Product Description

In the multiplayer game, Four Swords, between two to four players take on the roles of young adventurers who answer a challenge from the Triforce. They must brave the dangers of multiple dungeons in a quest to find the Master Sword. Their strength will be tested by fierce monsters, their wisdom tested by complex puzzles, and their courage tested by having to cooperate with each other to overcome obstacles. ... Read more

Features

• Talk to all sorts of people and creatures to gain information about how to move forward in his quest.
• Fight enemies and battle through dangerous and complicated dungeons to recover key objects that open new areas.
• Wield swords throw bombs, perform dash attacks, lift and throw, and push and pull objects; acquire items that give additional abilities.
• In Four Swords, face puzzles that require the cooperation of two or more players to solve. They can exchange items, but they also will be competing to pick up as many Rupees as they can to increase their individual scores. It's a unique blend of cooperation and backstabbing.

Reviews (124)

A Great Game
I've always loved A Link To The Past.It's not too easy but not too hard.The graphics are good and it has a nice storyline to it.It's just fun!I only have one complaint about this game for the GBA (and it's a big one):
This version of the game comes with a new game, The Four Swords.The only problem is that it's a MULTIPLAYER GAME!I know multiplayer games are enjoyable for some people, but not everybody knows someone else who also has this game, so many of us are not even able to play the game, which sucks, because from pictures I've seen, it looks like a lot of fun.There should ALWAYS be a single player option!
Okay, I'm done whining now.

Jake Klingelhofer Gives this game two thumbs up!
This is a GREAT game. It takes a while to beat but is very fun and not very hard. it isn't really easy like Zelda: the Minish Cap, but not insanely hard like Zelda: the Wind Waker. A fun continous game with good music, good characters, and it's GREAT
all around. ON a scale from 1 to 10, i would give this game a 11!

Bugger Zelda, revive "Battle Of Olympus"
Zelda was a copy of Battle Of Olympus IMO. Both games very simmaler, and if you like Zelda you'd love B.O.O.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past on Game Boy Advance is an identical port of the classic SNES game of the same name. What separates these brilliant Zelda adventures other than the Game Boy Advance's version being portable is that the GBA version also includes a Capcom-developed multiplayer game entitled Four Swords.

In Four Swords, up to four players can play together for a mix of cooperation and competition, solving puzzles, gathering Rupees and trading items. Fans of the Zelda series receive two great games for the price of one in this must-own GBA title.

On the surface, it looks like Nintendo went the cheap way out by simply converting the admittedly outstanding Super NES adventure The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past to the Game Boy Advance as the system's first official Zelda product, pretty much pixel-for-pixel in graphics and note-for-note in sound. It's a fantastic game in its own right, but the GBA has proven time and again that it has significantly more potential in capabilities than the Super NES ever did, and a conversion of an early generation 16-bit title hardly impresses on a technical scale. But put that thinking aside, because the developers didn't just put out a simple port for Zelda fans; the secondary selling point of the game cartridge, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords is a deep, thoroughly designed, and absolutely fun multiplayer experience that's based around the established Zelda gameplay mechanics. It's here that the cartridge really shines, and makes the purchase of the game an absolute necessity for Zelda fanatics and GBA owners alike.

All Zelda fans should know exactly what they're getting into with the Game Boy Advance conversion of A Link to the Past. The original game released back in 1993 for the Super NES is still revered as one of the best games released in the series, even among the more recent 3D releases on the Nintendo 64 system. The game takes place way early in the admittedly wonky Legend of Zelda chronology. As the elfish adventurer Link, players head off into the huge overworld to rescue the princess Zelda from the castle dungeon; as players save her from the lock-down, they learn that an evil wizard Agahnim has put the land under a cursed spell, and it's up to Link to grab the Master Sword and break it. But anyone who is familiar with the story, or Legend of Zelda games in general know that this is only the beginning of the adventure...
The Game Boy Advance game is a 100% accurate port of the Super NES game, right down to the pixel. The GBA game uses all of the original art assets from the game released in 1993 for its graphics, which admittedly look a bit dated to today's standards and what the GBA can actually pull off. But it remains extremely faithful to the original, which will definitely please videogame purists; any slight alteration of the original game and you could definitely hear all the fanboy comparisons to the original SNES version. The only real changes in gameplay are alterations on where certain non-essential objects are located; a tree that always dropped a rupee gem when rammed now unleashes a fairy, which eliminates the exploitation of unlimited funds from the original game. And, of course, the screen resolution means that the GBA has to scroll a bit more than the Super NES version did, but the original SNES game didn't require any real long-distance action, so this "cropping" does not hinder gameplay at all.

And while the music isn't quite as "crisp" on the GBA system, the handheld hardware does a wonderful job pulling off all the audio from the classic. But, just as Nintendo couldn't leave the past Super Mario games alone, the company insisted on adding to the sound effects by giving Link grunts, shouts, and yells, lifted from the samples used in the previous N64 adventures. It would have been a decent inclusion had it been used sparingly, but man, it gets annoying when every slash of the sword results in an audible grunt from Link. Every single one. It's cool that Link now lets out a yelp when he falls off a ledge or bites the big one, but a shout every single time he uses his sword? Yes, after about five hours into the quest your mind may grow used to this sound effect, but as it stands, the developers should have gone easy on the Link yelps.

But it's the gameplay that matters, and even today Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past holds its own as one of the best-designed action-adventure games ever created. For those not quite familiar with the way the Zelda design works, A Link to the Past features a huge overworld with several dungeons in which players will have to shove boxes, trigger switches, and destroy enemies in order to progress to the end where a very large boss creature sits and waits to crush Link into a pulp. These dungeons are pretty much the core of the Zelda gameplay, and it's these areas that give the game most its challenge. Each dungeon (there are at least a dozen of them in A Link to the Past are both extremely fun and, in many cases, extremely frustrating...but in an amusing sort of way. This game was the first Zelda game to utilize alternate-world travel; players will have to hop back and forth between the light and dark world to solve puzzles and get through certain challenges. There are times that, yes, you'll get stuck, so taking a step back to figure out the best (and usually only) course of action in the specific area is definitely encouraged. When all is said and done, A Link to the Past is a lengthy 20 to 30 hour adventure for folks who don't remember every little element from the SNES version. Those with the upper hand with prior knowledge of the classic adventure can probably breeze through it in a dozen. But whether you're a newbie or veteran, you haven't seen anything yet.

The secondary game option, Four Swords is an absolute must-play. Anyone who puts this cartridge away after completing A Link to the Past will be missing out on one of the best system link games ever created, and it's this mode that will set the watermark for what the GBA's game link support can pull off. Four Swords isn't a simple rehash of A Link to the Past's graphic engine in a multiplayer deathmatch, no sir. This is a completely separate game development that shares only the cartridge in which A Link to the Past sits. Four Swords occurs during the same time structure as the upcoming Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the GameCube, which explains the completely changed character sprite structure of Four Swords. In the game, players must rescue Zelda from the clutches of the evil wind sorceror Vaati. But the challenges ahead are impossible for a single adventurer; to assist Link in his quest to rescue the princess, fairies use the power of the Four Swords to duplicate the hero...four times the Link. Silly premise, I know, but all you have to know is that each player controls a different colored Link.


The Four Swords is essentially broken up into four different areas, each with its own network of dungeons. The first dungeon is an expansive tutorial area that explains the varying items and how they work in the other three different areas. The level design Four Swords varies between standard Zelda fare to absolutely brilliant use of cooperative gameplay mechanics; this isn't a simple Gauntlet clone. Game designers have worked in many of the ideas from past Zelda games, from triggering pressure switches to shoving statues and lifting boulders. But many elements must be done in unison with one, two, or three other Links. Massive boulders blocking the way, for example, require all Links to work together to lift and move off to the side. Some creatures can only be destroyed if two players work together -- one cool creature in particular must be pulled apart to eliminate, with a Link on either side yanking in opposite directions. There are several items in the game that must be utilized to get through, and players can only hold and utilize one item at a time; whatever item they were holding at the time they picked up a different item is dropped in place of the new item. Magnet Gloves can get players across chasms if they aim at a magnetic block...and they can even grab onto distant Links by latching onto their magnetic Shields, pulling them across the hole as well. And the Gnat Hat is an interesting addition, as players who wear the hat will shrink to the size of a bug (basically a couple of pixels tall on-screen) in order to pass through tiny tunnels or across bridges and platforms that a normal Link couldn't fit. The game's full of all sorts of objects that require solo as well as cooperative techniques to get through the extensive challenges. What's more, the game design is intelligent enough to only offer dungeon designs with the amount of players in the network in mind. So, even though the game allows for up to four players to cooperate and compete in the dungeons, the designers realized that this wouldn't always be the case; if only two or three players are in the current network, it will only put forth challenges that only two players need to cooperate...which means, no four-player puzzle elements will enter into play.
This mode is where most of the development time obviously went, because everything about it, from the graphics, sound, gameplay, and interface, are done superbly. This multiplayer mode even incorporates extras that are earned in A Link to the Past; if a special sword technique is earned in the main single-player adventure, it can be used by that player in Four Swords. And those that complete the entire Four Swords adventure can unlock original dungeons and mini-quests in A Link to the Past, unique to the GBA game. So, if the fantastic multiplayer gameplay isn't enough encouragement, the extra quests in the single player adventure should seal the deal.

The link support is near flawless; it keeps track of all four players in the chain no matter how far back or ahead of the pack they go, and it also allows for a decent number of enemies to appear on-screen at once. The action will slow down on occasion when rupees spill onto the screen in a large amount, but from a technical standpoint occasional slowdown in a four player chain during not-so-intense moments is perfectly acceptable. It's an amazingly fun multiplayer experience, even if it tries the patience of everyone in the network chain. Everyone will be yelling at each other from not working together, or accidentally knocking someone off the ledge, or stealing each other's rupees. Even though players will be working together to complete the dungeons, ultimately, they're working against each other to earn the most rupees to collect the level's medallions. And as chaotic as that sounds, this element is one of the many reasons that makes Four Swords such an awesome mode that should not be missed by anyone.

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is definitely one of, if not the finest games released on the GBA. While some Zelda fans might be a bit bummed that Nintendo didn't offer Game Boy Advance owners something new to sink their teeth into, they have to realize that the company did do exactly that. Yes, the main package is simply the same Super NES game repackaged for play on the Game Boy Advance, but in all honesty that's only half the package. And offering one of the greatest action adventures in portable form isn't exactly a downside, either.

Four Swords is Nintendo's way of giving gamers something completely new and different in the Zelda environment, and it's one hell of a good time in each play through. This mode is an adventure in itself; it just requires the effort of grabbing one, two, or three other friends to join in the quest. And that's the only real downside to this mode: trying to get a party together to take advantage of this thoroughly-designed experience. It is a slight shame that Nintendo didn't offer just a sliver of Four Swords as a single-cartridge multiplayer mode, even if it was just to offer a scaled-back demo version of the entire Four Swords adventure...but considering how good this entire package is, it won't be hard to find players with a copy of their own.

comment
I don't own this game and i have never played it (though i might buy it) i just wanted to point out that in one reviw someone did not know anyone with the gam it doesn't solve your cable problem but you only need one game pack to play multi player on GBA (note this only applys when your using other GBAs no other GBs will work) ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Originally released in 1981 by Konami, the Frogger arcade game isconsidered an all-time classic. Since then the property has been transferred toseveral owners, many of which tarnished the Frogger tradition. Now, backin Konami's hands, the little green fellow brings back everything people lovedabout the original arcade game, but with a modern twist.

Frogger's Adventures: Temple of the Frog pits Frogger against the evilMr. D, who has stolen the mystical elements that nourish the hero's marsh.Frogger must make his way through 15 levels spanning six environments in orderto find the elements. After every few levels, he must engage in a boss fight.Like in the arcade original, Frogger spends most of his time hopping left,right, up, and forward, but in this version he must deal with more than movingcars and snapping crocodiles. The game's levels feature all sorts of perils,such as mazelike conveyer belts, spiked floors, and crumbling platforms. Thereare also 32 different types of enemies standing in his way. Among the fewdownsides of the game are its short length, the lack of variety-adding options,and the fact that the coin system that allows you to reach the last level iseasy to fool.

