Reviews (15)

Very satisfying purchase
I bought this system after a friend at work talked endlessly about how good DK64 is. Well, this combo set is the perfect way to get DK64 going really fast. It comes with the extra memory and the game so you can literally get the set and get going in no time. I had no trouble setting it up. The console's green color rocks! And the game is really fun. I have had the set for almost a year now, I play about 3 or 4 hours a week and the game continues to hold my attention. One of these days I will finish the game and have to worry about buying a second game, but I have not had that problem yet.

Great! Cool! Great Price!
This is a great price!It come's with a system and a game donkey kong.The game is great and the system is cool.

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The best deal in town!
First off, let's talk about the N64. The jungle green color is fantastic, especially in the sense that you can see through the N64 and see how the system and controller work. It even comes with an Expansion Pak and the system is not hard to install.

Now for the game. Donkey Kong 64 is phenomenal, and has pretty much revolutionized the platform concept. The game is HUGE with 201 Golden Bananas(I only have 189, it's that big), five Kongs, and several other items to collect. Each Kong also gets their own set of special moves and instruments. The graphics don't exactly live up to the hype because of the occasional slowdown and choppiness in my opinion. The levels don't start off very big either, Jungle Japes is ridiculously small(One of Chunky's bananas is simply found by throwing a rock) but they get bigger. Frantic factory shows the first major challenge with an extremely hard boss, Mad Jack. Gloomy Galleon shows great vastness with its large underwater areas. Fungi Forest is pretty much a very goofy level with mushrooms you can bounce on, a gaint clock tower, a skyscraper mushroom, a giant tree, and many old mills. Crystal Caves is a cold area and annoying at first because of the giant Kosha that knocks down slaclatites in a blatant attempt to kill your Kong. Creepy Castle is a confusing level with many twists and turns. The Kongs weapons are great, I am especially fond of DK's Coconut Shooter, which is one heavy packer. My favorite instrument is Diddy's Guitar which he plays better than some of these people with record deals! The game also has many special options which are unlocked by getting certain amounts of Banana Fairies with you camera. With 6 fairies, you can get the Enguarde and Rambi arenas...you get to become the animals and play special events that are much fun and a good break from the game. The 2-player mode isn't so hot but who plays the two player modes in a platformer? A great buy. Well worth your money.

Great Deal ! ! ! ! ! !
This is the best Donkey Kong game yet and at the best price. You get a great deal. It is like getting the game for free and it is an awesome game. With the Donkey Kong 64 bundle, you get. . .

- The jungle green Nintendo64

- The jungle green controller

- The expansion pack

- All of thestuff needed to hook it up to your tv

- And the awesome Donkey Kong 64game ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, Professional Edition is the latest version of Microsoft's highly realistic aviation simulation--the top-selling PC flight simulation ever produced. FS 2002 Pro introduces many exciting features, including interactive air traffic control (ATC) and auto-generated scenery, plus challenging new aircraft and stunning visual enhancements that truly make Flight Simulator 2002, Professional Edition "as real as it gets."

Flight Simulator 2002, Professional Edition includes a wide variety of aircraft for you to fly--from a new Cessna 172S single-engine trainer and a Caravan floatplane to the Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet. You can splash down in a lake, hover in the Bell 206B JetRanger III helicopter, or practice aerobatics in the Extra 300S. FS 2002 Pro includes 16 aircraft, four more than in the standard edition.

Features exclusive to the professional edition include tools for creating your own planes and buildings, and a multiplayer "instructor's seat" capability. The most dramatic new features common to both editions are the interactive air traffic control system, crowded skies, and auto-generated scenery.

The interactive air traffic control feature adds a new dimension to Flight Simulator. Now you can ask for takeoff clearance, get vectors for an instrument approach, and hear other traffic as you fly. In fact, the "other traffic" is itself a new feature: a new artificial intelligence system generates air traffic around and between airports.

It'll be hard to pay attention to the air traffic, however, as the scenery in FS 2002 Pro is so attractive. As you fly above cities, towns, farmland, and dramatic landscapes, Flight Simulator adds buildings and vegetation appropriate to the terrain below. Office buildings, factories, homes, farmhouses, and trees smoothly blend in on the horizon and fill the entire area with detail that adds unprecedented depth and reality to the game.

Other features include more than 21,000 airports, multiplayer capability, improved weather effects, a moving map and GPS system, in-depth flight analysis, and more. ... Read more

Reviews (145)

cool as
this is got to be the coolist came around its like the real hting and my favourite plane is the boeing 747 they are so cool if you dont have this game and you like planes you got to get it i rate this game 100000000000000000000000000 millone stars yheah cooooool aaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssss

from Joshua Huntley

-Junior Pilot
- To Fly is all i have wanted since i was little andgame was right for me. Last christmas i got this simulaor and a sidewinder joystick. This game is so real i find myself yelling in my room because im doing barrel rolls in the extra. i play this simulator every day when i get home from school till i go to bed.You never will get tired of this simulator

There are so many things to do on this simulator including:

-Select a flight-where you choose a flight already made.
-Create a flight-you can choose your own plane, choose anywhere in the world you would like to fly and all the conditions of the flight
-Learn to fly-take lessons from instructor,Rod Dimacho, and earn your private, instrument, commercial, and airline transport Licenses.
-Multiplayer- Fly with other aviators online
-Library- You do not go to the local bookstore anymore! Get your charts, Ground school handbooks, and many others.

The only bad thing about this simulator is that the graphics arent the best.You may be thinking that if you fly off in your town that you can see your house but thats not true. Also you cant get the exitement of crashing out of this simulator, all it does is stick the plane in the ground and if you do not want to crash just turn that setting off and you will just bounce off things.

If you dont have enough money tot ake lesson or you just want to practice this simulator is for you.My uncle is a pilot and he is amazed on how i can fly just by playing this simulator.

Hope you liked my review!

However, this is NOT a game:
http://www.x-plane.com/

So, either play, or go buy a REAL simulator, licenced by FAA to be used in a simulator setting. Loggable!

the best flight sim even as it is older
the newer versions can not come close to this version

Woohoo!I ran this game on a 500mhz PIII PC!!!
I have a hp pavilion (most idiotic pc ever created by mankind) pc with 500 mhz p3, 64mb riva TNT graphics card and 128mb of ram and I was still able to enjoy this game.Yes, I had to shut down every single program to let this game eat up my system resources, and yes it was so slow that I could practically count the frames on the screen as I flew the cesna over a night shot of las vegas.But the intensity! the magic!!woohoo! this game rules!@!@! ... Read more

Reviews (9)

This is a great game for rookies, champs, and bored kids!
This game is fun, exciting, and easy to learn how to play. I got this for Christmas last year, and I still love to play.Trust me, I have a very short attention span and a complex mind and found this game great.

Pros:
*cool monsters to raise
*tournaments to win
*many secret breeds to unlock
*many tasks to accomplish
*lots of monsters to pick from
*challenging for pro gamers
*enjoyable for untalented gamers
*rules aren't confusing
*good graphics

Cons:
*people talk a lot
*monsters only have 4-5 year life spans

This game is varied so that a variety of people can enjoy.At first it is Ahhh,uhhh, okay.Then once you understand, it becomes great fun.

I had this game in fifth grade and my friend and I shared so much laughter and good memories.This is a good game for anyone, so try it.

This is a great game for rookies, champs, and bored kids!
This game is fun, exciting, and easy to learn how to play. I got this for Christmas last year, and I still love to play.Trust me, I have a very short attention span and a complex mind and found this game great.

Pros:
*cool monsters to raise
*tournaments to win
*many secret breeds to unlock
*many tasks to accomplish
*lots of monsters to pick from
*challenging for pro gamers
*enjoyable for untalented gamers
*rules aren't confusing
*good graphics

Cons:
*people talk a lot
*monsters only have 4-5 year life spans

This game is varied so that a variety of people can enjoy.At first it is Ahhh,uhhh, okay.Then once you understand, it becomes great fun.

I had this game in fifth grade and my friend and I shared so much laughter and good memories.This is a good game for anyone, so try it.

