First things first: when you pick up your GBP, you will, of course, have to install it. This is fairly easy to do and should cause no problems. Simply turn your Gamecube over, remove the High Speed Port cover, and plug the GBP in. Once you have done this, simply screw in the two screws to secure the GBP to your Gamecube. It's as simple as that. The GBP also comes with a start-up disk. This must be put into the Gamecube disk tray so your Gamecube knows that you wish to play a Game Boy game. Without putting the disk in, your Gamecube will start up like normal. I assume that Nintendo made the GBP this way so you can leave the GBP on your Gamecube at all times instead of putting it on when you want to play a Game Boy game, then taking it off when your done.

The GBP can be used just like any other GBA. On the front there is a link port so that you can link your GBP to other Game Boys. You should, in theory, be able to hook up more than one GBP together if you have a couple of Gamecube, TVs, and GBP. However, the instruction manual says that you should not connect two GBP together; only connect it to other regular Game Boys. I'm not quite sure why they don't want you to hook up two GBP's, but hey, it's your money if you screw it up.

The biggest question most gamers have is, "How will the resolution of Game Boy games look on the TV?" Well this varies quite a bit. Some games look just as they did on the Game Boy, while others are noticeably grainy and blocky when blown up. The GBP has options in the menu to change the size of the screen from normal to full. In addition to screen size, there is also a screen filter in the GBP menu that can be switched between soft, normal, and sharp. These adjustments help some games more than others, so there are still a few that will look grainy and blocky. The problems are most noticeable on SNES remakes. LTTP doesn't look nearly as good as it did on the SNES and neither does Super Mario World. Metroid Fusion sadly doesn't look quite as good as Super Metroid.

The GBP menu has a few more options than screen adjustments. Just like the Super Game Boy, you can choose backgrounds if you don't have it set to full screen. There are 20 different backgrounds to choose from, so finding one you like shouldn't be too hard. From the menu you can also choose between two controller settings. Both settings are fairly easy to get used to, but it's just up to preference on which one you will use. If you don't want to use the Gamecube controller, you can choose to plug in your GBA via the GC-GBA link-up cable. There is also a timer feature in the menu, but its uses are limited. I assume it is mainly for parents who don't want their child playing too long. However, the timer doesn't shut off the GBP. This means that unless the parents are watching the child play, they will not be aware that the child's time is up. If you only have a limited amount of time to play, it can be a handy feature so you don't lose track of time. The best feature in the menu is the ability to switch gamepaks without turning off the console. You simply choose the option, and it asks if you are sure you want to change games. Click yes and the GBP will tell you when it is safe to remove the current gamepak and put in a new one.

There are a few problems with certain games. Games such as Kirby's Tilt and Tumble aren't going to work unless you want to move your Gamecube around (I highly suggest against it). Other games with rumble features and Konami's Boktai I can only assume will not work very well either. Also, old Game Boy games without colors will be given color by the GBP. However, you can't expect that the GBP knows what to color everything, so there are a number of color palettes to choose from by using a code at the start-up screen (look in the instruction manual for more info on that).

Overall the choice of whether or not to buy a GBP is all left to preference. If you play all your Game Boy games at home as I usually do, it might just be a good idea. However if you only play on the road, there is really no reason to buy it. The GBP has its problems, but they really aren't enough that it will hinder gameplay. I am thoroughly enjoying my purchase and if you really would like to play your Game Boy games on your TV, I say go for it.

Danzego's Logik

In your interest of Nintendo's Game Boy Player (which, of course, is the reason to read this review), I'll take the road less traveled in Link's assessment and primarily focus on the end results: the gameplay.

Before I do, however, a couple points of note: rest assured, as mentioned before, installation of the GBP is a snap. Opening the package itself results in more frustration than the actual installation of the Game Boy Player. That's not surprising considering Nintendo chose to package the GBP the same way they package memory cards and controllers rather than in a cardboard box. Just a quick side note: state governments should highly consider wrapping prisoners in this sort of fashion rather than behind bars as Nintendo's (and other companies) method of packaging is darn near impossible to open.