This is a great example of how to properly update a classic. The simple gameplayof the original Frogger is intact, but the developers have added cleverlevels, bright graphics, and modern game mechanics to the mix. This game is sureto please longtime Frogger fans, as well as create some new ones.--Raymond M. Padilla

Pros:

• Easy-to-learn gameplay
• Levels add a new twist to classic Frogger moves
• Four in-game save slots

• Lack of options
• A bit short
• Coin system is easy to cheat

Features

• Jump, glide and tongue-flick through 15+ levels in 5 different environments.
• A cartoonish action/platform game with an element of puzzle solving, Frogger expands on simple, yet addictive gameplay to catch players of all ages.

Reviews (36)

I HATE THIS GAME
This game is so stupid! I would leave it in the trash! Luigi's mansion is better.

LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVED THIS GAME SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH! It is origianol, interesting and really really fun! It has 5 cute little worlds, and 15 levels. It gets really hard over time, but as soon as you get familiar with all of the controls and enimies, it isn't as hard as it seems. A little hint: On parts of the 2nd earth element level, move fast! Don't think, move fast! It helps! I finished the game in about a week, and my favorite places were the sea world and temple levels. Buy this game now, it totally rocks!

PLEASE....
it sux. never get it. u just hop around getting smashed by things. i played it once and hated it. im srry for the ppl who have it!!!

too easy and not original
this game is too easy and im a twelve year old, its not original and doesnt have the kind of thrill and excitement its just k nothing special,if i were u i wouldnt waste my money and would by super mario advance games instead, theyre much better

The Most Fun Frogger Yet
I thought this game was very fun.The first level is easy ,but once people try the second level they think it is hard.(Most of the levels have the same type of moves so once you get the hang of it its not so hard.)the temple is the best part in my opinion.The graphics are also pretty good,and the music is great.Some people say that the game is impossible to beat, but that's not true.I've beaten the game the whole way through until the end credits.Overall I thought this game was challenging,addictive,and very fun! ... Read more

Features

• Choose from one of four characters - Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, or the new character Cream, each with their own signature moves.
• New environments ranging from space age metal labyrinths to an incredible music masterpiece, each with multiple paths to explore!
• Link up Game Boy Advance systems using the Game Link Cable and experience the action with up to four people.
• Connect your Game Boy Advance to your Nintendo GameCube and visit the new Chao Garden - raise Chaos and watch them compete in the Super High Jump!

Reviews (69)

Great game but with frustrating problems.
While not necessarily raising the bar in my opinion the way "Sonic Battle" did for me, "Sonic Advance 2" is nonetheless another home run for the legendary Sonic video game franchise.

The play pattern is virtually the same as it's classic Sega Genesis ancestors: Dr. Eggman (previously known as Robotnik) is once again causing havoc with his megalomaniac schemes of taking over the entire world by building another 'death egg' (God, everything he builds is named after eggs) spaceship by wielding the power of the legendary chaos emeralds. Even worse is that Sonic's friends have been captured by Eggman and held hostage.

As a result, in the beginning, Sonic is the only available player but as one beats the boss machine at the end of the stages, more characters are unlocked and the game begins to branch into different versions of itself. My favorite is a tie between Tails and Cream.

The problem with this game though is a frustrating part. Although not completely, I've found it almost downright impossible to find all seven special rings in order to access the special stages at the end of each regular stage. (I've managed to get to special stage one after "Leaf Forest" but that's it) The last six regular stages make it like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Otehr than that, this is a very good Sonic Adventure game and is another good addition to the Sonic Legacy. With the frustrating Special Stage requirements, I guess they didn't call it "Sonic Advance" for nothing. :/ :)

This is stupid. I reconmmend you play Sonic Mega Collection
I cannot say much about this game, but enough to steer you clear.
The story is that Dr. Eggman is making trouble again. That is it. There are no story telling elements witin the game.
The object of the game is to get from point A to point B. If you run fast enough in one direction for enough time, you will create a sonic boom and go supersonic. Which needs to happen more often.
Within the levels are emblems. You need a certain amount to go to special stage and get a emerald. Let me tell you, it is so hard to actually collect the emblems, I have never been to special stage. The emeralds unlock the final boss.
The characters are varied by skills and stats.
Cheese can attack from a distance.
Knuckles can punch.
Amy has a hammer.
Sonic is fast.
Tails can fly.

Whoopie.
Now I can go through the whole game with just Cream and Cheese and not break a sweat. There is a diffculty imbalance here.

This game is too imbalanced to be fun.

Now go play Sonic Mega Collection my groupies!!!!


if you exist......

Even more zoom than previous Sonic games
If you have played the great classic Genesis Sonic games and the first Sonic Advance and just expect more of the same, think again.This game is even more about total speed getting from point A to point B than the previous games, with level design all its own.The levels are designed so that, if you want to, most of the time you can just hold down left or right and watch Sonic (or one of the other characters) ZOOM - until you are slowed down and have to decide how to proceed.Don't get me wrong, the levels are huge, with many paths for Sonic to take and a lot of stuff for the floatier characters (Tails and Cream) to explore.But everything, from each level's racing-style opening to the delightful fast-driving Eggman-vehicle bosses, and especially the level design, is all about speed.

You can probably dash through the first four levels on your first game, but from zone five onward the difficulty level, both in the levels and against the (I have to mention them again) speedy frenzied moving bosses, increases steadily every zone.The game is just difficult enough to keep me from zapping right through it, which is a good thing and keeps me coming back.I completed the first Sonic Advance the first day but have not beaten this one yet.I also have explored plenty and have not yet found a single chaos emerald, but I am sure they are there.This and the difficulty curve all keep me interested.

Another thing I like are the three action buttons.There is a jump button (essential), an attack button (with different effects depending on your character, including a ground pound that breaks floors and can aid in exploration for Sonic), and a 'trick' button, with high-speed effects that vary by situation.What's so good is that only the jump button is necessary, but if you are fast enough and want more variety you can make the game feel much deeper by using one or both of the other buttons in just the right situations.

I don't know just how long this game will keep my interest, but on the second day I have had it, MAN is it fun.It's all about speed.

sonic2
sonic2 is a great game:) but is way to easy, you zip through each level just like that. i'll admit, it had some pretty good stunts, and bosses, and would keep you entertained in the car for 2 huors, sinceitakes you that amount of time to beat it. the only bad thing i say about this game, is the last boss. he is way to easy!!! i hope they make all the bosses a little harder, next game!!! bye:)

Good For Sonic Fans
Sonic Advance 2 is an okay good game. I've never played the 1st Sonic Advance game though, so I don't know if #2 is a big improvement or not. Well, you start off with Sonic, and get Cream, Tails, and Knuckles later by just progressing through the game (the order I put them in is the order you get them). You get Amy by unlocking her with all of Knuckle's emeralds, you get the Tiny Chao Garden with all of Sonic's emeralds, the Sound Test with all of Cream's emeralds, and Boss Time Attack with all of Tail's emeralds. If you don't want to unlock the things, I suggest forget buying this game. If want the game and just don't want to unlock, get a Gameshark/Codebreaker/Action Replay. For those who want the game, have fun and good luck! ... Read more

Features

• The first and only way to experience complete Quidditch matches
• Play as any one of four Hogwarts Houses
• Play all the Quidditch positions and execute all the high-flying moves
• Play as characters from the books, including Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, and more
• For 1 player

Reviews (9)

Good Choice for Harry Potter fan.
I was really excited when I got this game. I love the books and don't mind playing games either. I'm not a game freak who plays constantly, just on trips and stuff. This game is really fun, it catches the Quidditch spirit in everyone. In this game you can be any of the seven players. There isn't much difference between the keeper and chasers they all just fly around and you can't tell them apart. This game is really nice and a good choice for any Harry Potter fan who has dreamed of being out there playing with the quaffle or chasing down the snitch. This game is really easy to catch on to. At low levels it is really easy. You can dominate even if you've only played a little bit. However, the firebolt level keeps even the master in check. If I were you, I would get this game.

Not a bad game, but they could have done better
i think that this is by far the best of the potter games, altho i haven't tried out the new prisoner of azkaban game. i do have to say that i love the books, and i am a very causual gamer. I play this game loads, and i really do enjoy it. in contradiction with one of the reviews i just read, i find it terribly easy to score over 150 pts in a game before the snitch chase, and the world cup games get harder as you go on. overall i think it's brilliant.

What are you all talking about?
I've been reading reviews for this game, and I had thought I had a guarenteed great game in my hand after i bought it. I guess I thought wrong. I am about 14 years old and have read the potter books and like them alot. THis game is very disapointing. SOme of you might be familiar with the scoring system in quidditch: 10 pts. for each time the quaffle (main playing ball) goes through one of the goal-like hoops, and 150 pts. for when the seeker catches that darn golden snitch. Now, I say they either change the rules of quidditch, or make a sequal to the game. I dont think they can go back and change all those books. To me, all this game is is flying around tossing the quaffle back and forth, until the time comes to try and catch the snitch before the other team does. The game works it out so that when there are enough steals, special moves and passes during a game, it automatically goes right to the catching of the snitch. I feel the quaffle part of this game is completly pointless because the way the game makes it, whoever catches the snitch wins. It almost never get to you scoring 150 points with the quaffle before the hunt for the snitch is on, so why even have the quaffle play in it. Basically, this game just comes down to the 1 minute hunt for the snitch at the end.

If you are a collector of harry potter memorabilia, Go ahead and get the game. Other than that, spend your money on a good game like Metroid Zero Mission or Super dodge ball advance

THE BESTgame ever!!!!!!!!!
I've only played this once but it is sooooooooo cool!The graphics are alot batter then the old ones.I am sooooooooo geting this.If your a Harry Potter fan I think you should too.

Awesome Game!!!!!!!!!!(Even if ur not a Harry Potter Freak)
This is a really cool game and I was so happy when Draco was on the cover. He has finnaly been given the attention he deserves! You can play as the four Hogwarts houses and then you can move on to the Quiditch world cup. You can also play as two players. I always beat my brother. ... Read more

Reviews (51)

May be quite possibly the best Castlevania ever...
While the past two GBA Castlevania's were good, this one is leaps and bounds ahead of them.

The Soul system of this game is brilliant and is quite addicting. However, getting the souls of every monster in this game can be quite time consuming. Though, one expensive ring does make this task much easier...

And the main character, Soma, just looks downright cool.
Plus the dozens of swords, hammers, spears, and even guns he can get all behave differently and are unique. No two weapons look or act the same.
And its just plain fun to swing a sword twice the size of your main character. :)

The challenge in this game can be a bit high in some areas but never leaves you frustrated.

Add to the fact that this game has hidden final bosses, hidden areas, a special arena mode which earns you rare and awesome weapons, a hidden playable character, and a mode which allows you to restart the game with all your items intact makes this game a gem and a real joy to play. Also, there is a special Hard mode which can earn you rare items like Deaths Scythe and a werewolf killing Silver Gun.

All in all, this game plain old rocks and will give you plenty of enjoyment and fun for your money. Pick it up, you wont be sorry.

Every bit as good, and better, than Symphony of the Night!
For people who fell in love with Castelvania: Symphony of the Night for the PSX, prepare to be dazzled yet again by Aria of Sorrow! The Soul system is easy and fun to use, the locales you'll explore in the castle are beautiful, the music is awesome, and plays as smoothly as you could ask.

If you are a big fan of Castlevania, this is THE Castlevania to pick up. If you aren't a big fan of Castlevania, then this is still the one game you should run out and buy! I couldn't recommend it any higher.

