Touch the Future Now at Staples
GameSpot editors' review
-
CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 12/12/2006
- Updated on: 06/25/2007
- Released on: 11/14/2006
- Originally published on GameSpot: Tomb Raider: Legend (Game Boy Advance) Review
Even though it's a side-scrolling platformer put together with 2D graphics, Tomb Raider: Legend for the Game Boy Advance manages to deliver the same sort of gunplay and environmental puzzles as the console versions of the game. Players must help Lara traverse eight massive levels, using her twin pistols and high-flying acrobatics to get past enemies and reach the deepest recesses of some of the world's most ancient ruins. The acrobatic puzzles in each level are fun and sometimes offer a healthy challenge. The game as a whole does a good job of keeping things varied with a liberal mix of gunfights, swimming sections, and motorcycle challenges.
You'll need to use Lara's acrobatics to jump, climb, and swing your way through each environment.
Like the console versions of Legend that were released months ago, Tomb Raider: Legend on the GBA follows the exploits of Lara Croft as she investigates the mysterious circumstances of her mother's death some 20 years earlier. Her search begins at an old Incan temple in Bolivia; but, of course, one thing leads to another, and she ends up canvassing various ruins and smuggling dens all over the world to track down the pieces of an ancient sword that is somehow the key to her mommy's demise. The story is told through a sequence of static comic book scenes and text boxes. While the plot isn't altogether interesting, it does provide an excuse for Lara to visit places like Bolivia, Peru, Tokyo, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Nepal, and England in her search for the missing sword fragments.
Because the Game Boy Advance can't do 3D graphics very well, the GBA version of Legend was put together as a side-scrolling platformer with traditional 2D backgrounds and character sprites. Despite the change in perspective, the GBA game offers the same sort of gameplay as in the console versions. You'll spend a good portion of the time figuring out how to use Lara's many acrobatic abilities to move forward and upward in the environment. Lara can leap, grab onto ledges, swing on ropes, vault off of horizontal beams, swing between platforms using her magnetic grapple, as well as shimmy across and propel herself upward from sheer handholds. She can also push and pull certain heavy objects, as well as use her guns and grapple to shoot or yank certain environmental decorations, which play into the switch puzzles that you'll come across at regular intervals. Some levels also include swimming or riding a motorcycle that require quick reflexes to navigate without running out of air or wiping out too much. Falling from a lofty height or getting sliced to bits by a trap can eat away Lara's health and result in death. Thankfully, you can use first-aid packs to regain health, and the only penalty for dying is that you have to restart from the last checkpoint.
Throughout the journey, you'll also encounter hungry tigers and armed smugglers that usually aren't happy to see Lara. Lara's twin pistols are perfect for such occasions, but she can also pick up and use the shotguns, machine guns, and grenades that dying enemies leave behind. Sometimes you can grapple or shoot objects in the environment to make them explode or topple on top of enemies. Generally speaking, the game mixes in a little bit of everything.
Continue reading
Tomb Raider: Legend (Game Boy Advance):
%20Game%20Boy%20Advance%20Game%20reviews%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/game-boy-advance-games/tomb-raider-legend-game/4505-9975_7-31866522.html){kind=small}