Another point of mention not related to gameplay is the spiffy eject button located on the side of the Game Boy Player. There's one thing you need to remember the first time you eject a cartridge: softly and slowly does the trick. My first time hitting the eject button, I gave the lever a respectable flick only to watch Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance shoot clear across the room. Ok, perhaps there's a bit of exaggeration in that statement, but the Eject button does turn the GameCube of those with a heavy touch into a GBA cartridge cannon.  

Ok, on to the gameplay. Personally, I wasn't wowed by what the GBP accomplished. It most certainly does what Nintendo intended it to do: it allows you to play Game Boy games on your TV. However, the results vary widely from game to game. Some problems can be fixed easily through the Screen Filter option. That is, the journey from Game Boy screen to TV is marred by some annoying jitter effects, particularly in games that utilize Mode 7 effects (scaling and rotation, commonly seen in overworld maps in RPG's and the like). By setting the filter to Normal or Soft display modes, the jitters clear right up. There are games out there that I encountered, however, where these graphical glitches don't quite go away no matter what I did.

As with the GBA SP and a stock GBA equipped with an Afterburner, the colors appear washed out with the GBP. As a matter of fact, they tend to appear even more washed out with a GBP than they do with the latter two options. Mind you, that's to be expected. Just be ready to look at some games for the first time kind of funny and ponder, "Hmmmm, I don't remember that object being quite that color or as bright". 

Another thing I noticed with the Game Boy Player is that a few of the games I played ran noticeably slower than they seemed to on the Game Boy Advance, most notably Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow. Both games have excellent animation when viewed from the point they were intended to be (on the Game Boy Advance), but they didn't excel in this area on the Game Boy Player. I saw the same thing happen with Link to the Past and Mario Advance 2 (Super Mario World). Actually, it was pretty much like that across the board, but this problem can most definitely be attributed to there being certain things you just can't detect on a small screen like the GBA's whereas on a full-size TV, you can. This isn't a problem with the hardware at all, just the nature of the beast.

As a matter of fact, that pretty much sums up the performance of the Game Boy Player altogether. GBA games were intended to be played on that small screen, so many "flaws" are easily hidden and the graphics, in general, look very good. However, when you take those same games to the big screen, things of this nature become fully exposed. Backgrounds, as well as the main characters, don't have that same "oomph" you may be used to on the small screen and on many games the background scrolling and/or character animations tend to run a bit slow to choppy.

The only game I came away from the GBP fully satisfied with was Klonoa: Empire of Dreams. I also came a bit more to terms with the previously unplayable Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 due to actually being able to see what was going on. Of course, it helped that the GBA D-Pad doesn't work very well with THPS3 when compared to the GameCube controller's analog joystick. Speaking of control, as before, your level of satisfaction will vary from game to game. I found some games wonderful to play with the GameCube controller and, in a few other cases, the game in question was less than playable. It seems the GameCube controller's buttons aren't quite as sensitive as the GBA, leaving those who play games which require precision timing digging for their trusty GBA link cable. There's a bit in irony in that many will choose to link up their GBA for control purposes when the entire idea is to play GBA games on your GameCube.

In the end, I think the GBP is a product that pretty much does what it's intended to do: it allows you to play GBA games on your TV. It certainly doesn't make them look any better in most cases (quite the opposite, as a matter of fact) and doesn't make them play any better, either. Of course, that's not the fault of the GBP itself; it's just things that occur when making the move from the original intended source (the GBA screen) to a regular TV. Unless developers begin programming specifically with the GBP in mind, don't expect these things to clear up, either. What your decision on whether to get a GBP or not should come down to is this: do you mind playing GBA games on that small screen in the first place? If not, then you may not be as impressed with the GBP as you think. However, if you just can't stand that tiny GBA screen in the first place but really want to indulge in the GBA library, Nintendo has sure made a product for you.