Screen Analysis Part 3

00-09-08 - Dave - Get ready for the 3rd installment of what is becoming one of the most popular features, judging by hits.  For those of you who missed the others, continue reading to see my speculation on upcoming GBA games based on nothing more than a screenshot and a little common sense.

Sansara Naga

First impressions:  This screenshot surely has brought glee to the hearts of gamers;  Victor Interactive is bringing us a very sleek-looking traditional console RPG.  With a four-character party, multiple-enemy battles, and enormous stat's, this game will surely be something to look forward to.

Analysis:  Look at the 4 characters in the player's party (right side of the screen).  Notice how 3 of them are the same 'specie' of animals, just different colors...we'll come back to them in a minute.  Now take a glance at the odd-man out. He's wearing the traditional hero garb, a tight helmet and cape, and he shares some common hero traits, relatively medium-small in stature and medium-low HP and MP, not to mention being in the lead position of the party.  I'm willing to say that this blue and red clad fellow is the game's hero.  As for the animals, I find it hard to believe that they would be crucial to the plot, meaning that they are either three out of many allies your hero will have, or else it's not a traditional console RPG, but a monster trainer.  My favorite part of the picture is the fact that your 3 allies are red, white, and blue.  I'm sure that was not intentional, though.

Super Black Bass 4 Advance

First Impressions:  Yeehaw!  I was really worried about the GBA, but now that we've got this fishing game coming, I'm truly excited.  Ha.  All joking aside, even though Namco's Legend of the River King is the only fishing game that really appealed to me, this game definitely has serious potential.

Analysis:  Look at all those windows:  In the top right, we have temperature measured to the nearest tenth of a degree (probably measured in Celsius in this version, seeing as how that's what Japan uses primarily) and an icon indicating weather, currently sunny.  In the top right, there's a countdown clock to tell you when the day's fishing is over.  At the bottom left is a nice map of the current lake, and the bottom right holds an indicator of the lakebed's depth and fish in the immediate area.  And of course, in the middle, it's easy to spot your shiny red fishing boat.  It would appear as though the game is paused:  the four other windows just above the middle block too much of the screen to be visible during normal play.  The left-most center window appears to be a hand holding a rod, which I would assume allows you to begin casting, but...unless casting is in a completely different mode (and even if it is a completely different mode), it would be much better for the player to be able to begin casting by a single button press. The second window from the left appears to be the tackle box, where you would change lures, bait, hooks, and possible rods and reels.  The far right center window shows a GBC cartridge (most likely because the developer, Starfish, didn't yet know exactly what a GBA cart would look like), which will most likely give access to saving and quitting.  The second window from the right, then, by process of elimination, is most likely how the player will access stats regarding number of fish caught (with weight and/or length), number of fish in live well (with weight and/or length),  and perhaps even stats related to the tournament, such as today's standings and overall standings.

One last thing:  even though the colors are bright and varied, the tiles used for the lake are pretty...well...lame.  Sure, they look nice, but there's no variety...is this game going to be plagued by the fact that there's only so many rock tiles, and so many weed tiles, etc?  I hope that Starfish will make the extra effort to overcome this rather silly shortcut.

That's all folks!  Make sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven't already, and watch for Part 4!