If HoD was the Test...This is the Result.
Iga's second game on the GBA, Aria of Sorrow, triumphs over Harmony of Dissonance, and while it's nothing revolutionary, it presents a few fresh ideas, and manages to be a satisfying and engaging adventure, if lacking in some areas.

Soma Cruz, a high school exchange student studying in Japan, is making his way to his friend's shrine, when he loses consciousness. What's going on? Right off the bat, Aria of Sorrow scores points for *actually* having a very fresh and interesting story.

Continuing the tradition started by Circle of the Moon, AoS has a new gameplay addition, called the Soul Steal System. Soma has the power to take the souls of monsters that he defeats. This factors into the game in that it's a necessity to have Souls to get further into the Castle, and the powers of some can also aid in defeating certain enemies, or raising your attributes. There are a great many souls, as there as over 100 enemies in AoS, and some include using a massive axe gained by obtaining the soul of the Red Minotaur, or summoning the Familiar Alastor, which kind of is a less cool copy of the Sword Familiar in SotN. Unfortunately, a lot of the Souls will go unused, as some are simply pointless, such as the Killer Doll's, or the Zombie Soldier. It's too much trouble to have to constantly switch back and forth to utilize all of the Souls to their full extent, so once you find a good one, such as the Lightning Doll's, you'll probably stick with that one for a long time until you find a better one.It's an interesting idea, but again suffers from Iga's desire to have myriads of options for the sake of amount, not for the sake of functionality.

Dracula's Castle looks absolutely stunning. This game is many steps above Harmony of Dissonance's neon-like and static, boring backgrounds. Notice the Castle Corridor's slightly broken walls which expose swarms of bats and a brightly glowing moon and clouds, or the foreboding Top Floor's sinister architecture, with the pillars engulfed in flames; this game is a visual treat. The artistic beauty of this game shines all over, with places like the Floating Gardens and its flowing sea of clouds in the higher structures. Stop and take a look while you're in the Underground Waterway to admire the brilliant speckles of light reflecting on the overhanging surfaces above the water, and the faintly luminescent rock formations in the immediate and far background. There are little details like this all over, and it's a feast for the eyes. Soma looks more graceful than the floaty and stiffly animated Juste. The animation of his jacket is just great, and every move he makes looks much more believable. Another area in which Aria of Sorrow succeeds in terms of graphics is its huge number of enemies, which total over 100. The great thing about them all is that they're all interesting, and some are actually quite aggressive, like the Rubicant Demons. This is very welcome, when I compare it to the poor direction Harmony was going with its repetitive and goofy looking monsters, which all seemed to want to be killed. However, AoS still struggles with having boring enemy death animations, which mostly consist of the beast bursting into flames and disappearing. Still, the sheer diversity of their designs and habits overshadow this little problem.

Considering the Castle's layout this time compared to HoD's, I found it to be noticeably improved, though still lacking, when compared to CotM. The good parts? First of all, there are no pointless little blocks in your way (Like HoD's Skull Key Doors) that make you needlessly backtrack to get somewhere else. AoS also sports eight Teleporter Rooms, as opposed to HoD's few, making getting around easier. Castlevania has never seemed so populated with enemies, and the decent amount of actual platforming, such as a certain huge room in the Underground Waterway, is a blessing when I compare it to HoD's insulting overuse of completely straight, nearly empty corridors and unpleasant, redundant vertical corridors. However, there is nothing in the design on the structures in the rooms that is truly hard. Perhaps truly involving in a few instances, but nothing that will ever really make you sweat due to the pressure of intensity, and that's where AoS really could have stood to improve itself. Iga's games still rely too heavily on the major obstacles only coming from the enemies, and not from the actual environment, as well.

This time, since the main character is not a Belmont (and is not restricted to using a whip), the player is treated to a huge array of weapons to use. Some can be found in secret rooms in the castle, others can be bought at the shop near the Castle's Corridor, and still others can be obtained by defeating enemies or beating the Boss Rush Mode under a certain time.Most of the weapons in this game are interestingly designed, though I guess the designers got a little lazy in some areas (The Kaladbolg Sword looks exactly the same as the Burtang Sword, except with a red outline). Regardless, I found it to be much more fun than simply finding a bunch of whip add-ons which really didn't contribute much to your fighting (*cough*HoD*cough*). Ranging from the stylish Valmanway sword to the popular Claimh Solais, you'll have lots of fun collecting and using all of these items, since mixing up your weapons actually makes a difference in this game. Have low HP and encounter a Flame Demon? Switch up your current sword for Rahab's Sword, which has elemental properties for more than double the damage of which you would have done if you had not switched. You'll even get a gun later on, to reflect the sign of the times, but it's very weak.

Sound-wise, and compositional-wise, this game also runs rings around Harmony of Dissonance's mainly forgettable and sometimes depressing soundtrack. It sports more songs than CotM's, though whether they're on the same level of the masterfully done ones in that game is left up to you. I personally still prefer CotM's much more. Sound-wise, AoS just goes to show that great graphics don't bring down a game's music quality, as the sound composers of HoD said. Michiru Yamane, composer of games' soundtracks, such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and partial contributor to HoD, finally has joined in on the soundtrack for most of the songs, I believe, if not all. The Castle Corridor's theme has a good pace and is memorable, though definitely not in the same league as "Awakening" or "Dracula's Castle."The Chapel has a suitably urgent and powerful beat to it, and the arranged version is divine (unfortunately, it's available on a Japanese-only soundtrack, as are the arranged versions for the Castle Corridor and Top Floor). The Arena's action-based theme is very catchy, as is the Top Floor's "dance-sonata" tune. The Clock Tower level of the Castlevania series is famous, partially due to almost always having one of the most memorable songs of the soundtracks played there. AoS is no different; starting off quietly, it projects a feeling of seclusion and airiness, and then descends in to a much more intense tune and erratic flow, to go along with one traversing deeper into the structure. However, AoS also sports a ridiculous amount of merely adequate or simply forgettable songs, which is inexcusable for a series such as Castlevania. Examples include the Inner Quarters' theme, which is rather too reserved and uninteresting, and the music for the Dance Hall is simply silly sounding, which makes me wonder what the composer was thinking when they were wondering what kind of mood they wanted to create with their composition. As far as the soundtrack goes, there are a few great, though not incredible, pieces, and a lot of merely "decent" pieces. There are a TON of voice samples and sound effects. Succubae slur devilish erotic words as you come near them, and demons scream in rage as they try to spear you with their tridents. There is a lot of personality behind all these sounds, and it's where AoS's sound truly succeeds.

Control is spot on. Whereas in HoD you felt like your character was very either too stiff or too airy, Soma controls almost like a human Alucard. Jumping and maneuvering in the air are flawless, and when you get hurt, you know it was because you messed up, not because the control sucked. It's more along the likes of its GBA brother, CotM, only more fluid in some ways, and a little less heavy. You ALWAYS feel like you have complete control over your character, and that's truly something that stands out in AoS.

Aria of Sorrow is actually the first Castlevania game where you can get Level 99 without taking your whole life to do it. Whereas HoD basically lost all reason to fight any enemies when you got to level 50 because most monsters gave 1 EXP by then, AoS's experience-reward system never changes (a.k.a., if an enemy gives 250 experience the first time around, it won't give 10 experience points the next time, due to you being a higher level), and therefore, the fun and purpose of fighting enemies remains intact. Enemies will also drop weapons and armor that can't be bought at the shop. In addition, it also helps for the Boss Rush Mode if you're at a high level. AoS scores again the RPG-Leveling aspect.

AoS has probably the highest replay value of all the 3 GBA Castlevania games. When you beat the game for the first time, you can restart on Hard Mode, and additional modes become accessible, as well as a secret character. Boss Rush Mode actually rewards you for good times with very cool items.Plus, there are almost certainly things you missed your first time through that you'll experience your second time around, or maybe your third, or more! AoS is, without a doubt, a replayable game that won't be put on the shelf after you've beaten it and left to collect dust.

Final Score (Not an average): 8.5/10

Great game.My favorite Castlevania yet.
I have known about the series ever since the NES was out (I think Castlevania 2 was the second game I played, right after Zelda).It's one of those series I'd always rent a game from if I ever saw a new one out.To this day, I still consider Castlevania 4 (for the Super Nintendo) a classic.Sadly, these days my opinion of the series is not so cheery.Part of this may be because I'm more able to tell how bad a game is before I play it just by checking the internet.Even then... I didn't like Circle of the Moon, and it got rave reviews.

But enough history.Aria of Sorrow is a truely exceptional game.Everything I didn't like about Circle of the Moon (which was a lot) was fixed here.The visuals are clearer, the controls are solid, and the gameplay is more balenced.Despite certain qualms I have over elements that shift the difficulty toward easy a little (like health healing potions), the game is still difficult without being cheap, perhaps with the exception of hard mode, but they don't call it "hard mode" without reason (not to mention it's entirely optional).

For anyone not familiar with the series, there are two types of gameplay standards in the series.One is stage based gameplay (think Contra, or even Mario), which some of the older games in the series have.The other, which this one utilizes, is what some like to call "Metroid-vania."This basically means you can explore this huge castle and backtrack to different areas at will.However, that's not exactly as derivative as it sounds (in fact, Castlevania 2 used this format, so it's been used a long time ago).This game uses it in a sort of an Action RPG-esque method.This does mean your character levels up throughout the game, though this does provide one minor weakness in the game.Areas you went through at the beginning will become VERY easy should you come across them again later in the game.This is not much of a problem, since you'll basically be looking for a different area to go to anyway, and that new area will almost certainly be loaded with challenge.Bosses are particularly rough and very fun

Well, lets go to one of my favorite additions to this game.Weapons.Unlike previous Castlevania games, the main character isn't restricted to a whip (he also isn't a Belmont, so that would explain why he has no whip).This isn't new, as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night also had this.However, Symphony of the Night had a rather basic weapons set (mostly swords), and basic weapon dynamics.This game has a full arsenal.You have anything from knives and swords, to lances, hammers, and even guns (the game takes place several decades after 2000AD, so this isn't out of place)!Not only that, the soul system gives you several abilities you can snatch from enemies, at times, to use.Most of these are in the form of secondary weapons that use Magic (MP), which does recharge over time.The customization is great, so you'll undoubtibly be able to find several ways to customize your character to be ready for more fighting.

Overall, this game is easily recommended to any fan of Action games (with a dash of RPG), and is certainly recommended for any Castlevania fan.If you do buy it, I recommend you look through an FAQ after you finish it.Chances are, you may not have finished it as much as you think.;)

(P.S.I didn't play Harmony of Dissonance, so I can only compare it to Circle of the Moon).

One of the best GBA games ever made.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is one of the better Castlevania games to hit the GBA.Fans of the all time best "Symphony of the Night" will absolutely LOVE this title.

Aria of Sorrow does the best it can to mix in the best of the old with the best of the new.Aria of Sorrow borrows TONS of elements from Symphony of the Night and anyone who enjoyed that one will love this.

Aria of Sorrow begins in the year 2035 with Soma Cruz and his childhood friend Mina in Japan.Suddenly an eclipse opens up and they find themselves in Dracula's castle.Surprisingly enough, it really looks no different than it did in say... 1797 (Symphony of the Night). It bears a strong resemblence and any Castlevania fan will notice all the different places (Libraries, Catacombs and the like).

Gameplay in Aria of Sorrow is very close to SOTN in several ways.Your character resembles Alucard in the way he looks and walks.Perhaps what separates this from the past two GBA releases is that your main character doesn't use the whip as his primary weapon.Actually, you don't really have a primary weapon.You can use, Swords, Daggers, Axes, Javelins, whip swords and more!Its fun to experiment with all the different weapons to see what fits you best.The strongest weapon may not always be the best.

Since, Symphony of the Night, Castlevania has gone into an RPG style character building stage.This is for the better and Aria of Sorrow is no different than the past games.As you kill enemies you'll eventually level up.It doesn't require too much to level up (at least not as much as it takes in Circle of the Moon).

