GBAtemp Recommends! Max Payne Advance

[shaunj66]

GBAtemp Recommends! Max Payne Advance
G.R. Issue #13 (GBA)


We hope you enjoyed last weeks Recommendation! Did you have a blast, or did you end up dozing off? Nevermind...

Welcome to the thirteenth issue of GBAtemp Recommends! - a weekly magazine feature in which we share our favourite Game Boy Advance titles. The games we recommend may be top titles from the GBA library, a homebrew, or they may be sleeper hits that flew by the radar, but one thing's certain, they're all fantastic games that deserve your play time!

GBAtemp Recommends!

Max Payne Advance

Swooooooooooooosh! Bullet time, baby! Forget the shitty movie, Max Payne the game was a *classic*! And Rockstar thought enough of this classic game to attempt to cram it all into a Game Boy Advance cartridge. But did they succeed?

If you haven't played Max Payne before (and you're missing out), the game basically boils down to an action shooter. You're a NYC cop whose wife and daughter have been killed by a gang of druggies. You're framed for the murder, so you go undercover to get to the bottom of things.

Presentation wise, Rockstar did an astounding job with the GBA conversion. The cut scenes are comic book style frames, with full spoken dialogue (compressed). The game has about 12 levels to run through and can be completed in approx. 5 hours or so. Rockstar chose to ditch the 3D perspective of the original game and opted for an isometric view for the GBA rendition. Due to obvious hardware limitations, this was probably for the best. The isometric viewpoint, once you've accustomed yourself to the buttons, and limited viewing area, works quite well. The controls are tight and graphically, the title gets the job done. It keeps the grey, dreary look of the original and the music fits the bill perfectly.

The story, while cut down a little from it's PC counterpart, translates well here, and keeps you gripped throughout. The spoken dialogue is a great touch, and the comic book style pop-ups during gameplay keep you tied to the story.

For the most part you'll be running through each level killing every moving object in sight with your gun, a wide range of which you can pick up as you progress. The levels are fairly linear with a few puzzles thrown in to slow you down. The big wow-factor though, is the games "bullet time", which allows Max to do a full-on Matrix style jump that slows down time and enemies to a crawl (for a few seconds), allowing you to spin around 360 degrees in mid-jump and waste some of the baddies! Your use of this is rationed though, so be careful! The levels are fairly interactive also, with an abundance of crates and objects to break open and shoot at, providing you with ammo and a means to complete puzzles.

The only thing that may tick some people off though, as I've said, is the limited viewing area, restricted by the GBA's screen size. The game has a habit of hiding enemies just far enough off the visible viewing area for them to shoot at you, and leaving you with no idea where they are. Fortunately though, the game does make up for this a little bit, by having a somewhat automatic aiming mode, making firing at enemies while you flail around the screen in your black trenchcoat that little bit easier.

If you're a sucker for a good action game then give Max Payne Advance a go if you haven't already. Keep in mind the limitations of the GBA hardware and you may be pleasantly surprised with what Rockstar managed to pack into 16 megabytes of cartridge.

Max Payne is a man with nothing to lose--a fugitive undercover cop framed for murder, and now hunted by the cops and the mob. As Payne, you'll uncover plot twists, engage in dramatic "bullet-time" firefights with thugs, and fight your way through an unforgiving New York blizzard. Max can wield a variety of weapons including pistols, submachine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, grenades, and Molotov cocktails. Prepare yourself for an involving story combined with slick action.

Spoiler: Gameplay Trailer (video)

#1335 - Max Payne Advance (mode7)

#1421 - Max Payne Advance (Rising Sun)

Genre: Action Shooter
Publisher: Rockstar
Dump Date: 18/12/2003
ROM Size: 128Mbit

If you enjoyed this weeks edition of GBAtemp Recommends! please leave a comment in the thread. This helps us monitor feedback and ensures we keep posting these magazine articles in the future.

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Discuss (%nbreplies% comments)

 

[Issac]

I think this game was destroyed because of the camera!
The enemies sees and shoots at you before you even see them, making you feel really helpless

Others might think this is good, but I seriously don't! JUST because of the camera.

