“Where have you been all my life?” That was the first thing I thought as I plugged in my new Game Boy Advance SP after Santa was gracious enough to bring me one this past Christmas. It brightened my eyes in quite the same way it did fourteen years ago when Santa brought me the simple Game Boy with its accompanying Tetris. I'm sorry to report that there is about a twelve year gap in between in which I received no comfort from a Game Boy. In that time I thought it was time to move on from the kiddie Game Boy and grow up. Funny that twelve years later I felt it was time to grow up again and get a Game Boy Advance SP.

The Game Boy phenomenon has reached epic proportions. It is peerless in all senses of the word. It outsells all other game consoles and barely shows any signs of stopping. The game library for the Game Boy Advance SP is overwhelming. With backwards compatibility with games from the original Game Boy and the Game Boy Color, there are hundreds of games available. Maybe thousands, I'm not sure. Suffice it to say that only the PS2 (with its backwards compatibility) has a larger game library. The range of games is all-encompassing, as well. There are plenty of children themed games for the younger gamers, a lot of action adventure games for teens, plus plenty of RPG’s and SNES ports for us older gamers. There are sports games galore, fighting games, the list can go on and on. Many of Nintendo’s flagship games including Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, and Metroid have been re-released and reworked for the Game Boy Advance SP as well as received new treatments. There is something here for every gamer.

The two major differences between the Game Boy Advance SP and the Game Boy Advance are the screen and the form factor. The screen is a huge improvement over the LCD screen of the Game Boy Advance. I never purchased one, partly because of its form factor and partly because of the complaints of the poorly lit screen. The Game Boy Advance SP has corrected this misstep flawlessly. The side-lit LCD screen is bright and colorful and can literally light up a room. Any ill effects of the dark LCD from the previous iteration have vanished. The screen has a resolution of 240x160 pixels with the ability to display over 32,000 colors at once. There is a slight blur with games with fast paced action but it’s hardly ever a problem. Another noticeable difference is the rechargeable battery for the Game Boy Advance SP. A single charge gives hours of gameplay and it charges pretty quickly. They really did right just about everything that was wrong with the Game Boy Advance.

The Game Boy Advance SP is a little console, barely bigger than the palm of my hand but it feels pretty comfortable while in use. The directional pad and the A and B buttons are a little recessed from the surface that makes for very comfortable operation. The shoulder buttons are a bit awkward but they seem to be manageable. The Game Boy Advance SP looks great. I have the Platinum edition which looks very classy. The look is definitely what put me over the top to get one. The Game Boy Advance looked clunky and childish but the Game Boy Advance SP looks more mature. Does that make sense? It sounds odd but it’s true. The clamshell design is ingenious. It protects the screen when not in use and folds into a very discrete little box to fit perfectly in a shirt pocket for easy storage. My wife still gives me funny looks when I pull it out to kill time in public, but I think she’s just jealous. Maybe I’ll get her one, too.

As mentioned earlier, there are games galore, way too many to mention. My collection is small at the moment but I do have a few older titles from my Game Boy days and I stay busy with those. I previously reviewed Fire Emblem, my first GBA game and I love every chance I get to play it. I'm not a hardcore RPG player but I do enjoy them so. The Game Boy Advance SP library is chocked full of them, and I look forward to getting around to many more. I also want to get back to some old-school games, namely the Super Mario series and the Metroid games. So many games, so little time!

Peripherals for the Game Boy Advanced abound. I only have the Game Boy/Gamecube link cable and I don’t have other peripherals, nor do l really see any reason for getting any for time being. I may pick up a headphone adapter, I was pretty disappointed with the lack of a headphone jack. The GBA/GBA link for multiplayer looks enticing, as well, but since I only have one other friend that owns a GBA currently I don’t have any pressing reason to pick one up. The Gameboy/Gamecube link is all I need for now.

Game Boy/Gamecube connectivity has been received with mixed reviews. Some people love it and others hate it, saying it was an afterthought. So far I think it is pretty darn clever. I've played around with a handful of games that utilize and it really can enhance the games overall appeal and gameplay. I point to a few games to illustrate that:

Animal Crossing: The Game Boy Advance SP literally opens a whole new world, an island that is only available with the Gameboy Advance, brining new places to explore and new people to meet. You can also design patterns much quicker using the GBA. Then there are the NES games you can collect, which can be downloaded right the GBA. That is downright cool. Playing Excitebike and Tennis has been a riot.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: The jury is out on the connectivity here. With the GBA you get the services of Tingle, which can be cool but annoying at times. It does add to the gameplay but I finished the game without it, so it can’t help that much but still adds a new dimension to cooperative play.

Splinter Cell: The connectivity in this game is pretty cool. You can monitor cameras and you get access to the Sticky Bomb which is only available in the Gamecube version. Additionally, if you have the GBA version of Splinter Cell you can unlock extra levels by connecting the two.

Pac-Man Vs.: I don’t have this game yet, but I am planning on it, solely for the cool connectivity with the GBA. This is a 4-player version of Pac-Man, where one person, using the GBA, is Pac-Man and the other three players are ghosts. Pac-Man can see the whole board but the ghosts have a very limited line of sight but they still have to hunt down Pac-Man. Maybe I'm a sucker for Nintendo’s marketing but the results look very cool. Once I get my hands on a copy of this I will let you know if it’s as cool as it sounds.

I'm can say enough about the Game Boy Advance SP. The outlook is still very strong for the Game Boy Advance SP. As you may have heard, Nintendo recently announced a new system, the Dual Screen, which they say is neither a replacement for the GBA or the Gamecube, so they will continue to support the Game Boy Advance SP with top-notch first party titles, along with plenty of other titles. There are also some great GC/GBA titles coming out, most prominently being the first Final Fantasy for the Gamecube, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. Things are looking up for the little Game Boy Advance SP. It receives a hardy four and a half stars from me.

I'm still asking it where it’s been all this time.

Related Links:
Nintendo Gamecube
Animal Crossing
The Legend of Zelda:The Wind Waker
Splinter Cell



Recommended: Yes