"A little boring, but its so unique I can't help but like."

Well while I happened to be in Japan last year, I picked up a game called I Am an Air Traffic Controller. I know very little Japanese, so when I first got it, I knew nothing about it except that involved airplanes. The basic premise of the game is that you observe air traffic above a real airport in Japan, and try to find a way to safely let the planes land/take off. Yes, it does sound boring, and yes, it is boring, but while playing this title I did find some enjoyment, if not so much that I could recommend that someone import it.

Graphics: 9/10

Very nice for a first-year GBA game. There is a short FMV of a plane on a runway at the start, and when I first saw it, it looked so real I could not believe my eyes. The in game graphics are very nice as well, but it isn't hard to see why they wouldn't be as the screen doesn't move at all. The planes, runways, etc. all look highly detailed for GBA, and are a feast for the eyes. You can even see the little mechanics (or whatever you call them) run along to the planes to inspect them or something (hey I don't know about this stuff). Whatever they're doing though, it sure does look cool. My only gripe is that the graphics look a little grainy.

Music/Sound: 5/10

The music is nothing to write home about. When I'm playing, sometimes I'll start to hum along with the tunes even though I don't really think they're that great; its just that most of them are nice and ''happy'' songs that I can't help but hum to. As for the sound...well I can say that its so bad that I don't even remember it. Oh wait, now its coming back to me...I remember the plane's engine roaring being particularly nice, and you can also hear the people you're communicating with (more on that later) talking, but its a little fuzzy, not that it matters because I can't understand it anyway.

Gameplay: 6/10

The object in IAAATC (yes I just made that up) is to get planes to successfully land and take off, giving you points which you must accumulate within a certain amount of time to beat the next level. In order to do this, you need to communicate with the pilots in the airplane so you can tell them if its safe. There are a few problems though. You can only communicate with one plane at a time, and the conversations are LONG. This makes it tough to be able to tend to other planes that need to land/take off. You will fail the level if-

A. A Crush occurs (one plane runs into another)
B. A Head-On occurs (two planes ram into each other)
C. They Get Angry With You (yes, along with A and B, this is what it says in English). There is a bar at the top of the screen that basically tells you how ticked the passengers are. They get angry when you take a long time to get a plane to take off/land (example: A plane on ground is ready to go, but you let it sit there for a long time, or a plane is circling around the runway waiting to land, but you leave it there for a while).
D. Time-Up (the timer runs out)

There are basically 8 levels (three levels, the first is divided into 2 sections, the second divided into 4 sections, and the third into 2 sections), and one tutorial level. The average point requirement for a level is around 1800 points, some are more, some are less. You get 190 points every time a plane successfully lands/takes off, and for each conversation you have with a pilot from a plane gives you a lousy 9 points. The game can be very difficult and frustrating, as there are levels that are very tough and sometimes you'll just think ''Why can't this go any faster?'' Sometimes you'll think that when you're directing a plane to a parking space that it'll be safe and free from the danger of other planes colliding with it, when all of a sudden it gets hit, and there goes 15 minutes. Rinse, lather, and repeat, and it starts to get plain (no pun intended) aggravating. And if its not planes colliding, its the timer. One time, all I had to do was get one plane on the runway to take off, and I would've won, and it was going down the runway when all of a sudden the time ran out. Maybe I just reek at the game, but I don't think that's the case.

There are a few other factors that you need to think about when navigating the aircrafts. High winds may cause a plane to have to come out of a landing and start circling again. Sometimes, you may even get two planes circling at once, so you need to tell one of them to speed up/slow down to prevent collision. One of the later levels even features snow!

Overall the gameplay can get tedious, but it is very different, and some parts I found quite enjoyable.

Replay: 6/10

Later in the game, you'll open up an airport-editor mode (very weird) which lets you tinker with the airports that you've played. Some people may like this feature, but I find it rather useless. Also, you can always try to beat your old scores as you can go to a screen that holds the highest score for each level. If I could ever beat the game, I guess I would find out how much replay value it really had.

Overall: 7/10

Unique, boring, tedious, different, beautiful- these words all describe IAAATC. Its a cool game in its own way, and I'm glad to have it in my collection, I just don't think that most people would appreciate it. I can't fully suggest an import, but if you have the time and money, and are looking for a unique game, then go for it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/02, Updated 12/20/02