be accessed from the Game Options anyway.Graphically, the title throws away any realistic imagery, offering a more cartoony, animated look for the game's characters and environments. Character animations are a little stiff and clumsy, and there aren't a whole lot of variety to the enemies that attack your characters. Though the game is very stylized, the background graphics could have been enhanced with a little more "oomph", as some levels look just flat-out bland...almost no detail to please the eyes. Collision detection could have also used a tweak or two, as you'll find yourself getting hit by fast moving vehicles in the second level without even being on the road...and your character will fall into the creek too often, even when you think you've taken the proper steps. The sound is a little on the weak side, too, as during the game you'll get nothing but gunfire and the same scream when someone falls. It's always the same speech samples when an enemy does anything one that note. |
