When I was little, I could have been considered a “deprived” gamer based off the fact that I never had an original Gameboy, an SNES, or any of the other older systems except for the NES (everyone has one of those basically). Shortly (as in a year or so) after the phenomenal release of Pokemon Red and Blue, I had finally saved up enough money from mowing lawns to get me a Gameboy Color and Pokemon Red, however my interest with the GBC left me, because that summer in June, the Gameboy Advance hit the market.

Nintendo has always ruled the video game market one way or another, whether it be the games they make or their leading portable console, the Gameboy (in all it’s shapes and sizes). When the GBA was released, a majority of the world loved it, however I guarantee that everybody who bought a GBA was slightly disappointed in that there was no backlit screen, so you had to play in an almost direct light to be able to see anything. Now, Nintendo has once again advanced in technology, and the Gameboy Advance SP has been born. The GBA SP was released in Japan not to long ago, which my cousin had imported, and I was able to grab it for almost a week of “testing the waters.” It’ll be released in the United States on March 23rd, but for those who can’t wait, websites such as liksang.com or playasia.com allow you to import the GBA SP, and you can also walk into your video game store and import it there.

Gameboy Advance SP: World’s smallest laptop?
Personally, I think that Nintendo has also created the best and most comfortable controllers around (the NES wasn’t all that bad), including the Gameboy figure. But first of all, the Gameboy Advance SP (GBA SP from now on) is no different than the GBA technology wise, in that it still has the 32-bit power, or the power of an SNES, only in a smaller and more compact machine, with more color in the games, and also cleaner graphics. So the GBA SP didn’t take any steps in the technological area, however...

...It did take a step forward in the design. Now, instead of the traditional GBA that was played horizontally, Nintendo has once again shaped the figure of the GBA SP into a smaller and even MORE compact handheld. The GBA SP resembles that of a laptop, as it’s now got a flip screen, so when you’re not playing the GBA SP, you won’t get any scratches on the screen. The dimensions for the GBA SP are 3 inches by 3 inches when it’s folded down (inch thick) and when it’s flipped up I’d say about 6x3, which is pretty dang small. The only thing that I’d be worried about with the new laptop design is the strength of the hinges as you open and shut, open and shut, open and shut, and so on, so they won’t like give out within a week of use, and the thing be so loose that it won’t stay up so you can play anything.

As for the button layout, the D-Pad, select, start, and “A” & “B” buttons are still in their same format, but are just scrunched together a little bit to fit the GBA SP’s small figure. The “L” and "R" buttons are still there, however their size have been cut about 3/4 shorter than what the original were on the GBA, and are now probably about the same size as the bean shaped “X” and “Y” buttons on the Gamecube controller, only more square. As for the sound quality, I personally believe that the GBA SP has it better than the regular GBA, because of the speaker being squared near the bottom of the bottom piece, above the circular "Select" and "Start" buttons. This way when you're playing the GBA SP, your hands won't be able to cover up the speaker like on the regular GBA because of the speaker being placed to close to where the GBA is suppose to be held, therefore creating sound problems that the user may not realize is there fault. A minor fault that the GBA SP has that may not be appreciated by many, is that there is no built in headphone jack, so in order to listen to your little "bleeps" and "blips" within your own ears, a separate headphone adapter will have to be purchased for what will approximately be 5 dollars. A 5 extra dollars that should not have to be spent. The only problem with this is that the headphone adapter will use the same port as the AC adapter, so that eliminates recharging and listening to your games via headphones at the same time. But don't worry though, most likely if your GBA SP is charging, you're in the comfort of your own home where headphones might not be as necesarry as they would be in a car, bus, or train.

