An excellent alternative to a GBA SP.
Written: Aug 24 '03 (Updated Aug 30 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Full screen Game Boy Games, No more hand cramps, Cheap, like an GBASP.
Cons: Joystick too sensitive(?), can only have modem/GB player on at once.
The Bottom Line: This is a brilliant product that everyone should pick up, if not to play the great GB Zeldas, Metroids, and Mario/Wario games you never got to play.
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| psychochild51's Full Review: Game Boy Player for Gamecube |
I've been a huge fan of the gameboy. Ever since I played the very first clunky gray box, I've been dragging one around almost everywhere I go. I would play such games as Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins (Which is where Wario originated, if you're curious), Wario Land 1 and 2, Metroid 2, Pokemon, and Link's Awakening, all day long.
Sure, the screen was small, you needed constant lighting, and the thing was pretty big, but who cares? It was a portable game machine, and that's all I cared about.
Time went on, we saw the smaller Game Boy "Pocket" come and go, then came the Super Gameboy. Maybe I got the timeline mixed up, but eh. Anyways, this gadget attached to your Super Nintendo, and you could play Game Boy games on it.
I loved it.
But soon enough, the SNES was replaced by the far inferior N64 (What in hell I was thinking that day, I will never know), and the Game Boy Color was released, that had 256 colors!! Woah!
The N64 never got an accessory like the Super Gameboy. Instead, it got something called "The Transfer Pak" which allowed you to plug in your Game Boy games to unlock extras or codes, like in Perfect Dark, or play/transfer data to one another, like in the case of Pokemon Stadium.
Although it was a great item that had a lot of potential *Super GameBoy Color anyone*, it wasn't supported at all.
I only remember Pokemon Stadium 1/2, and Perfect Dark actually using it. If we were able to play our GB Color games on it, it probably would have actually been useful, but then again, a 20 dollar Game Boy Color? HELLO!
It was such a shame.
But now, we have the Game Boy Advance. It's a great system, but it's 70 bucks new, and 50 used for a tiny, battery leeching, hand-cramping, eye-straining machine.
Or, I could go out, and buy a Game Boy Advance SP, which is a HUNDRED new and it's much smaller *Meaning more frequent hand cramps*, but it includes a rechargable battery and a back-lit screen, which should have been there in the first place.
While deciding what to get for myself, a 16 year old guy who doesn't travel much at all *I was really leaning towards the GBA SP, to be honest*, that was the first time I heard about the Game Boy Player on Gamespot.com. This tool did everything the GBA SP did 10x better, and it was also HALF THE PRICE.
So what does it look like?
It's a tiny little deck, with similar dimensions of that of a gamecube base. It's about, give or take, an inch thick, and it only comes in black in America.
Now, if you know an import shop, maybe you could hunt down a GB Player that matches your GameCube. Or you can find some exotic new color to mix and match..
"Oh look! It's a TIGER!"
"Woah! A ZEBRA!"
"Wow, an.. indigo and orange... thingy.."
Hmm. Now that I think about it, it's probably a good idea they stuck with black. Could you imagine staring at a purple and orange rectangle every day until the next Nintendo system came out?
It attaches through the bottom of the system through the Gamecube's high speed port, and you secure it via two screws on the bottom using a coin, a regular screwdriver, or in my case, using the pair of scissors I had to rip open that blasted packaging.
Using them, I was able to install it and get it all running in less than three minutes.
So installation's a breeze, but how does it work?
Well, included with the deck, is a Game Boy Player mini-dvd. What you do is you stick the disk into the Gamecube, and find a Game Boy game of your choice, and insert it into the slot on the front. Make sure the Game Boy game is upside down, and in securely. Then, just turn it on, and the game will start instantly.
If the disk isn't in there, the Gamecube will decide to ignore it, and run whatever's in the Gamecube. So, if you have a copy of Zelda: Link's Awakening in there and you want to play SSB:M or Mario Sunshine, you don't have to take it out. It's a very nice thought, but what if you lose the disk? Well, I would assume, you're screwed.
What features does this GB Player have that the regular GB/GBA doesn't?
