Review: GBA Micro

This review is a little late, as the GBA Micro has been available in the US since October, 2005. I've had mine since December, but I only started posting this blog 3 days ago. Once I get my hands on a DeLorian, I'll go back to December, 2005 and write this review again so you'll have it in a more timely fashion.

But if I was ever going to get a DeLorian and travel back in time to write the review, then I'd already have written it by now and you would already have read it....

And if I had been able to travel through time, the last thing I'd be doing is writing some crap on the internet. I'd be shaking hands with Lincoln; making money hand-over-fist in the first dotcom boom; harvesting dinosaur eggs in the hope that I might one day create an unique interactive theme park where children could see dinosaurs up close...you know, but safely.

Since none of the above has/had happened, I'm going to do this GBA Micro thing now. But don't worry about the review itself, because you didn't read past that time travel nonsense and aren't reading this now.

Ahem.

The Nintendo GameBoy Micro has genuinely changed the way I play video games. Because it is so small, so transportable, I take it everywhere and use it every day. I owned a GBA SP prior to the Micro, and never played the thing.

For whatever reason, the shape and clamshell design of the SP never sat well with me. It was too clunky to fit comfortably in a pocket and the buttons were positioned too awkwardly for my fingers.

The Micro, on the other hand, has neither of those shortcomings. It's aesthetically very pleasing. And despite its small size, the buttons are actually spaced further apart and are much easier for my fingers to reach. It's just a nicer package all around. Why that makes me use it more often I don't know.

To illustrate just how small the Micro is, someone came up with this classy sticker. (It isn't mine. I found it here.) Yes. It's that small.

There are more virtues than just its size and design, though. The LCD screen is brilliant. Brighter and higher resolution than the SP, the Micro's screen makes the GameBoy's stable of cartridge titles look as good as they've ever looked.

Also, another deal-making improvement is the battery life. Dude, the thing has a single-charge lifespan of better than 8 hours on average. I've gotten close to 10 hours. Long trips, intercontinental flights, church services...it'll survive anything.

Although the Micro isn't backwards-compatible with original GameBoy or GameBoy Color cartridges, it shouldn't be a problem. If you were in love with your original Mega Man title on GBC...then you probably still have your GBC. Play it on that. Nerd.

There aren't any other bells and whistles with the Micro. Size, design, screen quality and battery life are its only virtues. But for me at least, they are more than enough reason to spend $90 on a game system that has probably the best, most playable library of games available.

My main recommendation is primarily for those who have not yet purchased a GameBoy system of any sort. If you already own another GB system, the Micro isn't a necessary purchase. It is a necessary purchase if you love gaming and don't yet own a Nintendo portable.

I have a DS Lite that keeps the Micro company on my nightstand. The DS is a wonderful system with its own compelling reasons for purchase...but I don't play it 1/10th as much as the Micro.

To put a punctuation on this already lengthy, largely useless review, let me say that for under $100, the GBA Micro is the best money I've ever spent on a gaming system or accessory*. Period.


*This statement is probably only true because I never actually purchased a copy of Guitar Hero.