Aria of Sorrow also has well balanced difficulty.It's harder than Harmony of Dissonance but easier than Circle of the Moon.Aria also throws in a unique twist.You can now absorb enemies souls at random.When you kill an enemy you may or may not get their ability.There are over 100 enemies meaning that the game even has more abilities to unearth than the DSS System allowed you to in Circle of the Moon! Most souls cost MP and that brings me to my first con.The game has a lot of souls but for whatever reason they cost A TON OF MP to use.Granted your MP regenerates but it regenerates REALLY slowly.

The game also presents lots of bonuses.You can unlock a sound test and a hidden character to play through the game as.There's also a boss rush mode and perhaps whats best is that you can link up with a friend and trade souls!Perhaps one bonus I would've really enjoyed would've been if they'd brought back the ability to play as different "Jobs" like in Circle of the Moon. But its still a really cool experience and the game has lots of replay value.

Visually, Aria of Sorrow is BEAUTIFUL!Your protagonist stands out in a crowd and the screen isn't so dark.One of the better looking GBA games that truly stands up to what the GBA is capable of.

I wish I could say the sound surpasses all else.Castlevania is known for having good soundtracks.The music is WAY better than the godawful soundtrack of Harmony of Dissonance, but it can't hold a candle up to the far superior soundtrack presented in Circle of the Moon.The sound effects are incredible and fun to listen too.

But Aria of Sorrow is not without fault.The most noteworthy con in Aria of Sorrow is that this game is short!It'll only take you 5-6 hours your first time through.The second is that while its harder than Harmony of Dissonance, its still rather easy for any Castlevania veteran.

Overall, Aria of Sorrow is an INCREDIBLE game. I still think "Circle of the Moon" is the best GBA release and its no contest that "Symphony of the Night" is the all time best but Aria of Sorrow comes AWFULLY close to being as good as those two.

The Good
+AWESOME Gameplay, collecting Souls is creative
+Good Soundtrack
+Large Castle to explore
+Much more "free" than other Castlevania games (you're not limited to one type of weapon)
+Lots of Secrets
+Konami is smart to model this game after "Symphony of the Night".If you liked that game then you OWE it to yourself to pick this up.

The Bad
-Still a little too easy
-Souls cost a little too much MP
-Too Short ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

One of two new Zelda games for the Game Boy Color, TheLegend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is geared towards the cerebralgamer, with its heavy focus on puzzle solving. The Triforce has alertedLink to trouble in the land of Labrynna, where the evil sorceress Veranhas possessed Nayru, the Oracle of Ages. Veran travels back in time,setting up events that lead to a world where evil dominates. It's up toyou to help Link stop Veran and set things straight.

Game mechanics and menus are similar to those found inLink'sAwakening, also for the Game Boy. As in almost every Zeldagame, you have to traverse eight dungeons and find eight key items. Theharp of time is vital to your quest--it's required to manipulate eventsand stop Veran's rewriting of history.

Although this game is extremely enjoyable on its own, you'll want touse it in conjunction with its sister title:Oracle ofSeasons. After you complete one game, you'll be given apassword that lets you begin with all your items, statistics, andprogress intact in the other. Certain characters will appear only byplaying both games. By using a link cable, players can trade items.Game Boy Advance users will find a store that's exclusive to them.

While this is an excellent game, it might be too complicated foryounger gamers or those looking for mindless fun. --Raymond M.Padilla

Pros:

• Dozens of crafty puzzles
• Great as a standalone; outstanding in conjunction with its sistergame
• Nice bonuses for Game Boy Advance owners

• Lots of reused sound effects from previous Zelda games
• Longtime gamers might find the story and level design contrived
• Be prepared for many puzzle-induced headaches

Reviews (103)

Best game ever
This game is awesome beyond all of the zelda series.It has a excellent story line and is perfect,.

Legend of Zelda:Oracle of Ages.......
One thing I absolutely despise about alot of Gameboy games, anymore, is how you have to buy them in twos just to be able to finish them. Such is the case with Legend of Zelda:Oracle of Ages & Oracle Seasons.Originally planned as a trilogy, this two-part adventure is exceptionally good which is why I highly recommend that you add them to your collection.
It all begins in Oracle of Ages. Veran(The Sorceress of Shadows) kidnaps Nayru(The Oracle of Ages). Because Link feels directly responsible for her kidnapping(as you find out while playing the game), he sets out to find her and save her. With the Harp of Ages, he travels between the past and present meeting familiar faces (some of which you'll recognize from Ocarina of Time)in his effort to make things right. That's when the storyline deepens and the fun truly begins. Rest assured, though, he's not alone in this one. Along the way, he enlists the help of Moosh, Dimitri, and Ricky.
Out of two games, in my opinion- this is the harder game of the two...but the most rewarding. I think Capcom did an outstanding job with their first effort in the Zelda series and I hope Nintendo continue to let them develop future installments for the Gameboy and the Gameboy Advance.
Again, I highly recommend you add these games to your collection. They're awesome.

The series just get better with every new game!!!!
I like Ages because it has lots of puzzles. I love puzzles better than fighting, so I chose this game as a favorite beacuse the storyline is really clear and has great sounds and graphics. I'm not saying Seasons is bad, though. The best part in when you link up, because you really get more out of your games. I would recommend Ages to anyone that loves puzzles.

ZELDA ROCKS
I have ALWAYS LOVED Zelda, and this is one of thebest of their games so far! I couldn't stop playing it!

Zelda almighty
It is surprising how every new Zelda game is fresh and distinct in its own ways, yet still maintains the Zelda charm. Oracle of Ages does just that. It takes the tried and true system of Link's Awakening and adds new gameplay, weapons, abilities, and increasingly clever (and often times difficult) puzzles. Come to think of it, this is probably the best Zelda on Game Boy. It's a little easier than Oracle of Seasons, which is good, and it has much more zest to it than Link's Awakening did. Of course, it has its problems AS A GAME BOY GAME, but the Zelda Game Boy series seems almost entirely separate from other consoles. And in that sense, Oracle of Ages is a must have. Ideal for those long, weary vacations. ... Read more

Features

• Based on the Disney animated feature film
• Platform side-scrolling game
• Interact with characters from the movie
• Fun puzzles to solve
• For 1 player

Reviews (5)

A good fun game
My 5 1/2 yr old loves this game.It saves your progress so you can go back and replay previous levels.There are some challenging areas for her and that makes it more fun. I don't play many of her games, but this one is fun.

Brother Bear
I think this game is cute but it is too easy!I think the graphics are pretty good though.NOT good for an advanced gamer.

Fun for whole family
Our family is new to Gameboy and video games.We have trouble knowing what games are good or not.Of all that we've tried, this has by far been our favorite.Ages 4 to 35 in our family all enjoy it.The cartidge stores up to four players' games (no passwords!).You play as Kenai and Koda, both individually and as a team, working through levels roughly along the timeline of the movie.The early levels are pretty easy, meant mainly as tutorials, but later levels are tricky.Although you might reach the end of the game, you can return to any previous levels to try to find all three tokens in each.There is no violence, and the puzzles are fun to work out.Advanced gamers may be bored, but it's great for families and new gamers.

Brother Bear
i saved up my pocket money for awhile and decided to get this game.i think its ok,but it is way too easy!i finished it in probably about an hour and a half.if you are a more advanced gamer,you probably will not care for ths game. i think its cute,and the graphics are pretty good,but would recommend this for someone younger.

Fun Game
Interesting Game...not too confusing. Rather fun. Some levels are difficult then easy. When you get the hang of it the game gets quite cool! If you like the movie then you'll love the game! ... Read more

Product Description

Nintendo (AGB P AH3E) Hamtaro Heartbreak GBA ... Read more

Features

• GameBoy Advance
• ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
• Action

Reviews (41)

Really Great!!!
This game is really fun but challenging I've played it at least 4 times and had to look at a walk through every time! You'll see all the hams you know from the show and even different hamsters. You save Bijou in the beginning by driving a boat but how to get it working you'll see buy the game as you and Bijou save love for all ham hams in 6 fun challenging levels

tinglie! koochi-q! i Smoochie it!
I got this game for christmas from my parents and i've played it ever since. i is kinda
hard to beat but easy at the same time. i've bet it three times now but it is fun all the same. I needed cheats every once in a while. it is one of my three favorite GBA games; harvest moon: friends of mineral town, hamtaro: ham-ham games, and last but not least, Hamtaro: ham-ham heart break.
thank-Q!Bye-Q!

I LOVE IT!
I love this game so much! Hamtaro is my favorite show! It was fun playing it for a really long time and the game lasts awhile, but then I beat it and there is nothing left to do on it. That's why I don't play it anymore. But it was fun while it lasted!

Great Ham-Ham game
This game is so fun because you can go to differemt places that have hamsters that don't love each other any more. You have to restore thier love. This evil hamster named Spat is trying to stop the hamsters from loving, and only you can stop him. You can even learn more ham-chats as you go to other places. As you go along, you will find rocks, acorns, and sunflower seeds. There are more challenges as you go farther into the game. If you have this game, then I hope you like it. If you don't have this game, then you should try it, I think you might really like it.

the best game ever!
this is the best game ever!even if the game is a bit hard its still like, so cool!l8r! ... Read more

Features

• The first Donkey Kong game on the Game Boy Advance is one of the best side-scrolling games of all time, updated with all-new features!
• The groundbreaking side-scroller that introduced the world to Diddy and the rest of the Kong clan is in the palm of your hands! Switch between Diddy and Donkey Kong as you swing through the treetops, blast out of Barrel Cannons, and take wild mine cart rides!
• Link up with a pal's Game Pak and play new mini-games like Funky's Fishing and Candy's Dance Studio.

Reviews (75)

This game is not really difficult
I found this game, ok... i guess. it wasnt really all that great. I mean, sure, at first it's fun but then I simply began to play for the pleasure of finding out what the next level was about. I was also playing the Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 and I played more often because it was more fun and then I beat the game. Once I beat the game I began to play Donkey Kong and it was SO easy. I beat it in a few days of 1 hour per day. If you want a game that is really difficult and will last quite a while, dont pick this game. It was extremely boring.

Still my favourite game ever
Donkey Kong Country is the number one videogame of all time, as far as I'm concerned. I'm hardly what you'd call a videogame connoisseur, but my brother (who is) agrees that this game is a classic. The music is excellent, too!

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF YOU HAVE ANGER MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS
This game is a lot of fun, the graphics are very nice, and the music is okay.Plus it has two new minigames which are pretty good.But some of the levels, especially the later ones, are very very very very very... (3 hours later) ...very very very very hard.I remember I was stuck, on one infamous occasion, on the level "Millstone Mayhem" (they like to alliterate) and it was so difficult that I went so far as to renounce all monkeys before clearing it.It's a lot easier for me now than it was, though.Oh, and after defeating Normal Mode and getting about ninety percent of it completed (I think), you can unlock Hero Mode, where you just play as Diddy Kong.I liked this because I got to play as one of my very favorite Kongs, but I also disliked it because there aren't any Save Barrels and Diddy has all the disadvantages.
Overall, this game is a lot of fun, and it's pretty much worth buying, unless you get easily frustrated at harder levels.Then you might want to think about it.

Riley's review
I am six years old.
The game is hard but exciting.It has lots of different areas.There are more than 10 levels.

Donkey Kong Country?
Not exactly.I was a die-hard fan of Donkey Kong Country when it came out for the SNES, and I had hoped that this game would be a re-release of the same game for new fans to enjoy.
It's not.
This is why, more or less, the grade is so low.I loved that old SNES game to death.I think I may have loved it a little TOO much, however, because I waited several days before actually entering my name to play it.Why?Because although I turned the game on the very first day, the absence of that wonderful image of Cranky with the phonograph made me realize I wasn't back in Kansas, so to speak.
Yes, you may get some kicks out of this game if you're a new gamer.Yes, you may find it amusing if you were a casual fan of the original, but for an orthadox Kong-aholic like me, I just don't reccomend it. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

All the charm of Pokemon without copying it
(Immediate note: The creatures are demons, but there is nothing even slightly demonic about the game.)