The GB Player has a few different options that you can bring up any time you press the "Z" button on your controller. I recommend pausing the game before you do though, because the game will keep on running, even though the menu's up.
Frame-It's not a huge thing, but I should talk about it. It basically lets you pick a border to look at while you're playing a GameBoy game. There's 20 in all, including one in camoflauge. I have no idea why, but it's there.
Screen Size- Allows you pick from Normal to "Full Screen." But don't let that Full Screen thing trick you. It certainly grows larger when you select it, but it just stretches out the image a little more. Although you get a bigger picture from it, the image does look a lot more pixelated, so bleh.
This feature doesn't work with GBA games, according to the instruction manual, and since I don't have a GBA game to try it out on...
Controller- It allows you swap between two configurations.
Screen Filter- This filter supposedly corrects certain display problems like a shaking screen or double images, like two Marios for instance.
Other than that, I don't really see any difference between the Normal, Soft, and Sharp filters, except soft seems a bit more blurry to me.
Timer- It's a timer. Although its pretty much useless, I use it when I have to go to work in 45 minutes because I have a nasty habit of losing track of time.
Change Game Pak-Very useful. It allows you to change games without turning the power off. All you do is select it, pop the cartridge out, and stick another one in. As soon as it's in, the GB player will start again.
Are there any real flaws with the GB Player?
Even though it's close to perfect, it does have flaws..
I've heard people complaining about how over-sensitive the joystick is in the GB games, but using it, I had no problem setting a new high score in Tetris DX.
Maybe it's just me..
Also, the slot for the cartridge is VERY low to the floor/desk. For some reason, probably to keep stuff from falling into the slot, there is a little lip right above it.
The problem is, standing up/looking down on it, you can't see the tiny slot, so either you feel around for it, or if you're not lazy, bend over and stick the game in.
But, being that I'm the same person who picks things up with my toes just so I don't have my butt sticking up in the air, I'm usually stuck doing the former, and it's a bit annoying.
So how well do the games run?
Excellent.
I've been playing all of my old Game Boy games, and all of them have worked flawlessly. I didn't see many glitches when I played, but slowdown and the occasional skip in some games, like Super Mario Brothers Deluxe for example, is a lot more obvious here, where as on the old gameboy, you wouldn't notice it as much.
I am not going to go into much detail, but except for the problem listed above, there is almost no performance difference between playing on the Game Boy or the Game Boy Player.
Games save directly to the cartridge, which means you can't abuse it to get Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur *Pokemon* all with one game, which is a shame...
Also, although I have yet to try it, you can play multiplayer games on it, to some extent. The screen won't split into four whenever you play, but you can have one person with horrendous eyesight *I.E. me* play on the TV, while everyone else hooks up on their Game Boys. Again, since I have almost no friends near by, I can't test it, so I'll have to go with what the instruction manual says.
Update: I picked up a copy of Metroid Fushion, and man am I impressed. The graphics look great *Very SNES-ish, not pixelated much at all*, the sound is clear as a bell, and I have not had a single problem playing it.
Gogo GB Player.
So would you recommend it?
Heck yes! Just being able to play Game Boy games and Gameboy Color games on the TV is more than enough to warrant the purchase, but Nintendo had to go all out and let us have Game Boy Advance compatibility as well!
If you're one of those people who don't travel around a lot, this is an excellent alternative. Your back-lit screen is only limited by your TV, you don't have to worry about batteries, and it's half the price of a new GBA SP!
If you're someone with a regular GBA, it's a great idea to pick one up. You could pay an extra 10-20 for a gaming light or a wall plug, but who wants to sit next to a wall outlet with a tiny clumsy looking light that only adds glare when you can be sitting on a nice recliner/sofa in the dark playing Castlevania?
If you're someone with a GBA SP, well, there isn't much reason to buy one, being that this is little more than a non-portable version of it. However, if you're on the road a lot because you have to ride the city bus to work/school or the tiny thing gives you hand cramps after a while, I can see you using it when you're home or recharging your battery.
So, because of the fact it's cheap, it allows you to play all Game Boy games, and it does exactly what the GBA SP does even better, I have to give this, a 5 out of 5.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
psychochild51
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Reviews written: 2
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