Duke Nukem Advance

"Alien ass-kicking on the small screen!"

GameBoy Advance seems like the place where they dump all the ports from older PC games, and there have been many. Duke Nukem Advance is definitely one of the better ones. With Duke Forever in development limbo, this will tide you over.
Duke Nukem Advance uses the unmistakable BUILD engine that was used in the old, classic Duke Nukem 3D, and captures the 1996 look and feel of Duke 3D.
Many of the enemies featured in Duke 3D are also back, like the pigcops (*grunt* *grunt* BANG! *squeal!*) and the enforcers (the pink guys with the machineguns), and the trooper aliens. There are also new enemies, such as the acid spitting crabs and the grey aliens (like the ones you typically see in TV and movies). Oddly missing are the scantily-clad bimbos from the original Duke 3D.
The weapons are classic Duke style, with the dinky DesertEagle pistols, the shotguns, the assault rifle, the rocket launcher and freeze ray and shrink cannon (or is it freeze cannon and shrink ray??). Funnest of all are the pipebombs -- throw one, then select them agin to throw another. Then detonate and watch the enemy's guts splatter. (It's also amusing to blow up toilets in this manner!)
The enemy AI is fairly oK -- enemies shoot when they see you and will often dodge your bullets, but you can sometimes find enemies who do not sense your presence, then BAM! Unload some shells! The bosses can be killer, taking in lots of RPG ammo and shotgun shells before dying.
The sound and the music are the same as Duke3D for the most part. The voice of Jon St. John is back as Duke and all the classic one-liners are back.
The story finds Duke in Area 51 ready to kick alien ass. This ''story'' progresses through 19 levels and crude cutscenes and leads up to Duke facing an alien army with a bomb and plans for Earth's apocalypse. Most levels take place indoors, except for the Egyptian levels and some of the Australia levels. Level design is fairly simple, and so are Duke's tasks -- kill kill kill, get some stuff, kill kill kill, jumping puzzles &/or cutscene, kill kill kill, get keycard to advance. More challenging though are the timed levels, wherein Duke has to escape before the timer runs out.
This game is a MUST HAVE for all Duke fans or just fans of FPS! It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/15/03