GameBoy Advance SP Review

Overall Rating

Portable
Small
Outstanding Battery Life
Amazing Software Library
Good Sound Quality

Screen is dull (even with the light on)
Technology is a bit dated compared to newer handhelds

I remember owning an original Game Boy Advance (GBA) not long after they were launched in the UK. While I was initially impressed with the system's ability to handle the pseudo 3D graphics of Mario Kart: Super Circuit and the True 3D engines of Ecks Vs Sever and DOOM, I had a big problem with the console's complete lack of a backlit screen - something the Game Gear managed to utilise over a decade ago. As a result, I had to constantly shift my position when using the GBA in order to get the best possible lighting condition to see the dull screen. In the end, it proved to be more trouble than it was worth, and playing the thing in anything other than direct sunlight was impossible - so I got rid of it. (note: it is possible to fit a backlit to the original GBA, but it involves opening the unit and installing it yourself; or adding a battery powered screen light to the front of the GBA)

Recently however, a Game Boy Advance SP came into my possession and it seemingly fixes all of the problems associated with the original design, and brings some new ones with it. The biggest difference (other than the design of the unit, more on which I'll write later) is the inclusion of a backlight as standard, meaning that you can now play all of your favourite handheld games in any lighting condition. Although at first the backlit screen still appears to be rather dull, it becomes apparent that this level of lighting was used because if you play in perfect darkness it doesn't burn the image of the screen into your retinas. The backlight can be turned off by means of a small button if you happen to be playing in a well-lit location - this in turn conserves battery power for when the sun goes down.

Moving on to the subject of batteries, the SP introduces a new feature in the Game Boy family - a rechargeable power source. The original system used regular AA batteries and they did last for quite a while, but inevitably you were forced to buy more when they did eventually run out. With the SP, as soon as the little warning light comes on all you have to do is plug it in via the supplied AC adapter and leave it to charge for a few hours. When fully charged, Nintendo assure users that the SP can be played continuously for around 10 hours with the light on, and even longer with it off. I've had mine for about a week, play it every day and only had to charge it once. And it's a second hand unit, so the battery must have been in use for quite a while - a very impressive feat of battery technology.

The overall design of the SP differs from that of the standard GBA in that it is a 'clam-shell' system that folds open and shut. Not only does this mean that the screen is protected from scratching when not in use, but it means that the SP is much smaller in size when closed. Due to the smaller size, it fits easily into the pocket and truly deserves the label 'portable.' Some other handheld systems (most notably the PSP and DS) may feature far superior graphics and features, but are they really as portable as you'd like? Can they be hidden in the pocket of your jeans? The plain answer is no. The SP can. And while it is not as tiny as the newly released Game Boy Micro, the SP features a vastly superior speaker, and is much more comfortable to hold. The Game Boy Micro features some quite painful to use shoulder buttons and a screen so tiny it'll turn you into a squinting idiot, so while it looks the business, the SP is definitely the superior machine when it comes to ease of use.

The screen quality is slightly improved from the original system, but that was sharp and colourful enough to begin with, and as mentioned the sound quality is quite amazing. The SP has the ability to reproduce excellent music and sampled speech, as well as crisp sound effects. Also, the 32-bit processor can produce some dazzling 3D visuals. Titles such as the aforementioned DOOM, it's sequel DOOM 2, Duke Nukem and Serious Sam all use modified versions of the originals' engines and play quite superbly. Elsewhere, the SP's mode 7 allows for 3D racing games such as Colin McRae Rally, GT Advance, Mario Kart and F-Zero. Of course, the limited processing power cannot compete with the likes of the PSP - indeed comparing the two is like comparing a SNES to a PS2. However, even without the power, who in their right mind would say that Super Mario Kart on the SNES was inferior to Gran Turismo 3? The same is true with the SP. The raw power of the PSP or even the DS is missing, but the quality of the games and their ability to make use of the system resources available is marvellous. The GBA, however, is in a different league when it comes to 2D games. Titles like Mario Bros, Zelda and the myriad puzzle games were made for a system like this and I defy anyone to show me a current machine that boasts a software library as impressive as the SP's. Sure, the Gamepark 32 can emulate all of these titles, but they aren't native to the system and therefore it is exempt! Furthermore, the SP is backwards compatible with all of the older Game Boy Colour and Game Boy games and in effect this boosts the games library into literally thousands of games.

There are a few aspects of the SP's design I'm not too keen on - for example the omission of a contrast or brightness control. Some games do look a bit dark, even with the light on, but thankfully many games remedy this by having a software brightness option built in. On top of this, there is no headphone socket - you have to purchase a dedicated Nintendo adapter just to plug your headphones in. It's a clever way of increasing revenue, sure, but not very fair on those who may not have the extra cash to pay for this extra and is akin to Microsoft forcing Xbox owners to buy an add-on to play DVDs.

Other than that, there are very few things wrong with the design or operation of the SP. It comes in many, many different designs and colours, has a library of games that runs into the thousands and has entertained us in it's many guises for nearly two decades. For these reasons, the Game Boy is the biggest selling console of all time, and rightly so.