Second Opinion: Oh, thank God for Duke.
The Game Boy Advance has really allowed for some revolutionary advances in portable gaming. Sure, the hardware does have its drawbacks, but never before have we had this kind of power in a handheld gaming system. Take a look at Duke Nukem Advance. This game shows us that the GBA has just as much punch as a (five year old) PC does. Developer Torus Games has taken one of the best PC action titles of all time and created a perfect extension of Duke's nefarious adventures.
Duke Nukem Advance is not a handheld port of Duke Nukem 3D. What Torus Games has done is taken 3D's winning formula, tuned it for optimum performance on the GBA, and put together a brand new adventure starring the videogame industry's favorite male chauvinist. Once again, alien invaders are overrunning the Earth and Duke Nukem is the only man alive that can stop their menace and destroy their hibernating army. While some of DN3D's "juicier" elements are sadly missing, DNA's action is actually backed up with a story. True, most of the story is told through text conversations between Duke and the General, but it is there.
So, the story is all text based, but at least Duke's classic quips are there in all of their glory. "Come get some," "That's gotta hurt," and "Ooh, what a mess" all chime across the GBA's speaker with impeccable timing. The rest of the sound effects all help to fill in the experience and give the alien invaders a certain sense of creepyness. Personally, I find that a lot of game soundtracks distract me from playing and enjoying the game itself. That is why the omission of in-level music is welcome and appropriate for the action that ensues. However, just like with most GBA games, the standard little speaker doesn't do the sound justice. For games with sound the quality of Duke Nukem Advance, it pays to invest in a decent set of stereo headphones.
What really shines about Duke Nukem Advance is the astounding gameplay that Torus has put together. Duke Nukem Advance features one of the most effective uses of the buttons available on the GBA. Using the shoulder buttons for strafing is very intuitive and the inclusion of a jump button adds another dimension to the action. There are two very major innovations to the controls that I have to give Torus some credit for. The first is the clever combining of the select and shoulder buttons to switch between your available weapons, all while the action rages on. The other is the addition of the ability to look up and down. It isn't easy to do this in the middle of a firefight, especially while attempting to dodge incoming fire. However, Torus did the best they could with the GBA's hardware. By adding an auto-aim function, Torus has allowed you to pick off those enemies that are just off of your horizon line with minimal effort.
There is still a lot of fun to be had with Duke Nukem Advance after you've finished off the single-player missions. A great four-player multiplayer feature will keep you and three of your nearest and dearest occupied for hours. Another thing that will keep you coming back to DNA is the four selectable difficulty levels. Since this game is so good to begin with, playing it again at a harder level is all the more appealing. I think that fact really attests to just how good this game is.