Good but repetative
I played both Monster Rancher Advance I & II.Certainly, it is neat to enter random sequences of letters and numbers to generate new monsters.The story is reasonable strong although slow paces.Unfortunately, I found the game tedious after a while.The challenge of training monsters wears thin after about the 1ooth time.It is particularly frustrating when your monster is forced into retirement just before completing a battle that would advance the story.Also, the time frame is somewhat unrealistic, I figure that my game lasted about 100 years or so (within the game).Each monster lasts roughly 4 years and it took me about 25-30 monsters to complete the game. Although monsters age your character and other characters in the game do not.I played this through to the climatic battle, and while that was cool I'm not sure it was enough pay-off.If you like doing the same thing hundreds of times, this game is for you.If you like a good story and can tolerate doing the same thing over and over, you might enjoy it too.

The PERFECT game!
I've played Monster Rancher 3 (for Ps2), and I think this game is better because 1. Regenerating monsters is easier, 2. You can go exploring, 3. It's easier to earn sertain monsters (Dragon, Durahan, etc.),and 4. Monsters don't die, they can retire or turn into coaches, so you can train your other monsters more effectively.

On the other hand, on Monster Rancher 3 1. food is cheaper, 2. You can battle your rivals more often,and 3. you can train in different places.

They're both good games, but you don't need to use other games to regenerate monsters on MRA 2, and you can take it anywhere.That's good enough for me.

Monster Rancher Advance 2
The agme starts out with good game play, but after a while you lose the needed story line. ... Read more

Features

• Intense dogfighting and storyline featuring "The Yager Missions"

Reviews (1)

Take to the Skies in this Futuristic Flight-sim!
A little history: Aerial Strike: Yager was originally released as "Yager" for Xbox and PC in Europe and Japan, but not in North America. So it remained mostly unknown in the US...until now. As far as I know, it's the same game with a new title. Though it's now two years old (ancient in video game years) it still deserves attention for it's all around excellence.

Aerial Strike: Yager is a futuristic FPS combat flight-sim. The Earth has been divided into huge trade zones by maga-companies and competing factions fight for control of territory and trade routes. You play Magnus Tide, wisecracking, freelance pilot for Proteus, who's trying to recover his reputation after he crashed his ship on a routine delivery -- causing Sarah, a communications officer at Proteus (the good guys) and now former girlfriend, to be demoted. Magnus' attempts to win back Sarah is a subplot.

What sets this game apart from the typical FPS is the combination of a FPS with action-adventure. You interact with 20 characters (in varying degrees) and the story unfolds according to how you play.

The graphics, though not up to the lastest technology, are still stunning. Swoop down to view the surface in beautiful detail then fly up to see intricate, animated crafts. Water and sky are rendered especially well. In the first few missions I found myself mostly flying off to gawk at the gorgeous graphics. There's movement everywhere with assorted other crafts crusing around, as well as birds, dolphins, even grazing buffalo.

There are 22 free-roaming levels with an engaging storyline and variety of locations and settings, from the idyllic Free Zone Coast to the dark and foreboding Bitterfeld. The cinematic cut scenes provide a good continuum between missions and are some of the finest I've seen in any game.

You fly a futuristic jet craft called the Sagittarius using a great physics engine allowing you to make radical moves, though I found the controls a little too sensitive at times. In addition to the jet-mode, there is a VTOL (Verticle Take-off and Lift) allowing hiding in the varied terrain, making stealth attacks and quick stops if you're about to hit a mountain! The ship is well-equipped with weapons, including lasers, machine guns, missiles, a rail gun and in some levels a napalm gun. Except for the lasers, which are powered by the Sagittarius's engines, the weapons have limited ammo, but there are glowing pickups scattered throughout the expansive levels that provide extra ammo and speed boosts. The HUD is effective and uncluttered, providing all essential info, i.e. friend and foe locations on your radar, hull shield condition, direction and weapons status in a clear format.

What I especially liked about Yager was the character development and interaction. Voice-acting and scripting are well done. Magnus gives you commentary and hints throughout and I often found myself chuckling at his sarcasm and wisecracks. If you manage to piss-off an enemy they will make you aware of it in no uncertain terms on your ship's comms! The AI is quite good. Enemy craft work together in coordinating attacks and do a good job of trying to out maneuver you when pursued.

No game is perfect and I have a couple gripes with Yager. The first are the height and side boundaries. On a few levels the height ceiling seemed a bit low and I had trouble going over some mountains and some of the side boundaries extend well within the maps. If you fly into one your ship is turned around, often directly at the enemies! And on at least two levels the boundaries allowed the enemy crafts through but not mine.

The other is the inability to save game at checkpoints. If you fail a mission you can either restart it or continue at the previous checkpoint as long as you stay in the mission. If you exit you have to start the level over from the beginning. However, this does lend an urgency to the missions and there's a high satisfaction quotient when you finish a level, as some of them are difficult. But I'd prefer to have the ability to save in the longer missions.

Yager is intelligently laid out and there are usually ways to strategize your best options to complete a level by doing some exploration and testing the enemy. In fact, the entire game shows an attention to detail in all aspects, from the stunning graphics to great character development to exhilarating dog fights. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Oh no! The Mastermind has kidnapped Mystery Inc., and it's up to Scooby-Doo to search for his lost friends. Guide Scooby through 12 huge levels that include a creepy mansion, a spooky cave, a ghostly graveyard, and a perilous pier. Help Scooby search for clues, avoid classic Scooby-Doo monsters, use wacky inventions, eat Scooby Snacks, and gather groovy power-ups. Do you have what it takes to foil the Mastermind's plan to rid the world of Mystery Inc.? Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights includes 12 beautifully rendered levels within four worlds based on classic Scooby-Doo cartoons. Avoid 20 creepy monsters from the Scooby-Doo universe to solve the mystery. Power-ups unlock secret areas and bonus DVD features, giving players added replay value. The familiar celebrity voice talent includes some of the original Scooby-Doo voice actors. This game is 100 percent Scrappy-Doo free. ... Read more

Reviews (55)

Scooby Doo NIght Of 100 Frights GREAT GAME MAKES GREAT GIFT!
Any boy or girl of any age above 4 will love this game. It is suspensful, adventurous,
Now, it is not gory, nor very violent. Rated E for everyone.

I love this game!!!We need more!!!
I absolutley love this game!!!It was more than I expected.It's fun, challenging, entertaining and addictive.Once you start playing this game you can't stop.We need more Scooby Doo games aside from this one and Mystery Mayhem........

Fun and Silly Like the Cartoon
My son and I just finished this game It was fun. My nine year old and I played it together and it took us many hours over many days. He navigated and I did the harder moves. We beat the Mastermind and figured out the mystery and then we went back through to collect the Scooby Snacks we missed (other than a few hard to reach Scooby Snacks on "Wreck on the Deck 2.") My son loves going through the monster gallery over and over and I enjoyed returning to each area, finding new paths and looking for the missing stuff.

I hate it
it is annoying to me, and the ending was a bomb, I wouldn't recomend anyone to buy this game

Cute
I liked this game. There were things to figure out and places to wander. My only complaint is that I got stuck in the middle of the game and couldn't figure out where to go. It was a lot of fun though before that. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Fans of Mega Man side scrollers, rejoice--Mega Man Zero has finally come to the GBA. It may be the best Mega Man game designed on any platform, even though it doesn't exactly star Mega Man himself.

Mega Man Zero has basic Mega Man gameplay, though there are some notable differences. Zero can run, jump, dash, shoot, and swing a sword like Mega Man, but now he can also slide down the sides of walls and jump from wall to wall like Jackie Chan. Despite the fancy new moves, be warned: This is probably the most difficult Mega Man game ever made. Zero can't duck, nor can he shoot above or below himself. This makes fighting the many, many enemies difficult--especially when they approach from various angles.

While a side-scrolling action game, Mega Man Zero has definite role-playing game elements. For starters, Zero's skills improve over time. As Zero uses the sword, he will eventually be able to make double--and subsequently triple--attacks. Between missions, Zero can explore the resistance base, talk to people, and "download" various skills via the new Cyber Elf system. There are 70 Cyber Elves scattered throughout the game, and they're broadly lumped into three groups: Nurse Elves that heal, Hacker Elves that alter surroundings, and Animal Elves that boost Zero's abilities. Zero can even feed his Cyber Elves, and increase their power.

In some ways, the graphics of this game surpass the Mega Man games for the PlayStation. There are some outstanding anime cutscenes, the levels are well designed, and the sprites are tight and amazingly detailed. For looks alone, you should buy this game. The sound isn’t as stellar, but adds good ambience. --Bryan Karsh

Pros:

• New moves
• Gorgeous graphics
• Engaging story (including surprising twist with Mega Man)
• Cyber Elf system

Cons:

• The game is very difficult--you can’t duck, nor can you shoot up or down
• You no longer absorb skills from defeated bosses

Reviews (42)

An honest attempt to revive a dying series...
Mega Man fans have had it tough over the last few years, with the obvious decline of the original Mega Man series and the once great Mega Man X series (although Mega Man X Command Mission was one of the more recent brighter spots).

