Desert Strike Advance

"There really isn't much that is "Advance" about this game"

First of all, let me mention one thing. There are two types of remakes for the GBA. There's the re-makes, where the company actually takes the time to improve the game. Then, there's the ''re-makes'', where all the company does is tack ''Advance'' onto the end of the name and calls it a new game. So, what does this have to do with this game? Unfortunately, this game falls into the latter category. Almost NOTHING was improved or added.

Oh well, on to the review:

Story: 9/10
Like the rest of the Strike series, the basic story is: Madman (This time, it's a pudgy dictator named General Mubaba who looks and acts like Saddam Hussein) in a country (Which resembles Iraq) wants to start World War III. You, as an anonymous AH-64 Apache pilot must stop the madman.
Of course, since Desert Strike was the first in the Strike series, it is excusable. One thing that's great about the story is that there are cut scenes and briefings which somewhat helps with the story.

Graphics: 8/10
For those who've played the original Genesis/SNES version, you'll be excited to know that the graphics in the GBA version are exactly the same. The Chopper, vehicles, buildings are exactly the same as the original. Everything looks detailed. The cut scenes look pretty good too (Although they are usually just a picture, sometimes moving, with words to the bottom or side). In fact, the cut scenes were the only things that EA improved. The characters are much more detailed in these new cut-scenes than they were in the SNES version (which is what the scenes were based off of).

Unfortunately, the small size of the screen means that some things are tough to see. I've gotten to points in the game where I'm trying to find a ground soldier who is firing at me and the soldier is almost impossible to see.

Sound: 8/10
The Sound, like the graphics is straight out of the original. The only music is on the title screen and menu, and it's still pretty good.

During missions, beside your chopper's engine sound, you will hear guns and missiles (Both yours and the enemy's) firing. The firing sounds and the explosions also sound ok, although at times, the sounds can also sound pretty flat.

Gameplay: 9/10
I'll put this bluntly: THIS GAME IS HARD! It may only have four levels, but it is a nightmare trying to pass each one...

Like every other Strike game, each level is made up of one large map and many different missions. Basically, the missions are flying to a location(s) and destroying/saving/rescuing whatever's there.

But it's not that easy, for you are very much outnumbered by enemies who can easily tear your AH-64 Apache to pieces. But enemies are the least of your worries; your chopper, like real-life helicopters, has a limited amount of fuel. You run out of fuel and you crash (Using one of your lives in the process). You also need to worry about your limited amount of ammo for your guns, hydra missiles, and heavy missiles. After all, you don't want to be surrounded by enemies and then run out of missiles. Luckily, your friends at the White House have had some ammo crates, fuel barrels, and armor supply crates dropped in the area. And of course, those too are very limited.

Control
The controls are pretty simple and very adjustable. You can even adjust how much momentum your chopper has when it's moving (Do you want realistic movement? Or do you want it to stop instantly?).

Longetivity and Replayability: 9/10 and 4/10
I gave this two scores because although this game will take a LONG amount of time for you to beat (Because it's so dang hard), it has nothing to make you want to play it again. No multi-player, no secrets.

The thing that irks me the most about this game is that it uses a password save system. Let's face it: Passwords Suck. I know that the original game used passwords, but that was the 1990's. By now, passwords systems should be dead. I'm surprised EA didn't put in a cartridge save to replace the passwords.

The Blowemup (Bottom) Line
It's great that the team who did this could reproduce the game perfectly, but perhaps it is a little too perfectly, for nothing was added and very little was improved. The password system stinks and that takes the game's score down a notch. But still, with its difficulty and fun factor, this is a title that you should add to your collection if you want a challenge.

Final Score: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/13/03, Updated 11/16/03