I had a lot of fun with this game. It has the addictive, monster-collecting quality of the pokemon games, plus plenty of exciting originality to keep a player interested. I enjoyed that the demons you collect are as intelligent as human beings (They speak English and have personalities) and must be convinced to join your party, not beaten up and captured. Some demons can only be acquired through fusions (An incredibly fun facet of this game! or trades. Also, you can have more than one demon in play, sometimes allowing a player to use exciting combination attacks that only certain demons can perform together. This game provided me with hours of gameplay, and unlike many games, does not simply end or repeat itself after beating the final boss. Collecters, fighters, explorers, come and enjoy!

A Hybrid that surpasses its parents
At first glance I knew I had to pick up this game. That was probably because it was one of the few early released localized import titles. This game combinds some of the best elements from our favorite games. It has the addictive collection drive of the early Pokemon titles(you know those ones where they were all unique and not just palette and move swapped copies) with a collection list of well over 300 different demons. Plus, the game allows you to utilize your collection by allowing you to enter 3 demons into the fray, your 'avatar' and 2 of your collected demons. This brings back the strategy of team design that Dragon Warrior capitalized on. The storyline is rather compelling. Its full of disapperances, old legends, kidnappings, power struggles and much more. I found the story at times more interesting than the Megaman or Fire Emblem. The character management takes place through the innovative 'fusion' process, where you can merge two demons together to make a stronger one or create an entirely new one. If you like having almost complete control over your characters development, then the fusion system will 'rev your engine'.The only drawback to this game is that the maps that you collect can only be viewed in the area you are in, at times you would be stuck walking to the next area to look at the map. This gets a whole lot easier once you recieve a teleport item/demon. With so many things to collect and monsters to fuse the replay value is quite high. If you are looking for a solid game to add to your GBA collection that will provide many hours of fun and great gameplay, pick up Demi-Kids:Day of Darkness. If you are really daring, then also pick up the light version so you can see the parallel side of the story!

Best game ever
This is the best game ever No matter what anyone else says this game is worth it. this happens to be the most graphicly advanced rpg of it's time and you should get it, the fact that it is so absorbed in it's plot gives it a good touch and the level system is great So get this game it is awesome!!!!!!!

Mixed
This game is a mix between some of the best RPGs of the GBA. It is mixed with pokemon because of method of travel. Dragon Warrior because of the battle sequences. And Mega Man Battle Network because of the cut-scenes. I hope you like this game. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Megaman Battle Network 3 has a few significant improvements over the past two games in the series, but the overall concept is the same. Lan solves puzzles in the "real world," while Megaman.exe fights viruses and solves puzzles on the Net. The battle system is still the same, and that isn't a bad thing--it is still the best live action battle system for any RPG on a handheld.

At this point in the story, it's been about a month since Lan and Megaman's encounter with the nefarious Net Mafia Gospel, and a new semester at school is about to start. When Lan and his classmates are invited to the seemingly innocent net battler Semi-Finals at ACDC Square, little do they know that a new, incredibly evil plan is about to be hatched!

The most exciting addition to the game, hands down, is that you can now make your own Megaman with segments of code that you gather throughout the game. Watch out, though: Do it badly, and you can get a buggy program. In addition to programming your own Megaman, you can still change Megaman's battle styles (just like in Battle Network 2). The end result is the best character creation system on a handheld.

In a homage to the Pokemon games, there is both a White and Blue version of Megaman Battle Network 3. The game is more or less the same, but there are unique cards, styles, and programs for each version--which makes trading and battling via link cable a real incentive.

In short, Megaman Battle Network 3 is one of the best RPG's for the GBA, and is appropriate for all ages. Fans of traditional Megaman games will also like the live action battles. –-Bryan Karsh

Pros:

• New Programming language lets you make your own Megaman
• White and Blue versions have unique cards, styles, and bosses

Cons:

• Graphics look a little stale--a rehash of the past two games

Features

• New Navi Customizer lets you control customization of Mega Man's abilities
• Make your own Mega Man with segments of code that you gather throughout the game
• Use Game Link cable for tournament play and Battle Chip exchanges with Mega Man Battle Network 3 (Blue)
• Join Mega Man.exe, his pal Lan, and friends to keep the net safe from viruses and cyber menaces
• New Mega Man styles, Battle Chip types, enemies, bosses and other surprises to discover

Reviews (18)

Wow! I'm impressed!
At first, I was a bit skeptic of the BN series. I like all the other megaman series, but I saw megaman BN and didn't know what to think. At first it seemed to different, but while talking to other Megaman community members, they convinced me into trying it. I bought this one because it was the cheapest I could find. I was extremely impressed with the cool action sequences and good storyline. The play is really addictive. I never care for graphics, but if you really are a visomaniac, I suppose you might not like them.
In all:
play: 5 stars
replayability: 5 stars
frustration: next to none (4 stars)
graphics: (NA)
Price: 4 stars
= 4 1/2
enjoy!

great
This game is so good. the only problem is that when you get closer to the end it is really hard. You might want to get a gba action replay with this game.

Awesome...
This game is, no doubt, a five star one. When I started playing it, I knew that my money was worth it.I would recommend this game to kids of all ages.

Verry good Game
Verry good game I bought it and took it to my friends house and He loved it. This game is Very good! 10 STARS :)

this is sweet!!
i have this game and it is pretty hard when you get up to the harder levels,you can walk around with lan or,walk around with megaman in the cyberworld,and fight evil villans from WWW,and it's pretty llong so if you like long games you'll luv this!!!!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (26)

This ROCKS!!
The smartest decision ever!! Who would have knew that Gameboy Advance used all the intelligence in the world to bring to you the most revered and most incredible RPG ever created!! Phantasy Star 1 was the reason sega kicked butt over the wimpy Ninetendo!!
I remember back in the 80's laughing at all the losers who bought a ninetendo. Sega master was the leader, until Sony brought out their Playstation! Remember the 3-D glasses!! Well, those days are over with, but Phantasy Star in all its glory is back with a vengenance!! This game is the reason Ninetendo will always be the loser!!! lol I even endorse the Advance, and give the kudos it deserves!!! Keep up the good work!!

This game is great.
This game is a great game for fantasy and sci-fi lovers. It puts
gaming to the test. It has good graphics, handling, and character design. Just play the game, you'll see!

Great for nostalgia, but compared to today's games ....
I couldn't echo the direct praise of many others even though I did grow up on these games. The simple fact is that unless you played these games on the Genesis you just aren't going to appreciate the GBA remakes.

The "problem" with this remake is that no improvements were made to any of the games. They are faithful and EXACT representations of their Genesis counterparts. Now, I grew up on these games back in the early 90's and I loved them, so of course I loved the nostaglic appeal PS Collection had.

But if I were talking to a new gamer ... someone who hadn't played the originals, then there's no way I would be able to recommend this compared to the titles avaliable today. By today's standards, these are really boring dungeon crawlers ... no side quests, no item custimzation, drab and now-cliched storylines ... it lacks the punch some of the current games have.

These games were from a much different gaming era, and they show it. Without any kind of improvement, they just can't hold their own with some of today's titles. I can only recommend this product to people who played at least one of the originals, know what is coming and are looking for nostalic appeal, because that's really their one and only draw.

Great......butthatsave bug happens too often!
I remember when I used to watch my cousin play phantasy star 1 and other great games (Spellcaster another great sega rpg) during the late 80's for the sega master system.I was just six but had vivid memories and was just astounded of him playing through the whole game.Fast foward to 2004, and just realizing that the phantasy star series came out for the GBA.
First off let me just say that before there was the Final Fantasy series, the Phantasy Star series started the rpg revolution.It's breakthroughfor its day were the 3D dungeons, vast storyline, and it's array of numerous weapons, not to mention the vast area of exploring (3 worlds!).
I'f your the type of player who only enjoys first person shooters
or Final Fantasy 7 to 11 graphics, look elswhere.But if you wouldn't mind playing a great rpg classic, you can't miss this.
My only complaint for this game was that it didn't include Phantasy Star 4.Hopefully it will be re-released as a single port for the gba to.Also, BE WARNED! SAVE OFTEN! I am already half way through phantasy star 1 and that save bug crased my game 18 times already (yeah I counted every time it happened) and I know it's not just me with this problem.So unless you wouldn't mind loosing three hours of leveling up, you better save often.

Gripping from the start
Only if you have played rpg before and are older than 30 years old, i can really recommend it. If you are younger you are probably better off with golden sun.

Once i plugged in ps1 i was hooked, bewitched, wow this is soo much better than eotb or zelda. Hard to get, in holland, it was 50 euro but i do not regret that i bought it.

I am very happy that i read all the amazon reviews beforehand and guys you are right! ... Read more

Product Description

Help Gruntilda escape from her predicament with help from inventor underling Klungo. ... Read more

Features

• Over 20 fighting moves
• Transform into a mouse, a tank and more
• For 1 player
• Crazy fighting/exploring game featuring Banjo-Kazooie
• Six worlds with over 60 different trials

Reviews (20)

A fun game
This game is fun and has good graphics I recomend it for people who think a lot of games are to hard. This game might be toeasy for hard core gamers but kids will enjoy it. Once you figure it out it's kind of easy but I think it's my favorite game for GBA so far. Get it if you like BK games.

nice addition to the banjo-kazooie series
Well I love the original two for the N64 and when I saw all these great reviews for the game when I first read them,I decided to buy it...

and boy was it worth it!

The graphics are beautiful,the music,voices,and sound effects are what you'd expect from a banjo-kazooie game(which are good)and the gameplay is wonderful! There's races you compete in,time trials and the works,just like in the other two for the 64. I highly recomend this game for you to add to your collection,and if you loved the other two banjo-kazooie games,you're more than likely going to love this one.

THIS GAME SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS BY FAR THE VERY WORST BANGO KAZOOIE GAME I HAVE EVER PLAYED IN MY LIFE. BECAUSE OF THIS GAME I AM NEVER BUYING ABSOLUTELY NONE OF BANGO KAZOOIE MERCHANDISE.PLEASE DON'T BUY THIS, I BEG OF YOU. YOU WILL BE WASTING YOUR MONEY. I WOULD GIVE IT NO STARS AT ALL BUT THE LOWEST I COULD DO IS ONE STAR.

Interesting
when i first got this game, i didn't know what to expect. A Banjo-Kazooie game for GBA? Surely it couldn't be that much fun. I had long been awaiting another sequal to the game. And i found out there had already been 2 made. This, and one that hasn't been released yet, called "Banjo Pilot", a racing game. This game was more fun than I had ever expected it to be. I had very impressive graphics for a hand-held console. And the plot itself was very impressive. Overall, the game was very enjoyable.

The Best Game With Tons Of Action & Adventure
It is a very fun game like a said before ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

One of the best side-scrolling game franchises makes a successful debuton the Game Boy Advance in Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. This timearound you follow the adventures of Nathan Graves as he attempts to stop therecently resurrected Dracula. In the fine tradition of Castlevania vampirehunters, Graves carries a whip as his primary weapon, and will soon discover thetraditional secondary weapons of holy water, dagger, boomerang, time freeze, andmore. New to the series is the dual set-up system (DSS), which allows you to use20 cards (randomly found) for up to 80 power-ups.

The game plays like a side-scrolling classic without seeming too dated. Playerstraipse around a nonlinear dungeon, defeat monsters, and unlock new parts of thedungeon, often through the use of new abilities. It's similar to the excellentCastlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PlayStation, with the obviousaural limitations of a cartridge-based handheld system.