To me, Mega Man Zero is an attempt by Capcom to resurrect the classic Mega Man X gameplay that was lost soon after Mega Man X4. After X4, the series began to seriously suffer as it seemed Capcom just made sequels just for the sake of making them.

Mega Man Zero is a many ways a sucess, but at the same time is not. On the plus side, I was very pleased with the inclusion of many RPG-like elements that the game employs, such as the leveling up of weapons and how crystals act as experence points for the cyber-elves. The addition of an elemental damage system is also another high point (even if it makes some battles pathetically easy). In lacing the game with RPG elements (like they did in Mega Man Legends), Capcom has added a whole new layer to the gameplay.

The inclusion of different weapons was also nice, as you could change your weapon on the fly to adjust for certain situations. The fact you no longer gain abilties from enemy bosses isn't such a problem due to this.

Unfourtately, Mega Man Zero falls short in many categores. The fact you cannot revist many of the games locations once they are completed is very troubling - if you miss a cyber-elf in a non-revisitable area you are out of luck (and your going to have to play it again). This means you must know where everthing is and thus takes bite out the exploration factor that Mega Man games are known for.

While the RPG-like cyber-elf system is a very nice change, but many of the elves crystal requirements are simply too large. You'll easily double your playing time trying to get them all to the higest level (unless you cheat - and you shouldn't - as cheating is wrong! lol). Some of the elves are also too powerful (the one that removes all the spikes from the game is so cheap it isn't even funny).

Mega Man Zero also ditches the tired and true "stage" system that is used in practically every other Mega Man game. While this too is nice change, the fact many places aren't accessible later in the game and many of the places look nearly identicle (and very drab looking as well), it proves that the tired and true stage method is much better.

Storywise, the game is really nothing special. Even with the use of many story screen stillshots and the useage of more dialogue than one would usually find in a Mega Man game, one will find Capcom did more with less in the past Mega Man X games.

Mega Man Zero is a good addition to the Mega Man universe, but one has to wonder how many sequels Capcom will have to make before this series starts to crumble and wither like the otherseries (especially when your pumping out a sequel every year). Will the Mega Man Zero series survive Capcom's habit of smashing their game series with "the sequel shovel"? Only time will tell.

An excellent addition to Mega Man titles
Mega Man Zero is, in my opinion, an excellent game. It expands on the story of a favorite Mega Man sidekick, Zero. This game has a plot that features an evil X, it is continuously changing, and lots of cool enemies and bosses are in the game. Along Zero's journey, you will encounter bosses such as:
- X's Four Guardians
- a giant elephant
- a monkey that makes miniature clones of itself
I really liked this game and the way that it still keeps several elements of the classic Megaman games. I strongly recommend this product to any fan of the Mega Man series who enjoys a good challenge.

Mega Man Hero!
To be truthful the Mega Man X series has started to become disappointing.Now capcom is giving us a new Mega Man series... but without Mega Man! How could this possibly work? By putting in one of the most loved characters from the Mega Man X series of course!

For those who don't know (and I certainly hope you do know this!), Zero was first introduced in the very first Mega Man X way back in 1993.He has since become one of the most beloved characters in video games and now he gets a game all to himself.

Mega Man Zero takes place in the same world as Mega Man X only years into the future where X and Zero are reveered as legends.But years have passed and Zero seems out of comission.He's later found by Ciel, who makes him operational again.Now questions arise such as where X might be.Not only that but X is presumed to be evil and up to no good. Now Zero is going to find out.

Mega Man Zero doesn't present any different gameplay for the Mega Man veteran.Its the same 2-D sidescrolling that Mega Man fans have grown up with.But this is NOT an easy game.Mega Man Zero is perhaps one of the hardest GBA games I've ever played... and I'm a Mega Man veteran.You select a level to go to just like past MM games.You battle through each level mauling through enemies until you get to the boss.

The game is a little different than other Mega Man games, however. For example, Zero ONLY gets a Z-Sabre and his arm cannon.He doesn't get abilities from bosses like Mega Man did.But his weapons do level up.For example his arm cannon (called a Z-Buster) begins with only firing one shot at a time.As his weapon levels up he'll be able to fire four shots and even charge up.He also gets different kinds of weapons such as the triple rod or a shield boomerang.

Mega Man Zero also throws in a few other twist.The game now has "Cyber Elfs" which are given to you by defeating certain enemies or you have to find them.There are over 70 Cyber Elves in the game and they give Zero remarkable abilities.Some restore his health... others slow down enemies.The creators also made it so that once you use the Elf, it's gone.This teaches you to use strategy.

That's not all the gameplay offers.The game also throws in some twist with the levels. Not everyone is "go for the goal".Some levels require you to beat it in a certain time, or reach certain objectives.You may also find a wounded ally and have to help him by taking him back to the beginning of a level once you beat the boss.So the game certainly isn't boring.

Mega Man Zero also looks and sounds BRILLIANT!A GRAND looking game, no doubt.For the GBA these graphics are top notch and the music definitely reminds some of Mega Man X.The games looks smooth and just wait 'til you see the detail on the bosses.The game just looks incredible!

The game does have its drawbacks however.The biggest problem is of course that its too hard for younger gamers.This game is NO cakewalk as it will take you the better half of the day to master it.The other problem is that its too short.The game can be completed in a day if you really work at it.

My last gripe is the control scheme.It takes time to get used to the controls for this game considering a HUGE emphasis is put on the shoulder buttons.It takes a moment to get used to (especially if you're playing on your SP since those shoulder buttons are small).

Mega Man Zero is an incredible game to behold.Any fan of the Mega Man X series should pick this up and give it a try, this is a GBA game to own!

The Good
+Amazing Graphics
+Great Sound
+Zero gets his own game now!
+Improved gameplay
+Classic Mega Man gaming!

The Bad
-HARD Game.Newcomers will have LOTS of trouble
-Too Short
-Control Scheme takes time to get used to

Short Precise Review
Please take note about some people saying the game is hard. It doesn't necessarily mean it will be hard for you. If you're use to megaman, than getting use to zero would be simple. The game, in my opinion, was fun, challenging at the early stages until I upgraded and become too powerful for my own good, and simple and easy to understand. Finding the elfs is fun and simple, the game play is fun and simple, simple as that. That is why this game is so effective and successful in my opinion of "great games". If you're tired of tedious item finding and objective completions, than this game would help. Releave your stress and have fun, thats what games are for, not to frustrate you more.

This game can be more difficult if you don't use the elfs, it is possible to win but to many, its hard. Play this game well, because part 2 adds slight frustrations, you'll see. And once again, don't play a game that frustrates you and makes you want to bash your system. Play a game that is challenging, but simple, clear, and fun. Thats what games are for. Enjoy your day and I hope this helps.

Finally, Capcom gave the REAL hero his own game
Whn I first glanced at the cover art for MMZ, I was worried that Capcom screwed up yet another Mega Man game (cough, MMX7, cough).I saw Zero's new look and began to wonder if Capcom gave Zero the treatment he deserved.Thankfully, all of my doubts faded away as I began to play the most difficult Mega Man game since MMX3.One striking difference is that the tried-and-true method of beating a boss with a particular weapon is gone... somewhat.Instead of beating a boss with a particular weapon, MMZ uses elemental chips where virtually every boss has a weakness to one of the 3 types.In the beginning, the game's 1 life per continue concept will be hard to grow accustomed to, but don't fret.Once you have upgraded the Z-Saber enough to charge it and obtained the appropriate elemental chip, the bosses are a breeze to beat.Especially copy-X.I was expecting a long, protracted battle, but copy-X was a total wimp.To the newbie or casual gamer, if you have not played and beaten MM1 & MMX1-3 I highly doubt you'll be capable of beating this game.To anyone who is tired of today's average games (Great graphics and sound but non-existent substance or challenge), play this game.This game really separates the gaming elite from the wanna-be's. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

This anthology of classic Atari arcade games consists of Asteroids, Battlezone, Centipede, Missile Command, Super Breakout, and Tempest. With the press of a button, you can switch between vertical and horizontal screen orientations to suit your tastes. Each game is faithfully reproduced and is just as easy and fun to play as the original. The anthology also comes with an Atari trivia game.

