I can remember a time when I
was sitting in front of my TV and I was playing Auto Racing for Intellivision. I
also remember making a statement to my Dad at the time like “Wow … it won’t ever
get better than this”. Well, here we are … 20 years later with some really great
racing titles like Gran Turismo 3, Pro Race Driver, and Shox … just to name a
few. They usually sell well, and it is only inevitable that some racing titles
are going to come out for America’s favorite handheld game system … the GBA.
Well, now GT Advance 3 has made it’s way to the portable gaming unit, and you’d
have a hard time finding one better if you are an “on the go” racer.
When you first turn on GT
Advance 3, you are presented with a decent amount of gameplay options to mess
around with up front. You can choose to play the Championship, which has you
competing in a number of tracks to win first place and also unlocks new cars and
engine parts to upgrade your vehicle. There’s also a practice mode to get used
to the handling, and a time attack mode to make or break high race scores that
have been set. An interesting feature to GTA3 (Not to be confused with Grand
Theft Auto 3) that has been added in for this title is also the Slide-Combo
mode, where you have to link combos of powerslides together and see how many you
can get before letting your tires stop screeching.
Championship mode is where most
of the gameplay is, as you can probably imagine. This is where you select a car,
start in the beginner’s league, and then work your way up through three more
racing circuits, each with faster cars and being a little more challenging. It’s
not easy, and you will have to race over 46 tracks and races in varying
difficulty to beat the game. By winning races in the championship mode, you will
unlock new cars (over 90 of them in all) and parts like racing chips, mufflers,
and brakes to upgrade each car. Unlocked vehicles and parts can be used as you
progress through the championship mode, but you can use them for the other game
modes as well.
The first impressive thing that
you will notice about GT Advance 3 is the fluid movement and no slowdown in the
gameplay. Everything runs quickly and smoothly, and there is no slowdown or
popup that I could see as I ran around the different tracks and stages. For
those of you who played the original when it debuted on the scene, the engine is
the same one used for the original GT Advance from a year or so ago.
Another big plus in the
gameplay area is the actual car handling and variations themselves. I honestly
thought it would be difficult to make a Toyota Celica and an MR2 actually feel
and control different in a little hand held cartridge … but they definitely
proved me wrong. Trying to pull off intense powerslides in one model vs. another
or trying to control two totally different cars with different handling and
responsiveness led to some spinouts or cornering problems, just as you would
expect it to in one of the bigger boys like GT3 or Sega GT.
Now, while there are a lot of
good reasons that GT Advance 3 was a lot of fun, there are a couple of things
that weren’t done quite as well in here too. For starters, the game seems kind
of repetitive after you play through the first 10 tracks or so. Granted there
are some differences like day/night transitions, rain, and different backgrounds
… but overall you just feel like its “been there done that” due largely in part
to the short and similar styles to the tracks. In addition, all of them
(regardless of turns and twists) look really flat and almost reminded me more of
a go – kart track than a racetrack.
Graphically, the game looks
good overall, but there are a couple of things here as well which lean a little
more to the downside (other than the flat tracks). Up front, the cars themselves
do a good job in mimicking their real life models, and you’ll be surprised that
when you select a Mazda Miata … it looks like a Mazda Miata both in the
selection screen and in the game. You can also select from a variety of paint
jobs with most vehicles, so it’s a good selection. The stages that were included
have some nifty looking backgrounds to add to the feel, but all of the tracks
themselves consisted mostly of flat “left turn right turn” setups surrounded by
grass and an occasional tree or road sign. Also, some stages get really
confusing on where to turn since there are times where the track and “off limit”
road sections that were added in sort of blended together and resulted in
hitting some invisible walls.
The sound in GT Advance 3 was
also somewhat of a mixed bag. On the plus side, the cars will actually change
pitches in the engine when modifications are made or better parts get added.
There is also the fading in and out pitch of approaching or passed vehicles,
which adds into the game. On the “not so good” side, the music gets really
repetitive after a while, and reminded me of an NES soundtrack rather than a GBA
title. Also, the screeching tires in the game were kind of neat up front, but
soon just became a continuous high pitched whistling (especially in more curvy
tracks) which just made me turn the volume that much lower.
Overall, GT Advance 3 isn’t
perfect … but if you happen to be out looking for a racing game that will fill
the time on the little GBA system, you’d have a hard time finding one better
than this. I enjoyed playing it, and even with some quirks and annoyances was
impressed and what they managed to do with a little cartridge like that. If you
tend to be more of a home console person and are just looking for something to
fill the void until GT4 comes out, I would probably recommend looking for
something more along the NASCAR or Pro Race Driver lines for your console
system. If you are an on the go racer however, you should have fun with this
title.
Gameplay: 6.9
there is a good
selection of cars, play modes, and tracks up front, and a good selection of
vehicles and parts to unlock and find as you progress through the game. The
handling of the cars is decent, and each one really feels a little more unique
than others, which was impressive to me. Unfortunately, the flat and somewhat
repetitive tracks can get a little dull after an hour or so of gameplay, and the
replays … while neat at first … look kind of choppy and will probably be skipped
after the first couple of looks. There is an in cart save for one slot, which is
good for keeping times and progress and eliminates having to hunt down pens and
scrap paper to write down codes all of the time.
Graphics: 7.2
The framerate and
overall presentation looked nice and moved smoothly, and the backgrounds and
ability to change weather features in single race were neat ideas and didn’t
look too bad. Aside from the tracks being flat, they also seemed like they were
out in the middle of a field somewhere to me, and were populated with the same
signs and trees throughout. In addition, many or the turns blended with some
background elements which got confusing and led to some wrecks into the
invisible wall.
Sound: 6.8
While it was neat to
hear different pitches and engine noise levels as you upgraded your car or
passed / got passed, the overall sounds seemed kind of generic to me. The tires
squealing were a cool addition on a straighter track, but twisty ones just sort
of turned into repetitive whistling noises after a while. Also, the music
sounded like one of those euro-dance tracks that you used to hear in NES racing
or sometimes action titles from back in the day.
Difficulty: Easy
The game mechanics
are easy for anyone to pick up and figure out, and there is a practice mode and
some license tests to run and pass before actually racing the different tracks.
The game will get more challenging as you progress, but the car upgrades and
better vehicles to unlock were well balanced and will help you overcome the
different stages.
Concept: 7.3
This is a neat way
to almost get a nice, fast, and fluid racing game onto the GBA. While it does
have some kinks which need to be ironed out (hopefully a new graphics engine and
some better sound for a sequel) its fun way to pass the time.
Multiplayer: 7.2
You can play a
single game or you can link two GBA’s together and play two player race modes.
What better way to have the siblings avoid (or maybe start) fighting on those
long car trips to Grandma’s house … especially if they are big racing fans?
Overall: 7.0
While there were
things that detracted from GT Advance 3 overall, and it’s not the perfect racer,
but it’s the best one (in my opinion) that I have played on the GBA system so
far. If you are looking for a portable GT title, this one should fit the bill
nicely, even despite some annoyances. If you have consoles and are looking to
get it just to have another racing game, I would suggest waiting for something
else to come along or trying it at a friend’s house first.