Now for those who are worrying about how comfortable the new, more compact design is, it’s kind of a win/lose situation. There will be some that find it VERY comfortable, like myself, but that’s probably only because I’ve got considerably smaller hands than most people, and surprisingly enough, there are about the same amount of adults that play the GBA as there are kids. But, for those with rather large hands who feel like they’re going to smash the little thing (sort of like that feeling with the Gamecube game discs), shouldn’t be TOO worried about not being comfortable. Since I don’t have big hands, I wouldn’t know, but other websites that have tested the little handheld have given good remarks about its design, despite having bigger hands. On a personal connection, my cousin, who has rather large hands, justifying his 280lb body weight, was able to handle the GBA SP with no problems in comfortability at all.

All of the peripherals that have come out for the GBA will still work with the GBA SP, in fact everything the GBA had is still on the GBA SP, except that they’re placed differently and line the outside edges of the bottom half. The only thing extra that’s need is an extra adapter that allows you to use headphones, which connects through the charging port. I don’t see why they did this, although there may have not been any more room or something.

The game cartridges snap into the front of the GBA SP into the base of the laptop design, but the only game that will not work properly with the GBA SP is Kirby’s Tilt-n-Tumble, since the games are inserted upside down, and the rumble feature won’t work correctly. Other than that, all other GBA games will work, and also Gameboy and GBC games will work, since the GBA SP is backward compatible.

To conserve batteries, since Duracell and Energizer were probably becoming more wealthy from the GBA than Nintendo was (joke, haha, get it?), the GBA SP is fit with a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that has an expected life of about 3 years, probably about the same time when Nintendo will launch their next Gameboy unit. To recharge the battery you’ll have to use the power adapter that comes with the GBA SP, and plug it into an outlet, and voila! You’re charging your battery. You can even play games as it charges without denting the charging process.

Now for the best advancement on the GBA SP, the backlight that surrounds the screen, or more technically, the "frontlight." Finally, Nintendo listened to the many pleas, and have added a light to the GBA SP so that we can actually see what we’re playing. One of the main worries Nintendo had was how much battery power a light was going to drain, so they also addressed this issue with the GBA SP by giving us the option to switch the light on or off, depending on whether you need it or not. With the light on and the battery fresh off a full charge, I got a solid 10 hours of gaming and without the light, I didn't have to recharge for a whole 16 hours.

As for the screen size, it’s still the same size as the GBA screen was, so there should be no difference. Actually, nothing has been changed on the GBA SP except the shape and newer design of it. Personally, I think the GBA SP’s laptop design is much better than the regular GBA, for multiple reasons.

Games: Small package, loads of fun
Now for the games. You can’t be successful without the games, and since Nintendo has defeated all oppositions, there IS no one to compete against. So unlike the Gamecube, the GBA SP has a TON of support from 3rd party developers, and of course Nintendo dominates with their own software. One of the things that really stabilizes the GBA’s success is the amount of games that are available on it in every genre you can think of.

Golden Sun: This big RPG in a small package is surprisingly fun and addictive, and it seems like it was injected with Nintendo’s magic. Now if only they’d bring over the Fire Emblem series from Japan...

Mario Bros Advance 1-3: Featuring the classic Mario Bros, Mario Bros 2, and Yoshi’s Island in all their nostalgic selves. Basically the same as their classic counterparts, however they’re more colorful this time around.

Mario Kart - Super Circuit: Bringing my favorite racing game to the GBA with all new courses and keeping the same fun, is probably the best thing Nintendo could do. MK:SC has the same great gameplay that the N64 and SNES versions had, and it even has multi-player.

F-Zero Maximum Velocity: Captain Falcon hadn’t seen any racing action since F-Zero X on the N64, and so Nintendo decides that they’ll give him another run with this fast and furious GBA game (I can’t wait for the Gamecube version either).

Tactics Ogre: I’ve never actually played this, but from many who have it, they’ve loved it. An excellent strategy/RPG that rivals Final Fantasy Tactics on many different levels. It really depends on preference actually, some like TO, others like FFT.

Sports Games: There are a TON of sports games on the GBA made by all sorts of different developers, so for that sports nut, there is sure to be at least one sports game that they’ll go crazy over.