Game Descriptions:

• Asteroids: A triangular spaceship blasts away at a crowded field of asteroids, breaking them into smaller, faster chunks with new, hazardous trajectories.
• Battlezone: Fire at enemy tanks and hoverships in a vector-drawn landscape from the viewpoint of a tank commander.
• Centipede: Keep the garden safe from spiders, centipedes, and other pests as they squirm around mushrooms and approach the bottom of the screen.
• Missile Command: Defend your city and its military bases by destroying ballistic missiles that rain down from above.
• Super Breakout: Break through a multicolored wall by batting a ball off a paddle to destroy it one brick at a time.
• Tempest: Stop all manner of aliens from breaching a 3-D cylinder by firing on them from the rim of your spacecraft.

Features

• Six authentic Atari arcade favorites.
• Single or multiplayer action.
• Exclusive Atari Trivia Challenge game.

Reviews (16)

Back to the Future!20 years ago!
Remember when video games were in the arcades, and you had a pocket full of quarters?When Chuck E. Cheese was your favorite restaurant, and Aladdin's Castle was a place to hang out not a locale in a Disney flick?If you do this game is for you! In it you will find faithful reproductions of Asteroids, Battlezone, Centipede, Missile Command, Super Breakout, and Tempest.No updates, no "arrangements", just straight up video games from the early 80s.

Most people have noticed the controls are an issue, and I agree they do hinder you sometimes.Missle Command and Centipede were designed for a track ball, and Super Breakout really needs a paddle.Using the directional pad takes some getting used to.I ended up playing this more on my GameBoy Player for the GameCube which made them a little easier.

But fans of these now primitive games/then innovative will be glad to see them again in any form.The games are simple and immediately playable and addictive.I am a fan of the retro games, and this package has some great ones.I love being able to play ASTEROIDS just as it was in the arcades - a bunch of white lines on a black screen with just a bass line going the whole time!Even the Atari 2600 improved on it with color!

You have to see this for what it is - the dawn of video games.Its nostalgia, a living museum where you can go back to a time when video games were mainly in arcades.You won't see dazzling graphics or complicated missions to complete.Mainly geometric shapes firing dots at each other.:-)But for some reason I love the games for being simple.Just shoot and stay alive as long as you can.And no tokens!

Disappointing
I was eagerly anticipating being able to play some of my favorite arcade games from the early 1980s.Unfortunately, the reality of playing them on a Gameboy is sorely disappointing.

The trackball-based games, Centipede and Missile Command, are the biggest letdowns.Using the Gameboy's directional control to emulate a trackball just doesn't work.Centipede works adequately at first, but the inability to make swift moves quickly becomes a handicap.Missile Command is just unplayable.In the arcade version I would typically get a five-figure score; on the Gameboy I'm lucky to make it past the first level.

Battlezone is okay, but the small screen makes targeting much too difficult.I never played Super Breakout in the arcades, but as with Missile Command, the awkward controls make it nearly impossible.Asteroids and Tempest are probably the most successful of the bunch, but that isn't saying much.

The Atari trivia game is just bizarre.Do people really know the names of Atari's designers?

Amazing Retro Reproductions
Both the look and sound have been captured perfectly in this Gameboy Advance version of Atari Ainniversary. Asteroids is perfect down to the look of the high scores. Same goes for the rest of the games---truly amazing considering how small the Gameboy screen is, but every detail is there. The only difference is in the control pad since all of the original games had different types of controls. But once you adapt and get used to the Gameboy controller, this is fun play for retro gamers.

Atari Avanced: by Jeff
Atari Advanced is a great game. It has six different classic arcade games so its hard to get bored of it because you have such a variety. The controls are very easy and simple so you can spend time playing not figuring out controls. The graphics arent good, but its really fun and thats all that matters. You can play exiting arcade games w/o having to pay a quarter every time!

Gaming Returns to Basics
If you compare against today's games, this might garner a 3-star. However, I really like some of the old games because they require more than many games today. This is a very good replica, so it garners a 5-star rating. My favorite is BattleZone (I spit on the recent arcade version of it). It requires good timing, precision and good use of resources (no, you cannot merely holding down on the fire button forever). These simple games beat 70% of the games on the market. ... Read more

Reviews (39)

Fun but falls flat on its face.
Sure the graphics are much more colorful than the last GBA Castlevania but the graphics and enemies look downright like cartoons in most parts.

Plus whats the deal with your main characters blue shadow?
I think that was a bit of a overkill.
And the magic system has been severely, and badly, toned down from the Castlevania: Circle of the Moon.

And the two identical castle system really lacks imagination and makes the game very very tedius near its end.
Exploring every area of the game TWICE does make the game longer but it definitely doesnt make it funner...

Depressingly Dissapointing
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is Koji Igarashi's second take on the CV franchise (his first being the critically acclaimed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the Playstation). While many have dubbed this as "heir apparent to Symphony of the Night," I beg to differ.Even as SotN is one of my favorite games ever, and even as I am a Castlevania fan, Harmony of Dissonance (HoD) has come across as an incredibly disappointing gaming experience in many respects.

Please read: I love Symphony of the Night to death. I hate Harmony of Dissonance.

Displaying different play mechanics, level layout, atmosphere, and many other traits, it is quite radically different from SotN, and pretty much any other Castlevania.Is this good, or bad?We'll take a look and see.

Let's start out with the story and the beginning of the game.Juste Belmont, grandson of Simon, decides to follow his friend, Maxim, to the area where Maxim saw a castle appear out of nowhere, and where he believes their friend, Lydie, is being held captive.Could it truly be the legendary Castle Dracula?
The characters certainly have some personality, such as Juste's "newcomer" characteristics as a Vampire Hunter, but, overall, it's nothing special or deep.The dialogue in HoD is quite mundane and forgettable. Castlevania has never really been about story, but after SotN's excellent plot and nearly "biblically-quotable" dialogue that was pure gold, I'd hoped to see better from Igarashi than what is here.Sadly, the girl, Lydie, is just another pretty face with basically no personality, and who is basically seen in less than 1% of your game playing time.

I've heard a lot of people praise this game's graphics, and say they are incredible step up from CotM's.I will indeed say that the graphics are more varied than CotM's, in that CotM's look was basically was comprised of brick-walls/pillars background, one after another.Oddly enough, though, CotM evoked so much more atmosphere than HoD does.With its huge rooms, and majestic and shadowy architecture, it truly gave off a sense of your smallness and its magnificence, and was quite unlike anything I'd ever experienced before in a game.In short, CotM pretty much got it right in making me feel like I was in a castle of darkness, mystery, and evil.HoD, unfortunately, leaves behind all notion of atmosphere in its more varied locales (except in the Entrance and the Chapel), something that is crucial in a video game, especially in a series such as Castlevania. The Castle Treasury is the first biggest piece of evidence for this subject.Offering us a mainly drab, gray background with various bits of unexceptional detail, it is randomly interspersed with unique, yet still unsatisfying, backgrounds, like the crystal filled hallways, which pale in comparison to CV4's lovely treasury, and are pretty much boring in their own right.There is no real level of progression.Rooms feel so randomly connected and unrelated that one sometimes gets an unnecessary feeling of confusion or longing for some type of continuity or relation.The lack of transition rooms between areas makes this more potent.

Numerous examples of HoD's boring level design can be seen in the "Aqueduct of Dragons," HoD's "sewer area."Besides the areas' rooms being basically 2 rooms repeated over and over, the lack of pretty much any details that catch our eye is depressing.The exceptions to HoD's dominant drab areas are the Corridor in the Air/Sky Walkway (HoD's chapel), and the Cave of Skeletons.The Chapel is such a breath of fresh air.Lovely, curvy architecture fleshes out this area, and there are all sorts of neat details all over, such as the statues.The scrolling clouds effect from SotN is back, though in a less impressive version, yet it's still nice, if a little disappointing that they so blatantly ripped something off from SotN and didn't come up with something new.In the "Alternate Castle" Chapel (more on this later), as you get farther and farther up in the towers, lightning will flash, and shadowy faces will randomly appear in the windows.Inversely, it also breaks my heart that more of this care to detail and beauty couldn't be dispersed throughout more of the Castle.The Cave of Skeletons isn't really pleasing as it is interesting in some parts, in that there are nods to other Castlevanias in the various backgrounds, such as the skeletons of Slogra and Gaibon displayed on a wall in the lower parts of the level.Other than that, it's another one of the forgettable places in HoD.In HoD, to put it simply, the "real castle" is too colorful, and the "alternate castle" is just way too gray and uninteresting.Areas like the Luminous Cavern and the Room of Illusion in the Marble Corridor are meretricious and colorful to the point of neon-vulgarity.Some may like this; I found it to be rather repulsive.HoD gives up the feeling of being in a true castle to the idea that certain aspects have to grab your attention, no matter how unattractive it is in its display, and in so, loses that subtle, wonderful progression of your realization of the surrounding environment, which SotN and CotM so excellently displayed.

