"Great for beginners and fun for the road"

Based on the manga by Hotta Yumi and the television series of the same name, Konami's Hikaru no Go for the Gameboy Advance is a great game for anyone who has never played go; tutorials guide the beginner through the basics of the game. For experienced go players, the AI system is superb, considering it is for a handheld system; there is even a hidden one-color go mode available to anyone skilled enough.

One can't expect too much from the Gameboy Advance. The processor does not compare to that of a (recent) modern desktop PC. The computer takes a long time to play as it goes through all its programming in search of a good (or not-so-good) move. While this may irritate many an anxious go lover, anyone familiar with the chess games for the old Gameboy system will be more at ease. The system is to be blamed for the slow gameplay, not the game itself.

The graphics are borrowed from the manga and television series. Characters are presented in an adventure game manner, such as in Sakura Taisen and Slayers Royal. Dialogues are supposedly quite witty (read the manga, translated at http://www.toriyamaworld.com; Hotta Yumi talks about the game in volume 12). The colors are vibrant, and the goban has a wood texture, rather than a plain beige color used in many go programs.

The sounds used in the game are nothing spectacular, just a few clicks and such. The music is a fairly upbeat techno-rock blend. There are no voices of any sort (such as the sounds Misaki makes in Angelic Layer, also for Gameboy Advance).

What makes this game great is the interface at the beginning. You start the game in ''your room''. You select things in the room with a hand-shaped cursor. On your desk is a PC with a Hikaru no Go TV wallpaper. From here you access your game records (both single and multiplayer). In front of the PC is a phone for network play. Next to the phone is a monthly manga with a Hikaru no Go feature. Clicking on this takes you to Story Mode. At the other end of your room is the door. Going through the door will take you to Free Mode where you can challenge the various characters you meet in the Story Mode. Your bed, in the lower right corner, will exit the game. This setup offers a simple, artful GUI and gameplay. You only have to go through the story mode once. After that, you can play whomever you want whenever you want.

In Story Mode you start in Hikaru's room with Sai and Hikaru. If you so choose, they will teach you the basics of go. Even in Japanese, this is still a good way to learn the rules if you don't speak Japanese. If you want to learn more, you can check out a book, visit a website, or watch the fansub of the television series, complete with five-minute tutorials after every episode. After the tutorial you go through the city, meeting other characters. The first few games are tutorial games with Sai giving advice. After playing a game with a character, that character becomes available in Free Mode.

Aside from a few tutorials, there is one precious feature in Story Mode that adds to what little replay value there is in the mode. When you first meet Tsutsui he challenges you to solve tsumego before moving on. While you cannot solve tsumego with Tsutsui again, soon after you can goto the cyber cafe where Mitani's sister will let you solve tsumego. This is decent practice, so it pays off to revisit the cyber cafe. Again, the interface makes it simple to return. When you enter Story Mode again, just click on the maps until you get there.

Another nice feature of the game is it saves constantly. You have to manually erase game data if you want to start anew. This can be annoying, but just suck it up and admit you made mistakes in the past; it's only a game. One drawback to this feature is in Free Mode. It will save in the middle of a game. There is no way to simply bail out of a game and preserve your record.

The game can be challenging. If you are tired or not concentrating, even Akari, the level 1 character, can beat you. One friend told me she beat Hikaru in Free Mode, while I, on the other hand, have three losses against him. Hotta Yumi reached level 10 after hours of play. She beat Touya Kouyo time after time, even when he was given a handicap. With such testimonies, the challenge of the game varies from person to person. For unskilled players, such as yours truly, Hikaru no Go is a very challenging game. However, for others it is only moderately challenging.

Regardless of how challenging the game is, how beautiful the sound is, or how slow the processor is, Hikaru no Go is a great game for one simple reason-- it is portable go. You can play go anywhere. You do not need a computer or a goban, just a Gameboy Advance. I have only been playing the ROM, but I am saving up for a Gameboy Advance just so I can have the game to play wherever I go.

If you like go, get this game. If you want to learn how to play go, get this game. If you do not like go, don't get this game. It is really quite simple.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/02, Updated 10/14/02