Unfortunately, the game's dark graphics are difficult to see on the Game BoyAdvance's fickle screen. Long sessions require consistent overhead lighting, sothis isn't the ideal game for travel. The animations are also lacking, makingcharacter movement appear jerky. Despite these graphics shortcomings, thisside-scrolling wonder makes a fine addition to your GBA library. --Raymond M.Padilla

Pros:

• Classic gameplay
• High replay value
• Great sound for a handheld game

• Dark graphics are butchered by the GBA screen
• Mediocre animation

Reviews (164)

Challenging and dark Castlevania game.
This game is just plain old fun. Its very challenging, unlike most other new Castlevania games, and really gets you into the adventure.

The special items you can obtain all make the game more interesting and the magic and card system just plain rocks.
You can change your whip into fire/ice whips, get magical swords and even summon a dozen monsters to help you.
The card system is what really makes this game shine.

Pick this game up if you really want a fun and exciting dark adventure, but be warned that this game requires a bit of skill to get through as it very tough.

The First GBA CV Game Remains, Arguably, Its Best
"Castlevania: Circle of the Moon" (CotM) was one of the first games to be released for the Game Boy Advance.Borrowing elements from the unexpected hit, "Symphony of the Night," K.C.E.K. (the Konami division responsible for the N64 Castlevania games) has created a familiar, yet still totally enjoyable, Castlevania game, and arguably the best of the 3 for the Gameboy Advance (the other two being "Harmony of Dissonance" and "Aria of Sorrow").

Story: Castlevania has a rich history when analyzed deeply beyond the games; though, the actual storylines in the games take a backseat to other elements.CotM sets up a plot in the beginning, has bits and pieces interspersed after major events in the game, and resolves it all in the end.The year is 1830.Rather than having Dracula resurrect naturally, a dark priestess named Carmilla resurrects him pre-maturely, and seeks the full-regeneration of the Dark Lord's powers by using the life essence of a captured vampire hunter, Morris Baldwin.His two disciples, Hugh Baldwin (the son of Morris) and Nathan Graves, are given the task of saving their master, and destroying the Count, too.You take the role of Nathan Graves, and will meet up with several characters in your adventure through the Castle.The storyline is nothing deep or engrossing, but, it's definitely far from horrible, and decently entertaining.
~ 7.0/10

Gameplay: Wonderful.It's kind of like SotN, but with a whip, though still not as silky-smooth.The controls allow you to change direction while whipping in mid-air, too.Nathan doesn't have any fancy moves like "Juste-dash" to get around faster, but you can double tap the d-pad to make him run once obtaining the specific item, and this is more than adequate.Nathan can spin his whip around when the attack button is held down to deflect projectiles and do quick damage.Also going along with SotN, you will obtain certain relics while progressing through the Castle, which help you explore new areas.Items include the "Tackle," which allows you to smash through stone blocks, and the "Roc's Feather," which lets you perform a Moon-Jump (this was introduced in SotN).CotM is also the innovator for the "Gameplay Gimmicks" in the recent Castlevania games, such as AoS's Tactical Soul system.CotM's is called the DSS, where certain enemies will drop cards (either Action or Attribute cards), twenty in all, and you can combine them to create different effects.For example, combining the Mars and Mandragora cards lets you use a huge sword that shoots out a cloud of poisonous roses for extra range, while also increasing your attack power.You can also create a small rotating set of flames around your body to ward off attacks, make your whip double its reach, and much, much more.All in all, I would say it's the smartest of any of the systems used in any Castlevania.Almost nothing is useless, and has its own advantages, unlike AoS's myriad of pointless souls, and "Lament of Innocence"'s and "Harmony of Dissonance"'s number of useless attacks.Like the other "Castleroids," you'll collect armor and accessories to equip on your character.Most of the equipment is quite useful, and almost all (except for one certain armor) are dropped by enemies to make collecting them harder and more rewarding.Healing items are rare, and there is no merchant this time around, forcing the player to rely on his/her wit and skill, rather than copious amount of potions and such, making the game a lot more challenging and, consequently, fun.
~ 9.25/10

Level Design: The best out of the three GBA titles.There is a huge emphasis on platforming in this game.Rather than making the main challenge be getting past enemies, like in games such as AoS and HoD, CotM also forces you to battle with your environment.To be sure, there are loads of tight spots, like the Machine Tower's layout, with its constantly moving platforms and electrically charged ceilings, and most noticably in the last area, the Observatory Tower (made even harder, considering the the abundance of super enemies).Most of the rooms are completely different in their layout, and this gives the game a fresh feeling throughout, since you are constantly presented with unexpected challenges.There is the occasional puzzle, such as the Underground Waterway's switches, or the box puzzles in the Underground Warehouse.It's very nice that the game makes you think beyond, "How do I kill this next enemy?", and I hope this amount of level interactivity is reproduced more often in future Castlevania games.
~ 9.5/10

Graphics: Though not as flashy and detail-filled as AoS, CotM exudes its own certain charm, reminiscent of Super Castlevania 4.Whereas HoD and AoS seemed to feel more contained and small, CotM is full of huge rooms and corridors, chock full of grand expanses of spooky skies, spires, and dark, towering pillars.While being pretty basic in terms of the "Ooh-Aah" factor, CotM has plenty of superb atmosphere that comes from its well-realized dark nature in its dark color composition and abundance of gothic architecture.Multi-scrolling in the backgrounds is minimal, and I wish the developers had spent more time on this to create more of a sense of dimension, but what is here I found to be particularly intriguing and more than adequate.Pack a GBA SP or DS, though, when you play this, as playing it on the GBA renders the graphics too dark to see.Nathan's sprite could have used more frames of animation, but his animation is decent and, for the most part, believable.I found the enemies in this game to be especially charming.You won't find multi-segmented beasts like HoD's Living Armors, or stunningly weird denizens like AoS's Stolas, but, rather, beasts that seem to be more realistic and organic, with its anthropomorphic creatures like the Were-jaguars and Fox Archers, or the humanoid bunches of armored knights.None of them will really blow you away graphically, but I found them all to be interesting and fun to see in action.They, too, though, could have stood to have more frames of animation.The special effects in CotM are nice, concerning the use of your DSS cards to create new attacks.There are all sorts of fun things, like the giant hammer, or flaming sword.Again, they all get the job done, but are nothing incredible.
~ 8.25/10

Sound: This is one of the high points of CotM.It's made all the more incredible by the fact that this was one of the first-gen games for the GBA.Quality-wise, it's on par with some of the highest quality soundtracks on the SNES; compositional-wise, it's on par with some of the highest quality soundtracks for video games, period.Rather than follow the trend of most Castlevanias and introduce totally new soundtracks, with perhaps one of two older tunes remixed, CotM opts for having a majority of its music be comprised of some of the greatest Castlevania tunes, masterfully redone, and interspersing it with a few new powerful melodies that will not soon be forgotten.The start-up screen's song is very well done, taken straight from the PC's Japan-only Dracula X.The ghostly vocals will send chills down your back.The first area's music, "Awake," is one of the most memorable and impressive songs to ever be in a Castlevania; I'd rank it among the likes of "Dracula's Castle" and "Vampire Killer."It's no wonder the music in this game is so great, as the composer of Castlevania 4, Sotaro Tojima, is the composer for this one, too.Repeat performances include "Clockwork Mansion," which has an oddly psychadelic feel to it, "The Sinking Old Sanctuary," which is more upbeat this time around, and "Aquarius," another incomparable classic of the CV series.Then, there are new ones, like, as mentioned, "Awake," along with the heart-pounding final battle theme, "Proof of Blood," and one of the greatest ending songs for a Castlevania, "Repose of Souls."As far as sound effects are concerned, they're pretty minimal.Enemies generally are totally silent, and most of the sounds you'll be hearing are the yells and grunts of Nathan as he performs certain moves.More attention should have paid in this department of the sound.However, this is overlooked quite easily, as CotM is one of the best musical experiences on the GBA, if not THE best.
~ Music: 9.5/10
~ Sound Effects: 6.5/10

Replay Value: I've played through this game three times so far.The average player will probably find enough in this game to at least come back for a second helping, eventually.There usually are rooms you might have missed your first time through that you'll find your second or third romp through.And there are additional modes, such as "Magician, Mode" (which will allow you to start the game with higher magic power, but have your other stats lowered), helping to make the experiences of playing through multiple times more varied.Sadly, there is no "Hard" mode, which would have been a truly wonderful addition.The game will probably take a person familiar with the map a little more than 6 hours to beat (while also getting 100% of the map); however, for a first-timer, it will most likely take them ten or more hours.
~ 8.75/10

Satisfaction Value: CotM is also an extremely satisfying game.It makes you feel truly good about accomplishing certain things in it, such as beating a particularly tricky boss, or finding an item in a hidden spot.Like the "Metroid" series, CotM's satisfaction comes from the journey itself and the discoveries along the way, not the conclusion of everything...and what an engrossing and memorable journey it is.
~ 9.5/10

"Circle of the Moon" is a fitting end to K.C.E.K.'s Castlevania games, and remains one of the highest points of the series.Displaying near perfect controls, difficulty progression, atmosphere, sound, and more, it's one of the best games you can get for any hand-held system, and easily holds its own in this year, and will continue to do so.Konami's people are geniuses when it comes to creating instantly classic games.

~ Total (not an average): 9.5/10

hard but gets better
I reccomend this game to good thinkers and people who likestrategy games and long action-fantasy games. I first had trouble with this game but then it became easier to play though some bosses are hard.(use Holy Water when facing the IRON GOLEM)I liked the story, and its better to use a GameBoyAdvanceSPor a regular GameBoyAdvance with a light to catch the good graphics.Its very hard to get all the dss cards(unicorn and black dog are gotten in the battle arena).To defeat Draculas second formI reccomendURANUS WITH THUNDERBIRD DSS CARDS.Its a very good game, so buy it.

Ack!Weak game.
This was a shock to me.For one thing, this game was raved all across the internet.For another thing, I'm familiar with the series (as far back as the first three NES games, to the SNES one, and Symphony of the Night), so I thought this would like those.Well... the gameplay mechanics are here, it seems, but everything else...

Lets figure this out piece by piece.First, the graphics were okay.Even though they're dark, and even though they're a bit lacking in animation (only THREE frame to show the main character running??!), the style was okay, and it added to the environments.

The sound was nice, and the music was great, but everything here just seemed like it could be done much better (the music sounds a bit MIDI-ish, but the melodies are good).

The controls... here's where everything really goes down hill.I'm no stranger to the Castlevania control scheme, having playing the first four games.However, for reasons I cannot fathom, this game has by far the worst control setup of all of them (which says alot, because I've replayed the first three games recently, and they haven't aged that well).First, controling your character is much like controling a big wooden stick.While the same could be said for the first four games in the series, this game takes it to far worse extremes, especially when considering the enemies move so much better (in other words, they're attacks seem more suited to a game that has you moving your character as franticly as a Mega Man X or Mega Man Zero game).Also, the option to have the whip spin by itself became rather annoying.Unlike Castlevania 4, which allowed you to move the whip around by holding the attack button down, this one only makes it spin on it's own, which is somehow amazingly counter-productive.Some of the abilities are nice (high jump, wall jump, etc...), but they don't alieviate this problem much, and actually require over-utilization in some areas (trust me, you would never survive the final battle without high jump).

Now the gameplay.I've played other games that used the "Metroid-vania" style (free exploration, found in Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow, as far as the ones I've played).Somehow, this one takes that system and just makes you lost.Seriously, this castle was not as fun to explore as all of the others.The boss battles (mostly refering to the last 4) were super cheap, requiring me to over-use the DSS system to the most extreme, which was a far cry from the more "down to earth" battles from Castlevania 4 and Aria of Sorrow.Much as I enjoy difficulty, I can't stand not being able to have a clear shot at a target with my whip due to the enemy being over-sized or too quick to dodge.