Level design...something very, very crucial in games.It can make or break a game.Sure, a game can have spectacular gameplay mechanics and other special features, but can be brought down significantly by shoddy level layout (Lament of Innocence, I'm looking at you).HoD has some parts that are just great and fun to traverse, like the Chapel area, but ends up failing miserably on almost all accounts with its extremely repetitious nature.80% of the time, the room you'll be in will be some straight corridor with nothing to do but pretty much run down it and kill the small number of enemies populating it.Without a doubt, the low point of HoD's level layout is its vertical rooms, which, unfortunately, make a lot of appearances, including the infamously bad "elevator rooms."A description of these rooms are as follows: a room, which basically consists of a vertical route with multiple levels which you reach by walking to the left to, jumping up, walking to the right, jumping, walking to the left, and so on to get to the top.These are just horrifically, mind-numbingly boring rooms, and really detract so much from the experience.You'd have to experience them to see what I am describing.The Clock Tower is chock full of these rooms, some of the biggest ones in the game, in fact, and, as such, is one of the most dull areas in HoD.Other things that come to mind are the "Skull Doors," doors that require a certain key in order to get past them, and which are placed in your way to, more or less, make backtracking to areas even more difficult and less convenient.They're not blocking anything interesting, like some helpful equipment or armor.They're merely there just to extend the game's playing time by making the player needlessly backtrack through areas the player does not want to go through again, since they block off entrances which would make transitioning from area to area much easier.I'm all for backtracking, as the previous "Castleroids" are full of it.But, HoD just has such a boring and strangely laid out Castle when compared to SotN and CotM that it's more of a chore than a pleasure.As a whole, Harmony of Dissonance feels very unfinished and unplanned in the execution of the castle's layout.It's impractical in its design.

HoD's alternate castle is not turned upside down like the one in SotN.It pretty much is the exact same thing, with slightly different enemies and color schemes.HoD's alternate castle has different items to collect in different places, and different bosses, and that's about it.This time, it's crucial to traverse through it in order to beat the game, whereas in SotN it's more of a joyful revelation.As HoD's castle was not interesting to me, finding out that I had another nearly identical castle to explore was more of an unpleasant surprise than a godsend.

Exploring the castle is closely tied in with gameplay, and how the game feels, so I'll move onto that, next.You'll instantly notice that Juste feels "airy" when compared to CotM's protagonist, Nathan.His jump is more "floaty," and right from the get-go, he already slightly runs.Each shoulder button on the Game Boy Advance is used for the new dash feature, which allows Juste to slide across the ground in a burst of speed, either to traverse through areas more quickly, or to dash back from an enemy's attack.However, I felt that the dash attribute really dumbed the game down to feel like you're ice-skating through the castle.That's not something you want to be reminded of when you want atmosphere.You will pretty much use the dash feature to go everywhere.Why walk when you can dash?It was just an unpleasant experience for me that felt overused.It was almost as if the developers wanted you to rush through all the areas in hopes that you wouldn't notice the startlingly unimpressive level design.Juste loses in terms of his whip-handling skills when compared to Nathan, as when you whip and jump, you cannot change your direction until you land.This, obviously, leads you to accidentally jump into the enemy more than you care for.A lot of the time I just felt like the character was controlling me, not him.Not a good thing.This game controls nothing like SotN, or CotM.Don't believe otherwise.

On to the designs of the main character and enemies.Again, Juste loses in terms of believability and fluidity when compared to Alucard and Nathan.His gait is quit humorous and graceless, comparable to someone doing a strange type of running workout.His falling animation is quite pathetic as well.Hair half turned up, as well as his coat, and his legs completely vertical, it's actually quite comedic to see in action.While he has more frames of animation than Nathan, his actions are much less believable, and look more outlandish.There is also the sense that parts of Juste are too large or goofy looking, such as his hands.Iga chose to put some type of blue glow around Juste, and give him an after-image, as well.I suppose this was to let the player see him easier, but this made me cringe; first of all, it's ripping off Alucard's trademark of essence trailing out behind him (though it is still a lot less graceful than Alucard's), and second of all, it just looks too bright and silly.It really just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.I would've been able to see him just fine without it.

Some of the enemies are reused from SotN, though they're all a little less impressive looking, as the graphics are being displayed on a system with Super Nintendo capabilities, not Playstation.Generally, though, the legion of enemies this time is much less impressive than SotN's and CotM's.Perhaps this is due to most of them being comprised of variations of a single enemy, such as the Skeleton enemy, or the Living Armor.I was left feeling unimpressed.The enemies' A.I. is stupid and non-aggressive for the most part, and they usually won't attack until you wait a few seconds, and when they do attack you, they hurt very little.There are no "super enemies" in this game, like the Guardians from SotN, and the Dark Armor from CotM.The bosses are equally lame, usually not moving around much, always extremely easy, and having uninspired designs, such as the "Biggie" enemies, like the Giant Merman, or Peeping Big.Only three bosses caught my eye.It's evident that all the bosses in HoD were made merely to show off the G.B.A.'s capabilities, rather than to present a fun or challenging fight.

HoD is quite possibly the easiest game I've ever played.SotN was easy, too, but made up for it by being pretty much perfect in all other aspects.CotM was going the right direction with its difficulty, exploration and combat-wise.For HoD, the only slight difficulty one may encounter during the travel through the castle is finding all of Dracula's Relics, and probably the final Spell Book.As far as status effects go, "Poison" basically has no effect in HoD, whereas CotM's poison status was a beast."Curse" status makes Juste walk slower and unable to use his dash move.As I mentioned before, the enemies are all very easy to defeat and don't require much thinking, if any.Bosses are complete pushovers.A majority of them are big, and, sadly, that's all they have going for them.Most boil down to you whipping them in one spot, dashing back from one of their slow attacks, and then coming back to whip them mindlessly.The worst boss of all is probably Max Slimer, who never has gotten an attack in on me.All one has to do is crouch right next to it and whip it until it dies.It's all very dull, and there is never any sense of accomplishment when you defeat a boss.It's all made more annoying by the fact that some have a lot of HP, but don't present any challenge.Don't think that it's easy just based on the enemies; you can find so many potions and healing items in rooms and from dead enemies that you'll never really worry about your condition.As this game is like an RPG in the leveling up aspect, it's disappointing that it's pretty much impossible to get past the level 50s, considering basically every monster gives only 1 EXP once you reach the levels near the 50s. This gives the player very little incentive to fight monsters later on.First of all, any item that en enemy may drop can be merely bought from the merchant or found in the castle in easy to find spots.Also, enemies won't drop weapons like they did in SotN, as your only weapon in HoD is a whip, so that is another reason to not kill them.Suddenly, the enemies become mere speed bumps.

Remember how you had to work really hard or get really lucky to get the best equipment in SotN and in CotM?Remember killing the 100th Guardian and finally getting the God's Garb, or beating the Battle Arena and getting the Shining Armor, and feeling that great sense of accomplishment or excitement?Well, not here.Merely get to a certain area by doing a special jump, and voila, there is one of the most powerful armors in the game.I can't tell how much this gave the game an anti-climactic feeling, especially when I got the best armor basically handed to me.There are many whip types; some are characterized by Elemental attributes, but this still doesn't make a difference.I switched up my Fire attachment for a Lightning attachment during the Giant Merman fight, and noticed only about a 5 or 10 damage difference.It's all very negligible and useless.The only helpful whip is the one that breaks apart the occasional cracked barrier that is in your way.Why does HoD have so many pointless things?Another thing that detracts from HoD's experience is that you won't be getting any cool items to use, like SotN's Power of Sire, or the Monster Vials.You'll find none of those great trinkets here in HoD.This game just gives you healing items as things to use.

There is a merchant this time around; unfortunately, he has absolutely no value in this game.The only things he'll ever sell to you that are remotely interesting are the Spring Boots, which let you jump forever, but even this is useless.You're handed so many potions and good armor during the course of the game, the merchant is rendered obsolete, ultimately.

