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[Wario64]

6.5

http://www.gamespot.com/gba/adventure/grandtheftautogba/review.html

"All in all, bringing the classic GTA gameplay back is a neat idea, but the execution here is weighted down by the lame story, straitlaced dialogue, and the occasional technical issue. If you're curious to see what the roots of GTA really were, you should probably just go to Rockstar's Web site, where the first game is available in its entirety as a free download."

 

[Kon Tiki]

Metroid Zero Mission 6.5

If you want to know the roots of the series you can play Metroid from Prime.

 

[Baconäger]

all in all
all told
in its own right
blah blah blah

It's also weird how the bugs lower the gba score, but not the ps2 ones...

 

[Deg]

hard to say. I could provide impressions in the next few days i guess.

 

[tenchir]

lame story, straitlaced dialogue, and the occasional technical issue

Aren't these in the PS2 GTAs also?

 

[dream]

IGN says 8.5 and the reviewer seems to really dig the story. Anyone know if it's in stores yet?

 

[radioheadrule83]

Overall

I have no problem admitting that I thought that the original Grand Theft Auto and its sequel sucked; they were boring games on the PlayStation, and it was only when the series moved to 3D on the PlayStation 2 with Grand Theft Auto III that I really appreciated what the series had to offer. This 2D Game Boy Advance design, at the very least, vastly improves on the originals, and fixes the game so much that it's now a great, recommended action title. It was definitely worth the long wait.

Mimicking the 3d games

Other elements from the GTA series mimicked in the GBA game: different "radio stations," or rather, different songs for the variety of vehicles in the game. A CB radio to hear dispatch report on happenings as you make them happen; it's so accurate the voice call out the color of your vehicle as well as the part of town you happen to be in. Unfortunately, even though the game has an on-screen map, it only shows a portion of the city. There's no way to pull up the full view of the city, which makes it difficult to find items that might not be automatically marked, like the hospital to increase health. And the included, printed map included in the box isn't a good substitute, since chances are you won't be willing to whip out the folded paper to seek out the specific location.

graphics

And even though the game's a strict 2D design on the GBA, Grand Theft Auto does still employ some 3D effects to make the cities come alive on the handheld screen. Buildings jut upwards towards the camera and move in perspective, for example, and keen eyes can see little references made on the sides of buildings. Vehicles rotate thanks to the GBA's sprite abilities, and what's more, they "lean" into turns via sprite animations to give them a real sense of weight. And, as mentioned above, vehicles can definitely tip over, either by a hard turn or when hit broadside by another vehicle. Jumps do appear in the game, but they're more used for shortcuts than they are for "yeeeee-haw!" effect, and the game's statistics screen doesn't really keep track of any airtime.

The artwork used for vehicles, pedestrians, and buildings may not look like anything special in still screens, but in motion and in context the game looks very nice on the GBA. There are some really great touches to the animation; walk over dead bodies and your character will leave bloody footprints for a few steps.

Craig @ IGN

I trust Craig.

 

[Wario64]

Thanks for posting that Radio, that's all I need to know. Reviewers expecting a 3d GTA shouldn't just mark it down points or whatever. Loved the originals and I'm sure I"ll love this one

 

[Ristamar]

There's only one way to settle this. Gerstmann and Harris need to fight to the death on top of a giant McGriddle.

 

[Deg]

Some slight, nitpicky flaws mar the handheld experience but overall Rockstar's successful in its attempt to recreate the fun, frantic, and violent experience for gamers on the run.

Fine enough. Same compalints as GS.

 

[Deg]

Ad:

http://xfersf02.ign.com/^932673131/movies/streamingmovies.ign.com/docroot/pocket/article/560/560417/gtagbatrailer_102604_wmvlow.wmv

 

[LinesInTheSand]

Sounds great. The 2D gta's were far superior to the PS2 iterations. Can't wait to check this out.

 

[Chopin Trusty Balls]

i absolutely loved first 2 GTAs,i remember how tried first because of the catchy name and couldnt put it down for like a week,some of the music is still in my head Ouci Ouci Ouci (i never understood what the dude said but it was cool)

 

[Kon Tiki]

If you're curious to see what the roots of GTA really were, you should probably just go to Rockstar's Web site, where the first game is available in its entirety as a free download.

That comment REALLY bothers me. Thi is not like GTA1. It it 3 times the size of GTAIII, it has gameplay elements from the 3d games. You not get the same feeling from GTA 1 as you GTAA. I am sorry.

 

[Mashing]

I just watched the commercial for this game and, maybe it is just me, but hearing "rated M, for mature" at the end of a GBA commercial is freaky

 

[speedpop]

Rated M, for Mario's Brothel.

 

[etiolate]

I actually liked the 2d GTAs. Gameplay worked.

 

[Scrow]

The Rockstar site has a 25MB quicktime trailer for this game.

http://www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto/gba/

I really think a Quentin Tarantino directed GTA movie could work.