Grand Theft Auto Game by Rockstar/Take 2 Reviewed by geezer http://geezer.homepage.dk/ Size: 32 megs (BIG!!!) Save: Battery, 9 slots in theory, but haven't tried it, sorry! Released: 1999 Works with: All gameboy units **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: I love this game on the PC, and I figured that it'd port quite gracefully to the GBC. I was right, and I was wrong... **************************************************************************** Gameplay Descripion: The idea of the game is to answer payphones, and do jobs for the mafia. Basically you can steal any car, shoot anything, do what you want, just roam about in a big city. Break the law too often, and the cops will be on your back, chasing you down. Fortunately you can give the car you are driving a paint job which gets the police off of your back. Paint jobs cost, as does turning your vehicle into a bomb. The gameplay is excellent, but it suffers a little on the small screen, due to some shoddy programming. All of the cities from the PC original are there, and they are almost the same. In the original version, most of the missions were based on drug deals and other such unsavoury acts. On the GB, the missions are the same, but without the drugs and serious lawbreaking. The swearing has been cut out of the cut scenes, but that's cool I guess. Less balls than the original version, and rightfully so. Problems: The biggest problem is that your car can get stuck, leaving you unable to anything but restart the game. The game has actually crashed a few times, and we don't want to see a frozen screen on a gameboy. The cars move very quickly, which has the obvious side effect of constantly crashing into walls because you can't make a turn in time. This is especially problematic when a cop is chasing you at high speed. The game is essentially a 90's RPG, having you run back and forth, performing tasks, earning cash and new tasks etc. Don't throw away your copy of Zelda though. Liked: Refreshingly different for a gameboy game.. Hated: Kind of falls flat on its face. **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: Despite being small, the graphics are very well detailed, almost like the PC version. The cities look great, and vehicles can be distinguished from one another. All movement is good, there is slight slowdown or blur when scrolling diagonally, but it's understandable with the amount of detail. You will be amazed, it looks very good. I think that police stations, bomb shops and garages could be highlighted better, and maybe some landmarks thrown in for good measure. The streets are very samey, but then don't most cities suffer from that problem? These are minor complaints, as graphically this game is near perfection. There is always room for improvement though, right?? It looks pretty good on the old gameboys too. Liked: Wow!! Hated: Looks aren't everything. **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: Well, annoying twinkly little tunes that don't capture the spirit of the game, and a lot of them too. The sound effects are sparse, and the worst thing of all: The option to switch off the music doesn't work, so I can't really judge the SFX properly. Liked: Variety... Hated: of annoying tunes. **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: Controls are responsive enough, but hard to learn. Using select to steal a car is ok, but in reality you have to use select and A. Using A as the gas is okay, but why use down as reverse, and not B? Not very intuitive if you ask me. I think that the instruction booklet is missing a lot of information, most notably, city-maps. I'm fortunate enough to be able to use the maps that came with the PC version. The mission arrow which shows you where to go next only points in 8 directions, so it rarely points directly at its target, and it sometimes disappears. The first city is meant to be New York, but you can find yourself walking for miles without seeing a car, which is a shame. Work through your initial disgust though, and it is playable, and it can even be fun. Hard Core GTA fans may well be disappointed though. It depends how you look at it. My final comment is that I am impressed that this game could be pulled off so well, even though it has some bad programming errors which are detailed in the gameplay section of this review. You won't enjoy this on Super Gameboy, as it plays real slow. Liked: Bigger is better, faithful(ish) to the original. Hated: More bugs than a windshield on a spring morning. **************************************************************************** Improve: Better programming, ability to play without breaking any laws, i.e. the ability to be a cab driver or pizza boy to earn cash (like GTA2!) I'd much rather see fewer cities and better programming. A GBA-only version. The list goes on, write your own. RIYL: Most top down driving games (Micro Machines etc.) for the driving. For the missions, well, simple RPG's (Conker, even Zelda etc. etc.) **************************************************************************** Final Words: I still have mixed feelings, it's great but it stinks. Some'll love it, some'll hate it, most of us will both love and hate it. Come back in a few years and I may well have made up my mind. For the moment I say average, but full of promise. **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: **** Graphics: **** Sound/Music: ** Play Control/Game Design: ** Personal Opinion: *** Total: 15 Final Score: 76% **************************************************************************** Currently Known Codes: To steal a car keep the walk button pressed when you press select, it's much easier than just pressing select on it's own.