Feeling he needed to best the DSS Card System from Circle of the Moon, Iga has implemented his own gameplay gimmick, the Spell Book Fusion system.As you traverse through the Castle, you'll come upon books of different Elemental qualities, such as the Wind Book.By equipping these books with certain sub-weapons (such as the Cross, Holy Water, Dagger), you can trigger certain spells.For instance, if you combine the Ice Book with the Bible, you can trigger a series of shockwaves to spread out on either side of you, damaging all enemies on the ground, and in the air, if they're low enough.While the Spell Book system sounds good on paper, in actuality, the Magic spells are simply too powerful, and there is no real "penalty" for exploiting the system. You regain MP at a quick rate, and you use little to no Hearts when you cast spells in combination with your Sub-Item. Most bosses fall within a few spell casts. Once you find the Wind Book and Cross combo, any challenge the game ever had (which is basically none at all) is gone. The worst part is that normal Sub-Items become entirely useless. One of the cornerstones of the series has suddenly become obsolete.On top of this is the fact that none of the Spell Books are hard to find; basically, you'll walk into a room, and it will be sitting right there.This also ties into the fact that HoD is nearly rid of any kinds of secrets, except for three.SotN was full of breakable walls, ceilings, and floors all over, and CotM had an incredible amount of hidden rooms, some that were truly very difficult to discover.Why HoD loses this aspect of exploration, I have no idea.

The music...yes, indeed.HoD sports what is probably the most controversial soundtrack ever in the series.The developers of HoD claimed that in order to achieve the certain graphics they got in the game, the sound department had to take a hit, rendering HoD's soundtrack on the same sound quality level of Gameboy or NES music.Having played Aria of Sorrow as well, I can't understand how this works, as AoS's graphics are notably better than HoD, yet the sound quality in AoS is significantly better sounding, quality wise, than Harmony's.As a side note, let me say that I rather enjoy the Castlevania NES soundtracks.Though they're chock full of the "beeps" and "boops" of the glory days, Castlevania 1, 2, and 3 all manage to produce probably the best soundtracks for any games on the Nintendo Entertainment System.The sound wizards at Konami managed to pump out some seriously fitting tunes for the games.

Now comes HoD, more than a decade later.As I've mentioned before, the songs for the Entrance and Marble Corridor are both pretty good.HoD is a departure from the preceding recent Castlevanias, in that it has a very action oriented soundtrack.While SotN had a wide variety of music, it mostly was melancholy.The N64 games were atmospheric forays into the world of music for Castlevania, and CotM brought back a lot of the old tunes, and demonstrated a very majestic and "large" score.As I've also pointed out, the music begins to take a dip when one reaches the Castle Treasury.While it could be said that the early Castlevanias were action soundtracks, too, they beat out HoD in every aspect, as HoD fails in presenting fitting songs, and even some awfully composed ones.The bottom of the proverbial barrel in HoD's soundtrack is the Clock Tower theme, which is odd, considering most Castlevanias' Clock Tower themes are usually one of the highlights of the games' scores.Starting off interestingly for perhaps the first few seconds, it slowly morphs into a sea of depressing sounds.The climax is truly something that needs to be heard in order to comprehend its horror; ripe with squeals, whines, and, funny enough, dissonance, it's the main song that makes me turn off the sound of my GBA when it comes on.Castlevania shouldn't make one turn off the sound; rather, it should make one turn it up.The Luminous Cavern's song apparently is trying to go for a dark and mysterious feel, and starts out interestingly enough, but it ends up being extremely repetitive.In the Chapel, like some others, the melody starts off very originally and beautifully, sounding almost like a Gameboy quality SotN-grade song with its almost sad, ebbing notes.Sadly, it degenerates into a speedy mix of opposing beats and melodies about halfway in, which really is out of place for an area such as the Chapel.It just feels too fast-paced and un-focused.Those are a few examples, but overall, I wasn't that impressed with the score.It was too drab and out of place, and even depressing.Castlevania 4 perfected the "depressing" music of a Castlevania game, but still maintained an incredible amount of atmosphere and beauty in its soundtrack.Again, I'm not taking points off because of the sound quality (which doesn't help, either), but because the songs failed to evoke very much emotion with me and weren't memorable.It had too much of a fast and active feeling soundtrack for such an empty feeling castle.Experimental?Yes, very.Good?Depends on your tastes.

In trying to emulate SotN, HoD merely lets itself down by displaying itself as an inferior rip-off of an incredible game.It seems as though Iga thought he could throw in a bunch of stolen ideas from SotN and automatically make the game brilliant.However, these ideas weren't realized to their full potential, and, thus, create the feeling that the game is somehow incomplete, like a test version of a Castlevania game.Gone is the challenge; gone is the wide array of cool items; gone is the incredible music Castlevania is known for; gone is the genius level design; gone is the atmosphere; gone is that "Castlevania magic" that makes this series so endearing; gone are a lot of aspects, which ultimately make HoD a failure of a Castlevania game, and a very, very mediocre game on its own.

A great adventure at times obscured by myriad blemishes.
Harmony of Dissonance (HoD, for the contraction) begs to be compared with any and every Castlevania game that has appeared since the series began in 1986, but despite the large number of cameos and overall classic feel it is best to ultimately judge this title on its own merits, providing comparisons merely for reference. It accomplishes what it sets out to in providing a gameplay experience that has some incredibly strong points and a variety of goals, but tastes as though it has had some artifical extenders added into the mix.

The GBA's shoulder buttons allow you to dash left or right at nearly any time, setting an emphasis early in the game on making an attack quickly and dashing away. Tellingly, there aren't any poisoned waters you will be collecting a necklace to treat; while many upgrades will be familiar from Circle of the Moon (CotM, Konami's 2001 GBA Castlevania), Harmony of Dissonance adds some of these essential items as whip upgrades and effectively integrates them into the game. In place of CotM's DSS card system is a new Spell Fusion system which allows the player to use only the classic subweapons (a dash of holy water or a thrown axe in your enemy's face) or to pair a subweapon with a particular type of elemental magic to great effect. Inscrutable enemy tolerance/weakness come into play once again, but an Encyclopedia of fallen enemies will help you figure out what's helpful - though the trouble of changing your whip upgrade or Spell Fusion combo is usually greater than simply whipping away at the enemy would be. As a bit of a spoiler, at least one combination allows you to rotate your d-pad to get something extra out of the attack, and it's also possible to use one type of music by itself (though you must lose the subweapon first - can you figure that one out?)

The magic and item systems are responsible for the wealth of "bosses are easy" comments. Played in a traditional fashion without magic or using healing items during battle, Harmony of Dissonance is indeed challenging. Even with some use of the Spell Fusion system against bosses, they absorb many hits before you can finally vanquish them and their attacks often deplete a fourth of your life meter or more.

HoD also differs from Circle of the Moon in that characters are is much larger than in CotM, while areas are smaller in scale and don't feature the same panoramic vistas of that other title. HoD provides, pixel for pixel, more variety and actual content in all areas despite this.

At release, HoD was considered to be a significant step up from CotM in terms of graphics with many highly detailed backgrounds taking the place of CotM's usually repetitive ones (in addition both games have paralax scrolling in many areas). Visibility is now less of an issue with the introduction of the GBA SP and the GB Player, but at the time the "neon castle" approach was very appropriate (it reminds one of the original Rastan arcade game in a way), and fans were relieved for the reprieve against visits to the eye doctor and purchasing Afterburner kits. Harmony goes overboard with tons of large artwork pieces to be found that fill a good section of the screen and many large details filling in parts of the environment - it actually manages to compete with the third GBA Castlevania, Aria of Sorrow. Unfortunately, this game also contains some amazingly ugly and repetitive areas; a few of the game's tallest shafts are nothing but a series of floors to jump onto over and over, with a slow elevator in the middle. Harmony would have been served better to have some of these less interesting areas spruced up a bit; a few superfluous elements to the game should've been axed to make it happen. The save rooms in particular simply look pathetic, with a silly bouncing ball in the middle. The sprites for the three main characters also aren't anything to look at; your hero's running animation is comical. Overall, though, many of the trippy graphical ideas come off excellently.

