Duke Nukem Advance

"Duke Nukem is the epitome of badness"

Duke Nukem is the epitome of the video game icon: badass, macho and just plain awesomeness. Therefore I wasn't really surprised that there is a Duke Nukem game on the GBA, the first one of its kind. I was expecting this game to be a side scroll shooting game but to my utter surprise it isn't! This is actually a full-wedged first person shooter on the GBA. Wow!

Hum-de-dumb, so I play the game. The first thing that I have to complain about is that the control of the game is kind of hard. While this doesn't make the game unplayable, it just frustration for some people. Also note that you can't really aim the cross hair up or down. But you can quickly get used to the controls if you try.

Then comes the game play! You're quickly put into action, shooting the enemies – mostly comprised of aliens and mutated pigs in police uniform – and collecting bullets.
The game play is indeed fun; you strafe from right to left and shooting the enemies. To advance in most of the levels you have to collect some key card in order to get pass through the high security door way. In short, the game play is fun, short and mindless.

I don't know much about the story, but you're area 51 at the beginning of the game. Then the story unravels from there.

Everything I have mentioned about the game is good so far. There must be some flaws, right? Yes there is, some very serious flaw. The graphics department of the game needs some serious tune up. Because I couldn't help but start to getting nauseated after 5 minutes of playing this game, and then vomiting if I keep playing. Why is that? Because in the game it's fast action, therefore requires you to move about and stuff. The problem is the textures of the game is very blocky, therefore it can make you have a headache.
Anyone who plays Doom on low resolution should understand what I mean here.

But just because the graphics of the game makes some gamer nauseated doesn't mean the graphics is bad; far from it. In fact, I think the graphics for this game is pretty decent considering that this game is for the GBA. The tiles in the game are nice and bright and there are quite a few details on the weapon you're holding. And the aliens in the game look detailed if I may add.

On a side note, the map in the game – where you go to select it from the option manual – is very crude and primitive. I laughed when I saw it because it reminds me of some visual basic programs with the lines and stuff. I thought it would be nice if the game developers made a more nice and elegant map.

In conclusion, this game is somewhat unique in the GBA but – from my knowledge as of this time – I don't know any other first person shooter for the GBA. Duke Nukem is a classic game and should be adored by everyone because he is the best! But we warned however because if you're like me, you can't stand the graphics for this game and it may make you violently vomit. Just a friendly reminder :^)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/17/05