GBAtemp book game club sees a new week and so the need for a new edition (64 in this case). GBAtemp book game club is one of several features we have around here aiming to highlight games but unlike many of the others these are more about those that wish to partake reviewing the edition's selection. What gives rise to a selection is something we do not really wish to elaborate upon other than to say we are not solely focused on the top ? games and will often try to look at games with interesting ideas but a somewhat flawed execution and similar thing. The libraries of homebrew, commercial releases, leaked code and ROM hacks for the GBA, DS and Wii will be our sources for most of this but on occasion we will stray from those and we will also try to note versions and previous entries on other systems.
For the most part each edition will feature a single selection but multiple similar entries in a franchise will occasionally be bundled together and games with similar concepts might see a compare and contrast suggested for the edition. Challenges/runs within a game can also prove quite interesting so they will be posed from time to time.
#64 - GTA advance (GBA)
The GTA franchise has a long and interesting history the likes of which we are not about to cover here (All your history can take care of that) but it is quite hard to move in computer game circles and not have seen the impact of it somewhere. Although many will have first seen the series in the PS2 era where it made the jump to 3d the first two entries in the series were noted for their top down gameplay in an era where 3d was the new hotness (1997 also saw Carmageddon, Quake 2 and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II) but shone through on the strength of the gameplay.
Fast forward a few years and, much like today, the handhelds were the place big developers sent older game mechanics to languish so it was surely fitting to have a top down 2d GTA game on the GBA. The GBC had seen a few "ports" of the first two titles but they were somewhat watered down versions of the PC originals and were not liked at time of release with history not being any kinder but the GBA had already proven itself by this point as a capable machine so it was full steam ahead. Released practically alongside GTA San Andreas (the second spinoff in the GTA3 universe) the story of the GBA game is actually a prequel to GTA3 although much like the other later GTA titles this was more a series of cameos and some of the characters seen in other games than a truly interwoven story. Development fell to Digital Eclipse (nowadays part of Backbone Entertainment/Foundation 9 Entertainment) who were probably best known for their work as the makers of the Phantasy Star collection on the GBA at the time of release but whether due to the proximity of San Andreas' release, the occasional framerate issues or something else history does not really remember GTA advance as it does the others so it is presented here today.
Digital Eclipse were one of the main companies tapped when it came to make versions of games/entries in franchises for the handhelds; the term shovelware did not really arise until a few years later and many of their titles were actually not bad but the question surely becomes did they do right by the GTA franchise or should they have stuck to making tie in games and emulation of classic games?
gbagotw should get you other links in this series