This is by far one of my most hated Castlevania games.If you even think about buying this game (since a lot of other people liked it), I recommend you find a way to rent it first.Otherwise, you may get yourself into a snag like I did.Lucky for me, this was only $15 at K-Mart, which is about as low as GBA games get.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
How do you spend a good time with your GBA?By picking up Konami's "Castlevania: Circle of the Moon".This is by far the best GBA game you can buy and with good reason.The launch title for the GBA is ranked among one of the best sellers on the GBA.

It isn't hard to see why this is a loved game.From the moment you pop this into your GBA you'll be swept off your feet by its AMAZING sound and incredible gameplay that goes unmatched by any other game out there!

The game begins when three vampire hunters corner Dracula.A master, his son and an apprentice.The master becomes imprisoned by Dracula and drops The son and apprentice into the depths of the castle below.Now, playing as the apprentice, Nathan Graves, you must explore the castle and find a way to get inside Dracula's chamber and stop the rite from happening!

Most noticeable about Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is its music.Anyone who's played this game can tell you that Circle of the Moon sounds INCREDIBLE!There is no GBA game that sounds this good out there.Some of the music is actually Orchastral and for the GBA that's amazing.

The second most noticeable thing about Circle of the Moon is the gameplay.Circle of the Moon incorporates an RPG style like gameplay.You run around with a whip that you use to attack enemies.For each enemy you kill you get experience points.When you get enough you level up and your HP and MP increases.

But the gold of Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is in the DSS (Duel Set-up System).This is perhaps the most innovative game idea presented in a title like this.There are twenty DSS cards in the game.Those for elements, and those for attributes.Finding all twenty isn't an easy task since the enemies drop them at random.But incorporating this system into the game is what makes it fun.You select one element and one attribute and see what happens.The DSS presents about 100 combinations and some are very worthwhile to see.

The other part of the gameplay that presents itself well is the exploration.The castle you explore is huge and well constructed.As you defeat more bosses and acquire more abilities you can explore even more of the castle.Much like the Metroid games, you'll know when you can proceed and when you can't.If you come to an area you can't get to its obviously because you do not have the correct ability.

Castlevania doesn't have bad graphics.For a GBA launch title the overall presentation is good but unless you have a GBA SP its a little dark.On a normal GBA it was so dark sometimes that I'd take damage and didn't know what was hitting me.The animation is also on the shorthand side.But that shouldn't suggest that Circle of the Moon doesn't present itself rather well.

The game is also a good challenge.It is not an easy game to get through, and newcomers to the series will have some trouble.But a good challenge is a good thing.The game is not too easy but it really isn't all that hard either.The meat of the challenge comes from the bosses and in any game that's where the challenge should come from.

Perhaps the best part about Castlevania Circle of the Moon is the replay value.Most games lack this but Circle of the Moon makes it worthwhile by providing new modes.Each time you complete the game you unlock new modes.Magician Mode, Fighter Mode and Thief Mode. Each mode has its own strenghs and weaknesses.For example, in Magician Mode you start off with all the cards and a massive amount of MP but your attack, defense and HP are severely limited.In Fighter Mode you have incredible attack, defense and HP but you don't get any DSS cards.In thief mode you have incredible luck!This makes playing through the game a second, third or fourth time a completely different experience than before.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon is perhaps the best GBA game out there.With superb sound and gameplay, this is easily a treat for any gamer and Castlevania fan.It stacks up perfectly to Symphony of the Night and more over, should be the Castlevania that all future titles on the GBA should be compared to.An awesome effort by Konami.

The Good
+Great gameplay
+DSS System is the best
+Good challenge
+Visually striking
+INCREDIBLE SOUNDTRACK. Among the best the GBA has to offer
+Of good lentgh
+Lots of exploration to do
+Good storyline
+Lots of replay

The Bad
-The graphics are dark on a normal GBA

That's actually the only con that sticks out.Enjoy, as this is as good as GBA games get.
... Read more

Amazon.com Review

One of two new Zelda games for the Game Boy Color, TheLegend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons is the more action-focused titleof the duo. The Triforce has alerted Link to trouble in the land ofHolodrum, where the General of Darkness has kidnapped Din, the Oracleof Seasons. The villain hopes to transform Holodrum into a wasteland bychanging the order of seasons. It's up to you to help Link saveHolodrum by rescuing Din.

The game features more combat and fewer puzzles than its sister, makingit better suited for younger gamers. Its mechanics and menus aresimilar to those found inLink'sAwakening, also for the Game Boy. This is classic overheadrole-playing at its best. The key item in this game is the rod ofseasons, which allows Link to change seasons at will. For example, animpassable lake becomes a quick stroll by using the rod to changeseasons from summer to winter.

Although this game is extremely enjoyable on its own, you'll want touse it in conjunction with its sister title:Oracle of Ages.After you complete one game you'll be given a password that lets youbegin with all your items, statistics, and progress intact in theother. Certain characters will appear only by playing both games. Byusing a link cable, players can trade items. Game Boy Advance userswill find a store that's exclusive to them.

While this is one of the best Game Boy titles ever, a truly sublimeexperience can be had playing it with its companion title. --RaymondM. Padilla

Pros:

• Hours of outstanding gameplay
• Great as a standalone; outstanding in conjunction with its sistergame
• Nice bonuses for Game Boy Advance owners

• Lots of reused sound effects from previous Zelda games
• Longtime gamers might find the story and level design contrived
• Your thumbs will get sore from all the battles

Reviews (124)

A Truly Amazing Game
I own both Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Zelda Oracle Of Ages. Both of these games Are truly amazing. I found Seasons to be a bit more challenging than Ages. If you are a first time Zelda player I would reccommend getting Ages and if you like it then get Seasons. I am on the final boss of Ages and it only took me 5 days to get to that point. But take into consideration that once I get a new game (especially a Zelda game) I play it non stop. So if you are looking for a more complicated, battle packed Zelda game then this one is for you.

I'd rather save Nayru, Oracle of Ages
I played Oracle of Ages first, and it was a better game, although both are worth playing.

When they say that Oracle of Seasons is more focused on the combat, they're not kidding!There were very few puzzles and, in my opinion, a lot of meaningless sword-swinging.Most of the bosses need to be hit by the sword many times and then they are defeated.In Ages, you actually had to use the item that you just got.Up to the boss, Onox, it is really easy.Getting from level to level was a little hard for me, but that's because I always overlook the obvious.Other than that, it went so much faster than Ages.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to defeat Onox yet.I can't even get past the second stage!I don't understand how a sword can't cut through him but if you use hero's skill it can!He's a chunk of rock! So the boss is HARD!

The Maku Tree isn't as loveable as in Ages.He just sleeps!Doesn't even hit on you...

As in all Zelda games, it's much more enjoyable if you take it slow (although it's hard in this one) and talk to all of the people in it.They have funny things to say!One of my favorite parts is Subrosia with the Like-Likes!They're so cute!So instead of traveling through times, you change the seasons and go through portals to Subrosia.Dancing there is great!It's a little easier than the Goron dancing, though they are both difficult.

About the seasons...it gives the game a lot more flexibility in how the levels can be arranged.Instead of having 2 ages, you get 4 seasons, each with different "hidden" parts.I really like how you can bounce on the flowers in the spring!And the people say different things at different times!It is fun!

You get to see many of the same characters as in Ages, the important ones as well as the town folk.And there are some different items.I especially liked the Magnetic Gloves and Roc's Cape.The level design is pretty straightforward and the dungeons are rather easy.

Overall, it's a good game to play, but you should definitely try it's companion too.I can't use the codes to link them yet until I beat this one, so I'll try!

Great music, as always!

Get this game and Ages, so that you can further your Zelda gaming skills!

A must have.
I am fairly new to games, and have only been playing them for about a year now. I heard a lot of good things about TLOZ series, and decided to give this game a try. Well, It sort of took a little while to grow on me, but I ended up loving this game. It is just good in every aspect. It can be very challenging, has a pretty good storyline, and is also quite lengthy. This is the first game I every played that took me longer than just 4-5 days to beat. In fact, I played it for at least a month before I beat it.

In this game you play as Link, the hero of Hyrule who was sent to the land of Holodrum to rescue a goddess named Din, who has been captured by the dark lord Onox. Din is the oracle of Seasons, and Onox plans to use her to his advantage; casting the seasons of Holodrum into chaos. You have to find eight essences of nature, by traveling through eight dungeons. These dungeons are filled with all sorts of challenges, and will require some thought. I was never stuck too long in a dungeon. However, getting to the dungeons can be a problem. Your "guide," the Maku tree, will give you a vague hint as to where the next dungeons lies. However, he will give absolutely no inclination as to the three or four things you must do to get there, which could include finding a rusty bell in a strange place, and then giving it to a pirate.

The dungeons themselves are great, although they all follow a certain pattern. Link must basically find his way through the dungeon, find a new item, fight a mini-boss, and then fight a big boss. Every single dungeon is designed that way, but its just a small thing. Don't worry, you'll be challenged by every single one.

The graphics are pretty good for a GBC game. The view is from the top-down, and you can see every character clearly, right down to there facial expressions.

The hardest part to this game is actually the bosses. It took me a week to beat the final boss of a game, and I never beat any boss in less than three tries. I have never played a game with such hard bosses.

The oracle of seasons is a great game. I loved it, and I bet you will too.

ok
I havent played many zelda games but this is the worst i loved windwaker but this is to hard i cant get far in the 4 dungeon with out being killed. in addition theres not much of a story just buy windwaker with the money u save :)

Oracle of Seasons Review
This game is totally awesome!I haven't beaten the game yet, I'm on level 6.Overall Oracle of Seasonsis not very puzzle-challenging.I have used a walkthrough for a few puzzles that are a little more difficult.The bosses are hard, but not so hard that you won't ever beat it, although I have spent a day or two trying to beat bosses, which I eventually do.All in all as long as you talk to many people and remember the important things they say, it isn't very hard to discover items or find dungeons.I rate this game two thumbs up, and I recommend you purchase it along with Oracle of Ages, which works together with Oracle of Seasons, but is much much more challenging. ... Read more

Features

• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Genre: Action/Adventure
• Mission: Help the "Mystery Club" capture the demon with the Demolyzer

Features

• Play as either Mega Man or Bass.
• Unique Battle Moves & Weapons: Double-Jumps &Charge-Up Buster.
• Find Hidden Bolts and CDs for Extra Items to Assist in Battles.
• Defeat Robot Masters to Open More Paths.

Reviews (20)

Pleasing, but it shows Capcom is lazy.
The story this time around is that a robot named King has taken over Wily's fort and has 8 robot masters attacking the world. You can play as either Mega man or Bass. Here are the pros and cons

Mega man- His weapon is more powerful than that of Bass and has the option of charging to triple times the power.
Jumping is ok and it gets you around. He can slide, which gives you the ability to go under small areas or evade an attack.
His power-ups are just right if not useless. The two most useful powerups are the high speed charge and the auto charge. Forget everything else.

Bass- Three shots from his buster is equal to about one uncharged shot from Mega man. It is weak. You cannot move and fire at the same time, but while standing you can also fire above your head or into the right or left hand corners.
Bass can double jump, which makes things easier. He cannot slide, but dash. It is only used for evading. It is useless!!!! It states you have to tap the D-pad twice in one direction to get him to dash, but I see no results after 20 and after absorbing every attack around me trying to do so.
His power-ups are great. You can make your shots go through walls. Double your bullets power without charging. And even fuse with your dog. YOUR DOG!

In the game, you choose a boss and go through their stage and at the end, kill them. Upon defeat, they give you their special weapon and give you the ability to use it. The power levels on special abilties are equal between Mega man and Bass.
TIP: Each boss has a weakness. A certain special weapon. The good thing now is that you can tell when it is the right one. The boss will physically react by such moves such as stopping in mid-air or splitting in half.

As a side quest, you can collect cds which contain info on robots from Mega man's past. The problem is you may never get them all. Some are just immpossible to actually touch without dying. It is quite interesting though.

As the title suggests, Capcom is getting lazy.
1. This Mega man game is not innovative to the other 8 exactly like it.
2. They recycled two bosses from Mega man 8, Astro man and Tengu man. That is beyond lazy.