HoD has taken a severe pounding for its music. Notably lower in quality than Circle of the Moon's neat music which at times sounded on par with the SNES; the reasoning here is that to provide the (usually) incredible graphics they had to fall back to PGM sound - basically back to programming sound for the Game Boy Color. Given this, the music sounds very good, with some incredibly strong tracks such as Successor of Fate (the Entrance theme), Offense and Defense (the next area BGM), and Chapel of Dissonance (the Sky Walkway area BGM) is rather nice as well. That said, some of it might be favorably described as a strange attempt to set the mood (the Luminous Caverns track)...or simply unpleasant to listen to and even depressing. This is a mixed bag, but Juste's Theme (the Entrance Theme again) has become a personal favorite from not only the game but the series.

There are some other minor quirks, and the game employs a trick to allow more of the same castle to be visited (along the lines of SotN). I felt that this idea was executed brilliantly overall; sometimes the changes are quite stunning and unexpected. On the down side, some interesting references to previous Castlevania games in the item list were botched for the English translation - Sypha (the female magician from Castlevania III) became Cipher, and a curious item that allows you to fling fireballs from your whip when at full health is no longer called Christoper's Soul. There's also a bit of (humorous!) unedited translation in the script that should keep you chuckling. The "true endgame" is very hard to find and figure out, but the pieces are all within your reach early on.

This is a great game - not great enough to make one a fan of bangles and room decoration, but it's a solid game overall with some incredible moments that few other games have.

good... but there are better...
Being a long time castlevania fan, I was really excited about this game. I however was somewhat disapointed with it. What the game gets right is great play controll, cool areas, some neat items and a neat gothic-vampire-esque story. But this game has almost no difficulty (except for collecting ALL of the relics... that is a chalenge)... To be honest, the only time I died was while playing the final boss, and even then, that death could have been easily avoided if I had used one of my 13 potions. The magic system in the game is ok, using spell books with weapons to create powerful magic, but these spell books are too easilly obtained (except for the last book, the summoning tome, which reqires a little bit of searching)and just a little too powerful. The bosses are also VERY uninspired and boaring compared to previous castlevania bosses. The game is a great time killer and is fun, but if you are looking for some gothic, vampire slaying action, You should probably look at Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, or Castlevania lament of Innocence.If you're a fan, then pick it up ..... but if not, you might want to consider another castlevania game.

Castlevania continues it's reign of quality
The Castlevania series are my favorites, for sure, and this one's another gem for the collection.This one's about Juste Belmont, blood descendant of Simon Belmont,a master vampire hunter who has slayed the Count on multiple occassions. The plot is different than just slaying Drac though. Juste's friend Lydie has disappeared within the walls of Castlevania,and Justeand
his childhood friend MaximKischne setout tofind her, yeteverything endsup goingawry somehow...Just to boot, Maxim's body is invaded byDracula's spirit...BUT...Thereal aim of this game is to find all of Dracula's Remains(Fang, Tooth, Nail, Ring, Eye, Heart) though most players will not realize this without help froma strategy guide of sorts...

As for the actual review, there are a variety of things right and wrong with this game. To boot, we have superb graphics, boasting some of the most vivid, easy-on-the-eyes background scenery on the Game Boy Advance, but the blue aura surrounding Juste makes him seem somewhat out ofplace. Not to mention when he walks and jumps, he seems like he'smagnetically attracted to the ground-but that's a completely seperate problem!

The castle is huge. There's so much to explore, and I'm glad they brought back the teleporter system, which predecessor Circle of the Moon sloppily butchered.There are two castles, one being a harder version of the other (a Symphony of the Night element.) with greater puzzlesandchallenges. Everything's easy to adjust to, andit never seems like you have to guess where you'regoing, which is another thing Circle of theMoon didwrong. Alsobrought back is the currency system with the Merchant's Shop though the items are a little cheap...which can add or take away challenge depending on what the player wants...even though the game is challenging without being strenuous as it is.

The music is well orchestrated, but the sound quality is a throwback to the days of NES. A select few compositions are simply superb, while the rest are mediocre. Listen closely for the one in the Sky Walkway, which is haunting. Moving on...

The bosses are redundant and oftenpointless (Gettinga jewel that inreases MP restoration rate for getting rid of one of the game's harder bosses for example...and MP is not important) but some areuniqueand well-thought of (the Devil, for example.)Death (Grim Reaper) also makes a lovely appearance (or four) One thing they stole from Symphony, however, that they shouldn't have is the cheesy dialouge. Yes, it's back. Misplaced curse words and utterly stupid scriptwriting at some points add a flavor of kiddy gameplay to the game- not that the game is, however, a kiddy game. My biggest qualm, however, is that thegame is simply a pain (...) few points, if that tells you anything. Some enemies have no pattern to them, hence, they're so unpredictable that it makes the game frustrating.But you'll adjust over time, and thegood faroutweighs the bad. The best of the three Castlevania GBA games, by far, if simply for the replay value (very, very high...) and the overall quality. It would have made asuccessful Playstation game. The 2nd best in the series, in my opinion, even with the negative points.

BOTTOM LINE: Harmony of Fun
GRADE: A ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

It's not easy being a child of a god. Your character quickly comes tothis conclusion after being imprisoned and tortured by a wizard with anunhealthy interest in your parentage. So begins Baldur's Gate II: Shadows ofAmn, an ambitious role-playing game based on the Advanced Dungeons &Dragons game.

Shadows of Amn is not really a sequel to Baldur's Gate. Instead,Baldur's Gate was merely a prelude to Shadows of Amn. Shadows ofAmn develops the plot lines, characters, and events introduced in the firstgame into a mature, genuinely interesting fantasy tale. Players who thought theoriginal game shallow will be pleasantly surprised by Shadows of Amn'sbold story arcs. Major events are afoot, and the characters' choices have a realimpact on the Forgotten Realms.

In the same way, Baldur's Gate served as a proving ground for the refinedgame mechanics evident in Shadows of Amn. The game's artificialintelligence has been vastly improved, and players have many more choices forNPC AI scripts and party communication. Keeping with Shadows of Amn's moremature theme, the party interaction even includes possible love interests foryour character.

Those who played through the original Baldur's Gate can import theircharacter into Shadows of Amn, or can choose to create a new character.Character kits such as the Mageslayer and Swashbuckler add variety, and the gameeven includes the Monk, Sorcerer, Barbarian, and Half-Orc options from the newDungeons & Dragons 3rdEdition rules. Whether you import an old character or create a new one,you'll begin the game as a fairly advanced character--unlike most RPGs, youwon't have to spend hours slaying puny critters and instead are plunged into ahigh-stakes plot against powerful foes.

A strong plot backed by strong technology makes Shadows of Amn stand outas one of the best RPGs we've ever played. Fans of AD&D will love the classicAD&D feel, and fans of the popular Forgotten Realms setting will delight in thepeople, places, and politics found in Shadows of Amn. --MichaelFehlauer

Pros:

• High-level power gaming
• Quality voice work
• Improves the already great Baldur's Gate interface
• Character kits and D&D 3rd Edition races and classes add variety
• Advances the plot begun in Baldur's Gate

• Based on obsolete AD&D 2nd Edition rules
• Character animations are stiff
• Player's character starts out less powerful than other party members

Reviews (231)

Incantus Pulchur Imperium!
This is easily the best game i have ever played. You can rank a game in many ways, i give this game maximum points in every single category...

Voice Acting

Probably the games strongest area was it's character development giving the game an extra dimension of realism and gravity, integral to this was the awesome voice acting which was/is the best i have ever known, this game showed that voice acting in computer games can be incredibly powerful, the actors who played the characters are real pro's. My favourite was Irenicus, he breathed a realism and a menace into the character which truly brought that villainous character to life. Also in this category is dialogue, which is equally incredible, occasionally i can still here a reedy voice in my head saying...."you should not have come to this place", unforgettable.

Graphics

For their time, these graphics were top of the range, the outdoors are particularly impressive, wether it's the temple district or the wilderness, no two trees look anything alike.

Sound/Music

The sound effects in the game were amazing, when you are in a city you here murmurings (of street traders/hawkers) which blend wonderfully into the background complementing everything. When you enter Suldanesselar you hear the frantic almost deranged chirpings of the birds which convey a sense of order-disrupted. The games musical score is absolutely gorgeous! The main theme (which kicks up when a fight starts) is rousing and exciting and a pleasure to listen to, it adds even more grandeur and scale to the game.

Gameplay

Top marks here too, there are so many ways you can play the game, so many paths you can take, the challenge level varies but overall is suitably balanced. The games replayability was awesome (i won it at least 10 times and each time i was amazed at how new the experience was). When you add to this the extraordinary value for money you get because the game is extremely long, yet it never becomes repetitive.

