Customer Reviews

GT Advance Championship Racing

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

GranTurismo on a handheld. That's the analogy everyone uses, and Advance GTA lives up to that comparison.

The game is spectacular. It features plenty of sporty cars and a bunch of those quirky Japanese cars, like the Daihatsu Cube. However, the gameplay is where the game shines. I was skeptical about how well the game would work with the limited number of buttons on the Game Boy Advance, but the game compensates wonderfully and each button is used very well. This game definately is one with a more difficult learning curve than most Game Boy Advance games, and once you get into Middle Class (which may be renamed for the US version, GT Advance), difficulty increases a lot. That's not a bash of the game, because the Middle Class tracks are very do-able after a few tries, but expect a jolt from the difficulty level of Beginner Class tracks.

I only have two criticisms of Advance GTA. One - The sounds are tedious and more often than not, I just turn off the speaker. The engine roaring just isn't realistic, and since most of the time in the game you're in a tight turn, the squealing tires are just irritating. Two - the sprites of the cars, while they are vey realistic looking, have a tendency to pixelate and break in the middle of turns. It's difficult to describe, although those who have played the game have probably noticed it. When you turn your car, the entire sprite breaks into pieces. It's very annoying, but hopefully this problem will also be resolved in the US version.

However, these are just annoyances. The game is awesome. It's extraordinarily addictive. If you're a fan of realistic racers like GranTurismo and you have or are getting a GBA, you can't pass this game up!

This is a well-done, fun game with excellent graphics, exciting music, reasonably good sound effects, and realistic responses to steering and braking controls. It DOES take practice and finesse to progress up through the levels. If your style is to run the car at top speed until you spin out, you will be frustrated. You soon learn to feather the brake pedal (that is, the B button) to get through turns quickly. Guess what--it's the same in real racing. And if you wear headphones, you hear as well as see other cars passing you on the left or right--sweet. One other neat feature the manual doesn't mention is the best time feature where you try to beat the preprogrammed best lap times. After setting a record, the game asks if you want to race again. Say yes, and you find yourself racing a little ghost car that's actually a recording of your record-setting run.

My major dislikes: the infamous 16 digit, randomly-chosen password system. Write those characters down carefully and save them in a safe place or you won't be able to leave off where you were. Nobody should have to keep a pad and pencil handy just to play a race game. Also, there are a few too many cars to choose from, and many are unfamiliar if you're not a fan of little Japanese street rods.

I'd give the whole package 5 stars if not for that peabrained password system.

I think the main thing that's saving this game from being bad is great graphics and good control. The password save feature gets kind of annoying (takes a minute and a half each time to type it in) and the music is just TERRIBLE, you would think it came from a regular Nintendo if you heard it on speakers. It is all this high-pitch electronic music and there aren't many music tracks. I guess the sound effects are okay, except for that annoying squeal of the tires. But the good things about this game are the great graphics and above average control (definitely better than GBC.) Also, I like how it is so easy to upgrade your car without having to handle money and manage it. Sometimes after you finish a lap, you are awarded a new muffler or better springs, and you don't have to mess around with figuring out what to spend money on; you have only one choice.

Pros: Great graphics- looks like Gran Turismo except the track is completely flat. There are cool night tracks, daytime tracks, and sunset tracks. 32 tracks total.

Gameplay is pretty good, although if you have it on automatic transmission the only buttons you use are A and B.

The cars are neat too- although I would like to see some Ferraris etc, there is a nice list of 48 cars and they all look like they do in real life.

A good thing about password save: you can get codes from someone else and use them on your own game, just like using cheats.

Cons:

Music is really high-pitched and repeats over and over again. Only a few music tracks too. Sound effects aren't that great either.

Password save feature is annoying, despite the fact that you can use other people's codes. I timed myself once and it took me 1.5 minutes to type in 16 characters. Plus you need a pen and paper handy. If you're looking forward to just doing a quick race, you're going to have to type in your password just for that one race if you want all the tracks. That's not very convenient considering you're spending more time doing the password than playing.

I don't know if you should really buy this game; I bought it from a store with store credit that I had, you may want to do that if you can instead of paying for it. Or at least rent this game first. Buying video games is risky- some of them are bad. Rent this first to see if you like it

This summer be prepared for the Ride of Your Life! It's a ride you'll never forget! Smooth graphics, along with some of the best GBA sound effects make this a MUST HAVE! With close to 40 different Eastern cars to choose from (including hotties from Honda, Mazda, and Toyota), you'll be racin' through streets and country side in no time! Then grab some of your gaming buddies and shape up for 4 player action via the Gameboy ADVANCE link cable. Electronic gaming sites are full of praise for "The best racing game ever to hit a hand-held." Buy a car, customize it, and then head for the track. Enter circuit play and win cash to upgrade and buy new cars. The gaming options are endless all you have to do is get it! -The Kayaker-

If you like racing games, this one is for you. The graphics are nothing short of spectacular. The game has licenses for some of Japan's most well known companies (ie Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi). The cars looks great and the control is outstanding. The only drawback this game has is the fact that it was changed from the origianl Japanese game in the saving department. It has a password save system instead of battery back up, but otherwise it's a great game. It definitely displays the greatness of 32 bit racing. This is the GBA version of Grand Tourismo. With an outstanding total of 48 upgradeable cars...this is a must for racing fans.