You may need help. If you are a newb, you will die hundreds of times. Mega man is HARD! Just stick with it.

I recommend it.

very hard!
This game will get you very fusterated! Its hard and it will drive you crazy! But it is fun.

Love The Game!!!
MM and Bass is a very challenging game but is so cool if u get used to it and actually beat lvls. The first few days after i bought the game i was mad cause i got stuck on BurnerMan but after i beat him i was pretty good at the game. I highly recommend this game if u are a hardcore gamer.

An awesome game - it's about time it was released here!
In 1998 in Japan, the ninth game in the "Classic NES" Mega Man series was released, Mega Man And Bass. Unfortunately, the game didn't get an American release until 2003 - five years later! It's a shame Capcom delayed this game so long. But at long last, American gamers have a chance to play the "lost" game in the series. Read on for my review of Mega Man And Bass.

PROS:
-THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME IS THAT YOU CAN PLAY EITHER MEGA MAN OR BASS! Mega Man plays just like his Mega Man VII counterpart, but Bass plays pretty different. He has automatic rapid-fire, but his shots can't go through walls and he can't move while shooting. Likewise, Bass can dash and double jump.
-THE ITEM REPLICATOR IS BACK, AND IT'S THE MEGA MAN VII VERSION! You can collect bolts and take them to a shop and use them to get new items. This feature is one of my favorite things about the series, and I'm glad to see it back!
-THE CD COLLECTION ASPECT IS A GREAT ADDITION. Hidden in the game are a hundred CDs. Hunting these down is kind of a "side quest" that makes the game all the more entertaining. Every one of them represents a character in the Mega Man universe.
-THE PLOT IS PRETTY GOOD. In this game, one of Dr. Wily's robots has a mental breakdown, and because of it Mega Man and Bass must join forces to stop him.
-THERE ARE FOUR SAVE FILES. This is convenient, because you can have at least one save file as Mega Man, and at least one as Bass.

CONS:
-TRANSFERRING THE GAME TO THE GAME BOY MEANS SACRIFICING ROOM TO MOVE AROUND ON THE SCREEN, AND SOUND QUALITY. Because of the lack of visibility, you'll find yourself dying from spikes more often than you'd like to. Likewise, the audio takes a major hit in quality.
-THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION SEEMS RUSHED. While playing the game, you'll come to realize that whoever translated this game didn't do all that good of a job.
-THE DIFFICULTY LEVEL IS EXTREMELY HIGH. King's Fortress is a nightmare zone - especially Zone Two. Don't expect to beat this game unless you're a game master.
-THE TITLE IS HORRIBLY MISLEADING. Why didn't Capcom just call this game Mega Man 9? That would have made more sense.
-THE GAME USES MEGA MAN VII'S WEAPON ENERGY SYSTEM, NOT MEGA MAN 8's. In Mega Man 8 your special weapons refilled every time you died, and there was a number assigned to how many times you could use the weapon. Not so here.
-YOU CAN'T PLAY AS PROTO MAN. What does Capcom have against the poor guy? His role here is limted, and mostly consists of him getting injured.
-THE CHARACTERS ARE OUT OF PROPORTION WITH ONE ANOTHER. If you don't believe me, look at the characters when they're next to each other - the poor proportioning may surprise you!

OVERALL:
You may find this hard to believe, but this is my personal favorite entry in the Mega Man series. It's just a shame the game didn't get a North American Super Nintendo release, because the Game Boy's small screen hurts the game somewhat. Still, I'm not complaining. This is an excellent port of the game, and I recommend it to any Mega Man fan.

You can play as Bass?!
Bass?! Sweet! In the other Megaman games that I have, Bass is so hard to beat. Now I might get to kick bootie with him! ... Read more

Reviews (5)

NOT ONE GAME BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I first got it, I was way behind my friend in the game because he allready had it. But when I really tried hard, I got through a quarter of the game, in the end I won the game.How? I went to www.cheatplanet.com just go to the game boy adv. section,and go to the letters XYZ AND START CHEATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (or you can win the game with out cheating, thats fun too.)

Solid mutant fun for the GBA
Released around the time X2: X-Men United hit theaters, X2: Wolverine's Revenge focuses on the adamantium clawed mutant berserker as he makes a trek across Canada to learn more of his forgotten past.With telepathic help from Professor Xavier, you guide Wolvie through a horde of enemy ninjas and guards before taking on level bosses like Pyro, Shiva, Deathstrike, and of course, Sabretooth and Magneto.The graphics are typical side scroller fare, but everything is animated nicely, while the sound effects are decent as well.The control handles easily for the most part, and Wolverine's moves are nicely translated from the comics to the game, and his regeneration ability is nicely utilized as well.There's nothing wrong with X2: Wolverine's Revenge for the GBA as this version is better than it's home console bretheren, but once you beat it, there's nothing else left to do.If you're a Wolverine fan, comics or movies, and you can find this cheap then pick it up, just don't expect much more replayability out of it once you beat it.

One of the best games ever!!!!!!!
This is one of my favorite games. It is very challenging but very fun. I didn't stop intil I beat Magnito. The 2D graphics are awsome!Dont under eastamate this wonderful game!

Terrific!
This game is great! The graphics are pretty well defined, for GBA and Wolverine's movements are really fluid and, well, cool-looking ;-).

The story begins in Canada, with Wolverine searching for clues about his past. As the plot thickens and danger threatens the X-Men, he continues his quest/battle in other settings, such as Japan, underground bases, a mysterious island and Magneto's secret fortress. He encounters enemies such as Sabertooth, Pyro, Omega Red and Shiva robots, along with standard ninjas and guards. It's quite challenging, but not frustratingly impossible.

What I really love about this game is the way Wolverine moves. He slashes up his enemies in many different ways, from every direction. As he progresses, he becomes capable of somersaulting in mid-air, climbing up the walls, clinging to the ceiling, sliding and attacking from mid-air at super-speed. He can also regenerate (but only when his claws are sheathed) and, if he lashes out several times in a row, he can work himself into a bestial rage, thereby enhancing his attacks. So Wolverine's moves are pretty sophisticated and developped.

All in all, it's a great game, with a lot of action.

AWESOME
This is my first X-Men game. So far, I've beaten the first two levels and this game is great. It's definitely worth the money. ... Read more

Features

• Return to Battle city and compete in a trading card tournament
• Compete in a battle for the ultra-powerful Egyptian God Cards
• All-new original saga featuring over 100 duelists
• 900 cards
• For 1 player

Reviews (148)

bad
this game is supposed to be about dueling,that is what yugioh is about.in this game you barely duel,because after you beat a person they go away untill you turn off your gba and then turn it back on,so you do not have alot of people to deul.But it does have good graphics.

Yu-Gi-Oh - The Sacred Cards GBA
This game is pretty much easy for me anyway because I could beat this game every day and win the entire game with in 3 HOURS with the help of 1 extra item and its called the GAME SHARK its a machine its not a game that allows you to beat any VIDEO Game Depending on the game system for example the Game Shark for GAME BOY ADAVNCE it will only work on GAMEBOY ADVANCE games and the SP system as well when you use the GAME SHARK on The Sacred Cards you don't need to use very low attack power and Defense power u could win any body with in 1-6 turns
bacause you get the following:

DECK CAPACIRTY : 9,999
DUELIST LEVEL : 9,999
MONEY/DOMINO : 999999 well something like that but its 9's.

And you can automatically use HIGH ATTACK POWER like DARK ELF with an attack strength of 2000 DEF 0800 very high. Well I will talk back A.S.A.P on another GAME REVIEW.

p.s the strongest SACRED CARDS DECK 00-40 cards :

x1 - Summoned Skull ATK 2500 DEF 1200
x1 - Dark Hole (Magic Card)
x1 - Raigeki ( Magic Card )
x1 - Swords Of Revealing Light ( Magic Card )
x1 - La Jinn The Mystical Genie Of The Lamp ATK 1800 DEF 1000
x3 - 7 Colored Fish ATK 1800 DEF 0800
x3 - Giant Red Seasnake ATK 1800 DEF 0800
x2 - The Bistro Butcher ATK 1800 DEF 1000
x3 - Gemini Elf ATK 1900 DEF 0900
x2 - Dark Elf ATK 2000 DEF 0800
x1 - Invisible Wire ( Trap Card )
x3 - Acid Trap Hole ( Trap Card )
x1 - Insect Queen ATK 2200 DEF 2400
x1 - Pot Of Greed ( Magic Card )
x3 - Flash Assailant ATK 2000 DEF 2000
x1 - Dark Zebra ATK 1800 DEF 0400
x3 - Boar Solider ATK 2000 DEF 0500
x1 - Vorse Raider ATK 1900 DEF 1200
x2 - Harpie's Brother ATK 1800 DEF 0600
x2 - Thunder Nyan Nyan ATK 1900 DEF 0800
x1 - Nuvia The Wiced ATK 2000 DEF 0800
x1 - OBELISK THE TORMENTOR ATK 4000 DEF 4000
x1 - SLIFER THE SKY DRAGON ATK X000 DEF X000
x1 - Blue-Eyes Ultiamate Dragon ATK 4500 DEF 3800

TOTAL NUMBER OF CARDS 40

DECK CAPACITY 8,646 out of 10,304

when you see ur DECK CAPACITY 0000 of 9999 you will have to DUEL many more people inorder to raise the number HIGHER.


OK DUEL MONSTER FANS BYE!

cheaper by the dozen
if i were you i'd not buy this game you can get it at alote cheaper price for only less than 12.00

GR8......but short!
I played this game and found that it was SUPERB,the characters are cool and the battle with marik is also a little hard.Fans of yugioh!,im not saying its A MUST HAVE,but still buy this game.

I finished this game in 10 hrs.Its toooooo short.i came to the museum part in no time.it's also a bit educational.

once you get some great card passwords u can finish this game at no time at all!

also,don't buy this game if you dont know:

what yugioh! is,

you don't know how to duel,

and if you've only HEARD of it and not even know a single character.

i gave this gome to a friend of mine and he didnt know a thing a bout yugioh!.The next day he came and gave me the cartridge as if it was poisonous or somethin' AND HE DID'NT LIKE IT AT ALL.and then he started hating yugioh!.until he went to the site and knew how to play;-D

Very flawed
So I bought this game knowing nothing about Yu-gi-oh. The rules are supposed to be complicated but reading manuals is boring too. So I just played. From the first fight I won every time because it's completely trivial. There's no strategy - choosing what to do is a completely mechanical process. In fact, that's probably why the rules are what they are, dumbed down enough so some incompetent programmer could implement a mindless AI to play them.

Between duels there's an RPG, of sorts. It works like this. Talk to lots of people. Once you've talked to the right person (you're rarely told when this happens) a change of state in the game happens (like a new area becomes available). That's it. You just have to go round every location talking to everyone until something changes. And then you have to go round talking to everyone again until the next change happens. Eventually an important change happens: you can enter the finals.

And now it changes. Suddenly the opponents have decent cards and it becomes challenging to win. In fact, it's downright impossible. And just to rub it in, at this point the save game feature is taken away from you. How mean is that? They let you think the game is trivial until the end where the game mercilessly kills you. But there's an easy way to deal with this. You Go back to your last game save and reload. Now you just have to pick one character, like Rex Raptor, and play against him over and over and over and over and over again until you get enough capacity points to be able to use powerful cards. This is probably the dumbest aspect of the game. You can have the best cards in the universe in your 'trunk' but you can't use them until you've played duels agains piddly weaklings over and over again enough times for you to have a chance in the finals.

Having said that, when you do get your deck vaguely powerful the finals are kinda interesting. Suddenly there seems to be a little bit of strategy. Unfortunately I can't quite finish the very last battle because the opponent has cards way more powerful than your own. Oh well, it's back to playing Rex again and again and again and again and again... ... Read more