* GBA SP Review * ======================================================================== By Titney titney AT pocketheaven DOT com 2003-02-25 - Intro This is some notes about things I noticed but haven't really seen mentioned anywhere else rather than a full-fledged review. Overall I'm very pleased with my SP so far, I only had it for a few hours. - Importing I got the SP from www.play-asia.com, it took 6 days from I placed my order til it was delivered by EMS. The box was a bit smashed up, pretty crap packaging, just a bubble envelope around some cardboard. But the SP itself seems ok, cept for some very tiny scuffmarks on the top that you can only see if you hold it at an angle at the light. I also got a 220 to 110 volt converter from Lik-sang since I live in Europe. They charged my credit card at the beginning of January but didn't send it out until a month later! Luckily it got here before the SP. - Scratchability I actually tried to scratch the silver paint with a cart (daring, aren't I) and it refuses to leave a mark, even with the sharpest edges. The soft edge of a paper clip won't leave a mark either, but a metal object with sharp edges will probably scratch it. I won't go that far. - Screen The screen is very evenly lit. It's a bit brighter at the bottom, where the light strip is. The light does wash out the screen, but only a bit. Neither of these issues are noticeable while actually playing a game. And it still beats having to aim up a lamp perfectly. One of the big issues with all light peripherals for the GBA is reflections from ambient lighting, and this is noticeable with the SP as well. If you play in broad daylight, even with the light on, you will see reflections from the surroundings on the screen, especially in dark games. The darker the surroundings is, the better the light will work. Compared with Gameboy Light (green backlit Gameboy Pocket) the light in the SP is a bit brighter, and the screen maybe a bit less reflective. GBC game looks better with the washed out SP screen than on the overly dark GBA screen. In fact, GBC games almost looks better than GBA games with the washout from the light since the colors are a bit too dark and saturated. The screen is a bit of a dust magnet, but I think this is because it's brand new and the plastic is prone to static. I remember the regular GBA was the same but it went away after a week or so. - Sound The speaker is louder and got a heavier bass than the GBAs, overall the sound is a lot better but the heavy bass can make the sound seem a bit muffled. The volume control slider is very sensitive, and while playing it can be hard to get it in a good position, it's either too loud or too quiet. - Controls The buttons, including the pad, are clicky, you can hear them, but it shouldn't be disturbing unless you're in a very quiet environment. The A and B buttons are actually louder on the regular GBA, only the sound isn't as clicky. The shoulder buttons work great, but the charger connector (and I guess headphone connector) gets in the way of wrapping your finger around the right button. - Charging The 220 > 100 volt converter I got is 20w, should be more than enough since the SP charger is marked 4w input. Charging through it seems to work just fine, no signs of overheating. Of course if you live in the USA or anywhere else with 110-120 volts electricity you don't need a stepdown converter. The actual SP charger is tiny and the prongs can be folded in, making it nice and portable. I hope they will make the European charger this cool once it comes out but I doubt it. The screw holding the battery lid is the tiniest phillips head i ever seen. It's not a triwing but you will probably need a special screw driver anyway just cause it's so small. - Cart Slot The carts snaps in place pretty hard, you have to use some force to get them in and out, no chance of them ever falling out. The 128 turbo flash card wont fit, it's a tad to wide. I shaved off less than a millimeter on each side of the "wings" of the card, using a regular file, and now it fits and works just fine. Old school GBXchanger card for Gameboy and Gameboy Color games fits and works perfectly. Because you keep your hands to the sides of the SP the cart sticking out doesn't actually matter much, this is true for GBC games also. - Games PocketNES works perfectly (as long as you can make your flash card fit.) Happy Panechu: GBA tilt game, works perfect with the control reverse trick built into the cart, I guess Nintendo had some forsight about the SP. I'll put this trick into my FAQ on GameFAQs should anyone need it. Kirby's Tilt 'n' Tumble: GBC Tilt game, works fine through a cheat cart (that turns the game cart upside down) I used a Mega Memory Card since that is pretty slim, but a Code Breaker works as well (although it's almost as big as the SP itself!) Gameshark and Pro Action Replay should work too. Both tilt games are much nicer on SP than on normal GBA since the screen can be angled you don't have to keep the screen flat and hover over it.