 

[cupajoe]

Whoah. A rated M gameboy advance title! I wasn't even aware there were any...

 

[DeMoN]

I think this game was destroyed because of the camera!
The enemies sees and shoots at you before you even see them, making you feel really helpless

Others might think this is good, but I seriously don't! JUST because of the camera.

Is the problem really that bad? Don't you at least see the bullets so you know which direction the enemies are firing at you from? If not, then I might just skip this one.

 

[Siegmund Fretzga]

I played this and the PC version, and the maps were often very similar.

 

[garet12]

i liked this game back then and it's still good imho

 

[jesterscourt]

I was impressed with all the VA they were able to stuff in this cart. The isometric view + camera issues makes me not want to play this game all the way through, but it's definately worth a trial run for people interested.

 

[Evilmaster1985]

I hate to say it but I really think there are better GBA games.
It aint all about the GFX.
I would rather do a round of Chu Chu Rocket than this.

Greetz, Vistabuser.

 

[Raika]

The camera could have been better, i stopped playing it because of that and the fact that i can't control the guy properly...(maybe that's just me.

)

 

[Hadrian]

I hate to say it but I really think there are better GBA games.
It aint all about the GFX.
I would rather do a round of Chu Chu Rocket than this.

Greetz, Vistabuser.

Yes there are better GBA games but those better games will be featured eventually. This was cosen because Shaun and some others like it, not because of the graphics and also its nice to have a none anime/cutesy game featured.

When I first played this it was on a emulator and I didn't like it because of the controls, and then I played it on a GBA and its was much better so if you can try and play it on GBA.

 

[Toni Plutonij]

I actually didn't know about this game either..

It looks very nice, and I'll try it for sure, just like I did with ever GBAtemp recommended game!
However, this isn't actually my type of games!

 

[Issac]

I think this game was destroyed because of the camera!
The enemies sees and shoots at you before you even see them, making you feel really helpless

Others might think this is good, but I seriously don't! JUST because of the camera.

Is the problem really that bad? Don't you at least see the bullets so you know which direction the enemies are firing at you from? If not, then I might just skip this one.

IIRC you can't see the bullets... and to me, the problem really is that bad! Though test it for yourself before skipping it

many others like it

 

[Lumstar]

Should be worth a look.

I'm sure by now most people here have a PC that can max out that version too.

 

[shaunj66]

I hate to say it but I really think there are better GBA games.
It aint all about the GFX.
I would rather do a round of Chu Chu Rocket than this.

Greetz, Vistabuser.

That's why this feature is called "GBAtemp Recommends!" and not "GBAtemp's List of the Absolute Best of the Best from the GBA Library".

 

[dice]

I've played and finished the game so it must be good (IMO)!

 

[Hadrian]

Should be worth a look.

I'm sure by now most people here have a PC that can max out that version too.

While this version can't even start to compete with the PC one, its still a fine addition and worth playing if you're after some action. To be honest though it doesn't really get going until after the first few levels.

 

[Evilmaster1985]

I hate to say it but I really think there are better GBA games.
It aint all about the GFX.
I would rather do a round of Chu Chu Rocket than this.

Greetz, Vistabuser.

That's why this feature is called "GBAtemp Recommends!" and not "GBAtemp's List of the Absolute Best of the Best from the GBA Library".

Point is I would not recommend this to anyone

I never said it had to be top.

Greetz, Vistabuser.

 

[moose3]

For those that played it, how would you compare Shadowrun from the SNES with this in terms of game play mechanics, disregarding that SR was a RPG? It was what I first thought of when I saw this, might have to try it out...

 

[Hadrian]

For those that played it, how would you compare Shadowrun from the SNES with this in terms of game play mechanics, disregarding that SR was a RPG? It was what I first thought of when I saw this, might have to try it out...

To be honest aside from view they are pretty different. This is a pure action title with a a few switches to flick.

 

[Issac]

For those that played it, how would you compare Shadowrun from the SNES with this in terms of game play mechanics, disregarding that SR was a RPG? It was what I first thought of when I saw this, might have to try it out...

Unfortunately it's like hadrian says... Only the view angle is similar... (and I'm shocked that there's no other games like shadowrun

it was so perfect!)