GBA C/R/P

Previews

Mario Kart - Playable

Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Wario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Toad and Bowser are in the lineup again in this racing sequel. The game is very, very similar to the Super NES game, with balancing offered from the N64 version. The design uses the same Mode 7 scaling effect for the road, but it's done to a better degree than the SNES version due to the fact that the screen is now completely yours – in the Super NES version, you had to share half the screen, either for the other player, the computer, or for the on-screen map.

In the Space World demo, only one track was available (there were others, including a beach level, but the game was still buggy and had some problems when played). But this one track showed off the game well. The game uses the N64 question mark blocks for the power-up item blocks (as opposed to the flat question squares on the SNES), and has weapons from the N64 version as well (three red turtle shells, the spiked turtle shell that seeks out the person in the lead). The control scheme is very much like the SNES game, though…hop and power sliding is pulled off by the right shoulder button, but firing weapons is done by the left shoulder button – thanks to the two less buttons on the Game Boy Advance as compared to the SNES. You also couldn't drop turtle shells behind you or throw banana peels ahead, but those might be items that need to be added in this unfinished game.

Kuru Kuru Kururin - Playable
A weird Japanese title that involes getting a rotating stick through a maze without touching the sides. It doesn't really push the capabilities of the GB Advance but it is sure to have that addictive nature to it.

Napoleon - Playable
Napoleon rocks. It's a realtime strategy game where you control a general on horseback – you'll wander through the battlefield, walking up to your troops to tell them what to do and where to attack. You'll also have to purchase more troops and weaponry, and strategically place them on the map. The whole idea is to conquer the opponent's base by whittling into his army and then into his fortress to take it over.
Everything looks extremely detailed in this overhead RTS game, and goes to show that Nintendo is definitely not catering to just the younger crowd with the Game Boy Advance. Napoleon will be a top selling game when the console is released in 2001.

Silent Hill - Playable
Konami is taking Silent Hill and creating a text-based Choose Your Own Adventure. It's being billed as a multi-story / multiple ending adventure, but Silent Hill it is not rather, it's a graphic novel with some interactive adventures and a scant few path choices. Unfortunately this game was all in Japanese, made no attempt to fully utilize the Gameboy Advance's capabilities and took up 60 out of 120 units in the show. Not very good!

Waiwai Racing - -Playable
The racing game has more than a simple resemblance to Mario Kart – in fact, it was a little frightening to see how closely this game was to Nintendo's own cart racing game. Konami's game features characters from titles like Goemon, Parodius, and its big-headed baseball game, Powerful Pr as well as others that are new.

When you race around the Mode 7 track, you pick up Parodius bells for power-ups to give yourself the upper-hand against the other racers. The action was a little quicker than Mario Kart on the Advance, but Nintendo will no doubt reign supreme with racing games due to its easily recognizable characters.