This game has very good graphics. It is the best handheld racing game on the market.

Reasons to buy this item:

- good gameplay
- awesome graphics
- good cars and tracks to choose from

Reasons not to buy this game:

- 16 letter password to type in everytime you want to load something

People say that the music and screeching noise is annoying, but there is an option to turn off the music or to just turn down the volume.

To clear all the tracks and bonuses, type in the following:
+vMN ?T/6 /NRR vMR8

This is guaranteed to work.

I hope that this review was helpful to you!

GT Advanced Championship Racing is a must have! GTAdvaced is an excellent racing sim feauturing Daihusta, Honda, Mazada, and Toyota.With 32 off-road on-raod tracks to take on,Gt Avanced will get any gearhaed revved up. One of the first things that you will notice is the impreesive grahpics. Each of the 48 cars are finly detailed and are availble in a variety of colors.You'll also like the backgrounds,that are filled with interesting scenrey such as snow-capped mountains and glitery city lights.Racing fans will have a blast with the smooth graphics of GT advanced. The only downside is that if you turn your car too fast it will spinn out, so you'll have to use your brakes to stay on the road.Another tiny problem is that everybody needs their own game pak to play mulitplayer but the multiplayer is very fun.

First off, I want to say that I enjoyed the game. The music was okay, and the graphics were really nice. I liked the fact that there were so many cars to choose from and that different parts and cars are unlocked as you progress through the game.

Having said that... the password system kills it all. It takes me two or three minutes just to put it in. Seriously. If you have an hour to play, it doesn't really matter. But if you don't have much video-game-stamina, you will get tired of this game very quickly. I played this game, and liked it, for about two weeks. But that was due to the fact that I was on a family vacation and couldn't do anything with the family because of an injury. I was bored. Very bored. Once I got home, I tried playing the game two or three more times, but since then I have never picked it back up.

My advice: get GT Advance Championship Racing 2. I hear that it is just as good as the original, BUT SAVES YOUR PROGRESS.

The game and the graphics are good.There are 14 Japanese cars and only 1 track to start with,Then you have to win races in the champion level to earn more cars,extra parts,and tracks. There are cheats that don;t screw up your gameboy but it doesn't save your progrees since you're using cheats. The annoying thing in the game is the LONG password!You have to write down it exactly or you won't be able to bring up the data from the point you left of after turning of the gameboy. I forgot to metion this, the extra parts are just things that make your car better like more speed and acceleration.

Wow. It is simply astonishing to see this much detail in a handheld racing game. You can see light posts, road signs, buildings, and more in amazing clarity. To achieve this level of detail you would think THQ would have to slow the game down to avoid frame rate problems; but they don't. What's even more astonishing is the game is still smooth animation-wise. So do they have to cut out tracks to aid the RAM? Nope; this game is huge: It packs 28 thracks, a huge lot of cars, and two bonus modes! Amazing, huh? Well, there is one set back to having this big of a game: The lack of a battery-save feature.

Yes, it lacks the memory to hold any kind of save data; so instead, it uses a 16-character password system. Some of these passwords can be ridiculously long, and are a bit tiring on the ol' fingers. However, it does provide a quick scroll system, which helps to get to the farther away letters. After a while, you can learn to spew out passwords in a minute or two and the process doesn't become so brain-numming. OK, so it's a slight drawback, but not enough to stop you from buying the game.

The physics of the game are fun, if not so realistic. The main strategy of the game is to hit the outside lane before the turn, and then when the turn comes, brake hard and throw yourself into the inside lane. This technique makes the bottom of your car slide without losing to much speed(I still can't figure out why the car doesn't roll, but oh well...). Most cars can get upgrades to various parts of them, but this doesn't majorly affect the way your car feels.

The single player game is very easy to master; I've given the game to a toddler and he has already beaten the first races. Other cars tend not to pay much attention to you, and I stronly suspect that all of your opponents are set on the same path. Then why play it, you ask? To race with other friends. In the single player game you get rewarded with parts and pieces to upgrade your car and, in addition to that, you get new cars as well. In this game, the better car usually wins, so make sure you have the best.

OK, your probably wondering if you should buy this game. I've told you its ups and downs(Ups: Fun, challenging(at times), deep. Downs: Password save, hardcore car geeks will not like the physics) but you really don't know whether it's worth your money and your time. Well let me tell you that it most definitely is. You will not be disappointed in this game. You won't even run out of things to do with it for another two years! Go out and buy this game.