Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island

"Go Beckham Go"

Go Go Beckham - Adventure on Soccer Island is a great game on Game Boy Advance. Seeing screenshots, you would think it is a Super Mario clone...however, this game far surpasses Mario in almost every aspect. I'm hoping for more Go Go Beckham titles from Denki.

Gameplay - This is where Go Go Beckham shines. Beckham has a magic soccer ball that he shoots to collect coins and to fight enemies. Beckham can also perform headers with the ball too. It is a interesting departure from just running and getting coins and jumping on foes. The ball does everything for you. Also, during the game, beckham can collect special stars that give him one time use powers such as freeze screen and defeat all enemies at once. There are no lives, either. You have a health meter, but once it goes down, you can only be fouled. That takes you back to the start of the level with just your coins you collected reset. There are no game overs and no character deaths either. Basically, the game keeps going until you turn it off.

Graphics - Good graphics. They have that kiddy look and feel to them. Beckham looks funny as a little cartoon character. Backgrounds look nice, but basically they are just palette swapped. Nice touches to the ball effects.

Longevity - There are 6 worlds, and each world has 9 stages each. Each stage takes maybe 4-5 minutes to complete. So, you can figure 5 hours of gameplay.

Replay value - There is alot of stuff in each level to collect, so there will be replay value if you want to get everything.

Buy or rent? I dont know of any places where you can rent GBA games, so the only option would be to buy. Also, I don't know if this game is coming stateside, so you would have to import it. Game Boy Advances will play every game, so there isnt any need to modify it. This game is very import friendly, too. It has a multiple language feature. If you are a platformer fan or a Beckham fan looking for a laugh, this game is for you. You might be turned off by the kiddy looks, but this is a very entertaining game. This is a solid game for kids, because it will keep them occupied. A great game for a family road trip. If you have kids, they will love this game

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/02, Updated 09/10/02