GameBoy Advance SP Impressions

We give you our thoughts on the new GBA - a special edition version - and let you know why you must have this new kit!

First of all, the GBA-SP we have isn't a normal GBA-SP, it's a limited edition, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Pearl White GBA-SP - quite a mouth-full - and it comes with a copy of the game, a carrying bag, a carrying band and a guide for the game. Expectedly my box wasn't as small as the regular GBA-SP's but not bad considering what was inside it.

Some of the artwork for the European GBA-SP advertising campaign is very sexy... even sexier than this.

The carrying bag is a small velvet draw-string bag with the Squaresoft logo on the label. For the moment I'm keeping my GBA carts inside it as the actual GBA-SP is too beautiful to hide away in a black bag, and too small to have to carry around in one. I also got a silver carrying band that you can tie up to the GBA-SP if you wish, but once again the GBA-SP is too small to make any real use out of it, so I might use the band on my digital camera or regular GBA later on. It does look very nice though.

The first thing I noticed was the color, it didn't look as white as I thought it would. I expected it to look like the glacier GBA but it actually does look like it's made of pearl! In some lighting conditions it even looks like a light coat of silver, in fact many of us thought it was silver. Sadly, the Nintendo logo on the top appears to be a sticker.

The size of the GBA-SP has been hyped up alot but it's not that small. It is however as small as a GBA could ever be, if this thing gets any smaller we're not going to be able to fit the carts in it! Imagine a normal GBA with the sides cut off so that it's a square shape, that's how big the GBA SP is when folded. When open however, the GBA-SP is half the thickness of a normal GBA and has lots of extra room to mess around with the face buttons whilst still the same size as a regular GBA in length.

At first the screen didn't impress me, the GBA-SP actually uses a front-light instead of a back-light and it definitely would of looked better with a backlight. At the moment the screen has a slight blue tint which fades the colors a little, however if you compare this to the normal GBA the GBA-SP's screen is fantastic. Some of the conditions I've played in make the screen look pitch black without the front light on, you can't even tell the thing is turned on. This new freedom to play GBA games anywhere means my GBA games are getting alot more play time. I've played the GBA-SP outside at night and inside during the day without having to sit by a light and tilt it at funny angles. With this new front-light the GBA can now truly be played anytime, anywhere.

Another brilliant change to the GBA-SP is the sound; it's now much louder than the regular GBA's speaker. I've had them both next to each other with the volume all the way up and the regular GBA can hardly be heard, plus the fact that when you actually play the normal GBA you're going to have your thumb over the speaker as well!

I've had no problems at all with the shape and layout, although perhaps it could become a little uncomfortable if you're playing for a long time with your index fingers locked on the shoulder buttons. I've mostly been playing Yoshi's Island on my GBA-SP so I haven't really had a good workout with the shoulder buttons. When I play the GBA-SP I usually put my index fingers behind the unit until I need to press one of the shoulder buttons, however the shoulder buttons are designed so that they can be pressed very easily and you can have your index fingers in a variety of positions to push them. The A and B buttons are unchanged but the Start and Select buttons are larger than on the regular GBA. The D-Pad is the same size but the indented circle in the center is now much bigger which makes the D-Pad easier to use.

For some reason the Volume control is now a slider rather than a scroller, this makes the volume control alot less precise than with a scroller but it isn't a big problem. I've heard problems of the paint scratching off on platinum SP's but I haven't had any problems myself with my white GBA-SP. This problem is due to the color being painted on this time around, rather than the plastic actually being dyed.

The new lithium battery is a good idea in my opinion, the adaptor is very cool and uses Nintendo's new patented "swivel plug" design which means the prongs can be rotated inside the adaptor to make it more portable. Supposedly you can get 10 hours playtime out of 2 hours charging but I haven't charged my GBA-SP all the way yet so I cannot confirm if this is true or not.

The GBA-SP's screen could've been better if it had a back-light rather than the current front-light but as it is the GBA-SP's lit screen is a whole world above the regular GBA's pitch black one. The GBA-SP is exactly what the GBA should have been, and I feel sorry for anyone who is sticking with their regular GBA.

The regular, silver edition GBA-SP is hitting western stores as we speak. At the end of the day it's a must-have piece of kit for any self-respecting Nintendo fan, gadget freak, or - shock horror - mobile gamer. Get it.

Andy Robinson
Staff Writer, Kikizo Games