Magical Vacation (RPG Special) (Game Boy Advance) Preview

But things have now changed somewhat. Last year saw many Nintendo RPGs released across all territories (Mario & Luigi, Fire Emblem, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Sword of Mana, etc), with a sufficient amount of retail success to warrant people considering the idea of releasing some older, yet not out-dated, RPGs in other territories. Now 2004 has arrived, and the GBA schedule for the year is looking decidedly slim, the time could be ripe for Nintendo to launch Tomato Adventure, Fire Emblem 6 (actually set after Fire Emblem 7, the game we know as simply Fire Emblem), Legend of Stafi and, of course, Magical Vacation...

The team behind this game, as you know by now, previously worked on the superlative Mana series on the SNES and PSone...and it definitely obvious here. For those who have missed on the brilliant games, let me explain a little

Gameplay takes place in a turn-based environment, akin to Final Fantasy, which will shock many who thought Brownie Brown would stick to the Mana action style. Encounters are a mixture of random battles, again like Final Fantasy et al, and avoidable fights, such as found in Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana. 'Random Battles' is a phrase that alone can send a shiver down the spine of any RPG veteran. However it is implemented relatively well in Magical Vacation, with enemies not merely attacking every time you move about three steps in the game, but being well spaced out to give a sense of fairness and balance. You and five other characters (yes, five!) take it in turns to attack, cast a spell, use an item, defend or block

Finally, what about the audio aspect? The likes of Nintendo, Konami and Squaresoft have both proved that done correctly the GBA can produce aural qualities far beyond its weak sound processor (Metroid Fusion, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, will you all please stand up?). On the other hand, many developers have stumbled at this hurdle and the result has meant muffled sound