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: This SNES remake/port was revived to grace the GBA, and it also came with an added multiplayer game called the four swords.

Metroid Fusion: Dubbed Metroid IV for a while, Metroid Fusion continues the Metroid series with new weapons, new levels, and the same great gameplay as the NES and SNES games (Metroid and Super Metroid, Metroid II: Return of Samus was a Gameboy game).

Golden Sun: The Lost Age: Continuing the story from Golden Sun, if you found yourself addicted to the first, then TLA will suck you in like a vacuum on steroids.

Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire: 2vs.2 battles, the power of Gameboy Advance, a ton of new Pokemon (and some old), new moves, and a new world - what do they have in common? Well, they're all part of Nintendo's almost greatest creation, Pokemon. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire have improved so much from the previous games, and seem to be much more balanced out element and attack wise. Great buy for fans of RPGs or someone who's looking for a simple RPG, because Pokemon's about as simple as it can get.

Wario Ware Inc.: Microgame$: A game comprised of many mini-games that is un-healthily addicting.

And the list goes on of the available games, so it really depends on what games interest you or not. Aside from GBA games, there are thousands of GB and GBC games that are really fun including Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening, and many, MANY more.

Future Games: Ah, the power of cheese, err...Nintendo
Aside from having a strong number of games already available, the GBA’s future line-up is looking great, especially with the future GBA-GC capabilities (*hopes for Pokemon online*).

Super Mario Advance 4 - Mario Bros. 3: Possibly my favorite Mario Bros. game to date, Mario Bros 3 is scheduled for a possible release this year, and I can’t wait. Total nostalgia.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: FFTA isn’t just a port of FFT from the Playstation, but is a whole new game in itself. I know a few people who are going to be very excited for this one.

Advance Wars 2: Improving upon the last with more maps and a couple more units, AW2 looks to be as addictive as the original.

Metroid: Zero Mission: Has been announced by Nintendo, but not to many details are known at this time.

Peripherals: Cheap lights, expensive adapters, you know - gimmicks!
There are a ton of peripherals, so there’s no way I could list all of them, but I’m going to give you a quick run-down of the main types.

Light Sources: Because of the GBA’ slack of light support, there are a TON of light sources to help us see, but with the GBA SP, there is no reason for any of these.

Link Cable: If you want to play a little multiplayer GBA, you’ll need one of these Link cables that allow up to four people play either off one game pack, or each person must have their own game pack to play.

E-Card Reader: This little thing allows you to scan these expensive cards, and be able to play different kinds of mini-games and other classic games like Mario Bros, Ice Climbers, E-champion (I heard this was awful), and others.

GBA-GC Cable: This cable allows you to connect to the Gamecube through your GBA, and is used by a couple games now like Metroid Fusion and Prime, Animal Crossing, and will most likely soon be taken advantage of by the Pokemon games.

Game Handles: These little things hook onto the GBA to give bigger handles to grasp onto, but I don’t think those will work too well with the GBA SP.

Overall: Advancement is a special thing
Well, it’s been almost two years since the GBA was first released, and now that Nintendo has been able to address a way to light up our vision while playing, releasing the GBA SP is not only a way to mooch some MORE money off of their popular Gameboy line, but also to please a lot of people, which is most likely the majority of GBA owners. The GBA SP is a lot more expensive than the GBA (even up to 155 dollars if you import it from a website), but only like 30 or 40 more dollars, but with that money you’re getting what you paid for. Especially for those who never got the GBA yet, the 100 dollars for the GBA SP is totally worth it in my opinion. There are five reason why I like the GBA SP so much, and here’s why: 1) The design, 2) The backlight, 3) The new battery power, 4) The way it feels in my hand, and 5) The laptop design is really cool. Some will disagree, some will agree, whatever your decision, you must own a GBA or GBA SP. The GBA SP comes in two different colors, Cobalt (purplish color) and Platinum (silver color), while the Japanese received an extra color that we didn‘t, Black.

happy gaming

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