It’s hard to think back to a time when handheld gaming was revolutionary yet with an Angry Birds movie on the verge of release, it’s very clear we live in a different age altogether. Here in 2016 mobile gaming has become a genre in itself, especially when you think how huge Angry Birds is or how people went mad for Flappy Bird. I’ll be completely honest and admit that I do own a smartphone but much to the annoyance of my young nieces I don’t have any games on it. However, this will change when Pokémon Go is released because how could you not be excited about that game? You’ll be thinking “so how do you pass the time when you’re away from your phone?” and I will respond proudly “with my Gameboy Advance”. If you will grant me a few minutes of your time then I’ll explain as to why.

So that weird looking kid with the stupid grin, that’s me and that grin is because I’ve just received the object I desired most in the world. A Nintendo Gameboy. There was just as much excitement when I received a Gameboy Advance on what I’m going to guess was my 13th Birthday. Not only do I still have this console but yes I still play it! It’s not tucked away in the loft or on an elaborate display shelf it’s usually on my bedside table or occasionally in the glovebox of my car (I don’t play while driving, it’s so I have it with me).

Design

I’m not 13 years old anymore yet many years later my Gameboy is going strong while the phone I bought less than 12 months ago and cost a small fortune is refusing to charge. My Advance has survived days at school, Megabus journeys and somehow survived my poolside lounging on many a holiday. I won’t bombard you with clichés like its built like a tank or it could survive a nuclear blast so let’s just say they made a very robust console. Actually, that’s too boring let’s change it to “it’s so robust it’s like the lovechild of a Nokia 3310 and a Gorilla. I also feel the shape is perfect and makes for the most comfortable handheld gaming experience. Meaning with my Advance I can play it for much longer without feeling any discomfort, good news for me bad news for productivity.

Special Editions

How many consoles can you buy to reflect your personality or style? There are so many colours, variants and special editions of each Advance console. Some of the best of my memory were the NES, Zelda, Tribal, Donkey Kong, Pokémon and Hello Kitty. Some wanted to collect every edition of the console while most would just pick the one that really spoke to them. Fashion is important to a lot of people, shoes, bags and accessories need to match clothes so why can’t your Gameboy be
the same.

Cross Compatibility

Possibly the greatest part of owning a handheld console made by Nintendo is the ability to play all games released for previous Gameboy models. To put this in perspective when I purchased my PlayStation 4 all my PlayStation 3 games become obsolete, never mind PS2 and PS1 games. Yet my Advance has the ability to play games released for the Gameboy colour and the original Gameboy, opening up an even bigger library for your gaming pleasure. Nintendo pushed this boundary even further by enabling GameCube players the ability to use their Advance as an extra controller and for deeper connectivity between certain games such as Wario World and Pokémon Colosseum.

Accessories

No other company put as much creativity or innovation into accessories as Nintendo did. Not only did they release the accessories you really needed they released the ones you never knew you needed yet you had to have. Good examples of must haves were attachable lights or magnifying glasses, rechargeable battery packs and who could forget the infamous camera and printer. Nintendo shook things up when they released the link cable, enabling connection not only between two Gameboy consoles but between a Gameboy Advance and the great Nintendo GameCube. You have not experienced gaming until you’ve connected your console via cable to a friend’s console and battled your best Pokémon against theirs. A few years after there was a wireless adaptor released that did the same job as the cable though it didn’t quite feel the same to me. Also, I have to mention the Gameboy Player, admittedly an accessory for the GameCube that allowed you to play your favourite Gameboy games on the big screen was fantastic.

Games

Every console has a selection of brilliant games but how many consoles were behind a game that started a phenomenon. If you aren’t aware of the game I’m talking about, well you probably weren’t born in the 90s and if you were maybe it was in a cave? Of course, I’m talking about Pokémon and the resulting Poke-mania of the 90s. Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire were the highest selling games on the Advance, though the console had some fantastic non-Pokémon releases. The Super Mario Advance series, Final Fantasy Tactics, Golden Sun, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Zelda: the Minish Cap and Castlevania, to name just a few. Along with the release of the NES edition of the Advance SP, Nintendo also released several NES classic games onto Gameboy Advance which are so much fun to play and bring back great memories.

Conclusion

So it’s not the most powerful handheld available, it doesn’t have amazing graphics, it doesn’t even have a backlight however it sums up what gaming should be and that’s fun. I was willing to embarrass myself to share with you, my love for this console. With such an extensive back catalogue of amazing games, I implore you to dig out your old GBA or pick one up cheap, though I’d definitely recommend getting a screen light too.

Stuart Purcell

Meanwhile, deep underground somewhere in Manchester, terrifyingly sinister plots are being schemed. But back in reality I’m usually just playing video games, reading comics and watching cartoons.