Overall this game showed me for the first time what the computer role playing genre was capable of, playing this game was like starring in a movie combined with reading a wonderfully gripping novel. You really feel for the characters. I had thought Planetscape Torment was good, this game introduced an entirely new experience. Easily the best game i have ever played (and i have played a lot).

How did they pack it all into five cd's?

sort of.... dreary
It is difficult to stand against the onslaught of love and respect for this game. And I'm not saying don't try this game. Too many people loved it for me to expect you to go by my experience, but I do want to share with you my different perspective.

First off, looking back, I don't hate Baldur's gate. It has it's virtues. Its just that after 20 or so hours it began to weigh on me, leaving me with a feeling heavy, bleak, and insistent.In taking up computer games as a hobby a year ago it was one of the first games I played or really got into.Fascination rolled into addiction and addiction rolled into a kind of dread and tedium.Finally I realized I didn't actually have to play this game anymore.So I didn't.This may seem like an obvious solution to you, but then you don't actually know me so well.

Enough preamble. I like to rate games based on categories that I find important to me and so I will do that below on a scale of say 1 to 10. How's that?

Story:4, I'll admit my predispositions here, and also that not actually getting more than a third of the way through this game limits me a little, but I do feel I got the main idea.My predisposition is that I long for a computer game that is story driven effectively and actually works as a good story. Story is always such a distant second to gameplay that you end up with these half hour stories built into 15 to 60 hour games.Generally they either make little sense, or fade into a weird sequel nothingness in the end (hello half life 2, beyond good and evil (good games both nevertheless)). I have tried so many, do actually like many games, but have been underwhelmed repeatedly as far as story.Baldur's had the advantage that I was new to gaming and so hadn't seen all it's conventions before, even if they were familiar.In this game you wake up in a prison cell and have a secret destiny.Yeah yeah yeah.It's actually not too bad though and the quality of some of the characters helps, but, and I think this might be the key problem, in order to create an open ended world, provide a variety of quests, and give the good/evil option as it were, the whole thing comes completely apart at the seams.The story falls apart into ridiculousness except the game pretends it hasn't and you're supposed to too. Just to start you spend hours struggling to break out of a dungeon you have no knowledge of even though a member of your party broke in to get you.Wouldn't she have some helpful information?How did she manage it in the first place? So much of this game is full of stuff like this. Its been awhile so I'm fuzzy, but could come up with quite a few more examples, like places where the sense of what is good and effective to do in the game defies the reality of your characters as actual people.In my opinion you can have a very linear game (problem is too few options as a player unless it's done perfectly), or a completely wide open, basically questless game (problem is it feels kind of pointless unless it's done perfectly and beautifully) or you can have a reality defying muddle in the middle of the two. Baldur's takes this last path I am afraid.Still, I would have sort of liked to see how it all turned out if I didn't have to slog through so very much stuff and time to get to it.

Characters: 7 or 8,very good.Love the pictures. Voices excellent. Really nicely done, though after awhile hearing them say the same phrases hundreds of times was hard to take.Also the story caused them to do things completely out of character at times.

Gameplay:5, I prefer less difficulty in games and would have appreciated a difficulty level system very much.There is a lot of fighting, managing your stuff and fighting some more and its that d and d dice rolling fighting that can look very strange (big guy with huge sword swings at weakened creature just standing there and misses wildly). It often left me feeling faintly like it wasn't working and that the game didn't do what was in the queues for my characters even though I suppose it really was.

Graphics: 6, nice general visual design and though its dated now its pretty powerful in the sense of mood it imparts (though see below). I mean it really did affect me in an almost dreamlike way for awhile.It was a bit of a letdown in terms of giving me a sense of wonder though.

Dreariness factor:1,cold, chill and frequently joyless.That's how I found it.Some of the character humor helped a little, especially the nicer characters, but so much killing and grim characters and so little relief or oasis or real rewards or lightness in comparison. Plus I felt burdened by the way the quests could just sort of pile up on you and all be emergencies.

Technical issues:I always feel this is so subjective as you never know what will be a problem with your computer, but a few small or weird glitches were really awful for me.I couldn't get downstairs in one place, something crucial disappeared in another.

Learning factor:4, had a tutorial level which maybe I wouldn't find too confusing with the experience I have now in games, but I really wish it had been more clear and specific.

Product materials:5,a nice start, decent book, but really quite incomplete.

Chore factor:2, well, you know, so many rooms of so many monster things to really get anywhere.I really did feel burdened.

Difficulty:3, kind of already discussed but I'll add that everything seemed either kind of hard to kill or quite hard to kill, it would have been nice and even appropriate if some things had been very easy too. I will repeat I might have lasted longer with an easy or moderately easy setting, but it still would've gotten to me in the end.

Game saves:7,a pretty good save anytime system only flawed by an inability to save in combat, which, if I recall, could sometimes sneak up on you and then it was too late.

Conclusion:I find when I write negative reviews of really popular and respected games (gta vice city is a good example) people tend to say its not helpful, and if I like them its very helpful,but sometimes I think they maybe already played the game and think it's some kind of contest these reviews (then of course, maybe they just think its not a very informative review).I'm just telling you my reaction here and my thoughts. A lot of people gave this classic game 5 stars. I really think this game could've been alot better.

Baldur's gate made me think maybe I don't like rpgs too much, but I am currently pretty far along in star wars knights of the old republic and very much like it.

Not verymuch changed...luckily
Baldur's Gate is a first-class game, so why change the formula in the sequal? Yea, you can fight with two weapons at a time now, but who cares? I still use only one. Graphics didn't change that much in my eyes, so it's actually the same game with another story-line. But the story - because of that I fell in love with BG - is again very good. I saw someone complaining that the bad guy (I forgot his name) is too evil..well, did you expect that the bad guy just sold illegal armor or something? I didn't really like that beginning part - there in those underground mines - but the rest is again amazing. Someone complained you don't know how strong the monsters are if you want to attack... doesn't that make it more real. It's kind of silly if you see a number above his head or something.. It's an addictive game and I wished my copy of it didn't brake (just like my copy of BG1). I love this game (maybe because it's one of the few games I'm really good at), it's perfect just like the first BG. Buy it, the game is cheap these days..

Best Game Ever
If I could make ambrosia, If I could create the very divinity of all that ever existed in gaming, and if I could program, I would have made Baldur's Gate.
Even as someone who frequents First Person Shooter games, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, is still the best game I have ever played.
If you enjoy plot that actually matters, a game that ISN'T Completely hack&slash, a game where you can become a god (Well, in the expansion at least...) and if you enjoy games that will make you actually think, then BG2 is an awesome game for you.
And even if you don't normally enjoy those types of games, Get BG2 anyway.
While it is recommended that you play the first game before the second, it is not necessary. The first one was a bit on the boring side anyway.
You start as a captive in the dungeon of Jon Irenicus, an evil mage who has captured you to further his own cause, whatever that cause may be. You must escape his lair, to enter the city of Athkatla. And then? Then the game has only just begun.
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is a very open ended game, but the main plot is still quite evident, so you don't get too lost.
Some will be the Barbarian leader who captured a Keep by force, others will be a Sorcerer who took control of a Planar Sphere.
There are no limitations.

This game will blow your mind.

One of the best RPGs I've ever played...
Final Fantasy? Good, but not great.
Diablo? Not even worth mentioning.
Divine Divinity? Good, but not really noteworthy.
Planescape: Torment? The only game better than this.

Baldur's Gate II has it all.

Beautiful landscapes. Detailed locations. Absorbing gameplay. Realistic characters. Twisted enemies. Entrancing music. Tens of thousands of items, both mundane and magical. Hundreds of spells.

Seven races. Eleven classes. Many sub-classes. The ability to change your class later or start with multiple ones. Skills. Stats. Resistances. Proficiencies. In short, nigh-on ultimate control over the customisation of your character.

Barbarian? Sorcerer? Perhaps a Monk or a Bard... and unlike Neverworking Nightmares, you can actually have a party! Six characters and up to five summoned creatures at a time makes for a mini army to challenge your enemies with (and believe me, you've got a lot of them).

See that demon there? He's after you. Emphatic Manifestations of the hatred of a bunch of worshippers chasing you around temples dedicated to dead gods. Character-specific curses. Turnip-obsessed Gnomes.

And through it all, your god-blood is as much a curse as it is a blessing, for there are quite a few plot twists revolving around your father... ... Read more