If your'e tired of squinting at the Gameboy Advance's dark little screen and dont want to shell out $99 dollars for a backlit GBA SP, heres a great and cheaper option for you. The Gameboy Player allows you to play any Gameboy Advance and original Gameboy game on your TV. While the Gameboy Player doesnt have all the options that the Super Gameboy did, it does have more useful ones and they work very well. Installing the adapter requires only a screw driver or a coin. Once its attached to the bottom, you insert the boot disc that loads up the Gameboy Player software. A menu pops up with a few options and from here you can insert any gameboy game you want. Within five minutes from opening its packaging, I was playing GBA on my TV.
Gameplay:
Some people might be initially disapointed with the features when comparing them to the Super Gameboy's. A friend of mine said he didnt like the absence of the feature that allowed you to draw around the border and even around the screen like on Super Gameboy, but this ultimately was a worthless option besides writing curse words or adding blood to gameboy games. There are six pop-up options that appear by pushing the Z button at any time. Theres a border selection, where you can pick out your favorite out of 20 border designs. A screen size that alternates between bordered and a nearly full screen mode. A controller setup that gives you a choice of wether you want the select button to be the X and Y buttons or the L and R triggers. A screen filter lets you choose the sharpness of the graphics from soft, normal, and sharp. Some games can be jittery on sharp mode. I experienced this with Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Super Mario Bros Deluxe. It wasnt a big problem but it was noticeable. Switching to normal or soft modes fixed it and the games played smoothly like any other. The timer feature is a pretty useless option unless your a parent that wants to limit gameplay. It can be set between 1 and 60 minutes and when the time runs down, a tone will play and a messaging saying "Time has expired" will appear at the bottom of the screen. The final option is to swap game paks. After using this action, the gamecube prompts you to remove and insert a new game. Simply use the ejector switch on the side of the Gameboy Player and pop in another title and it boots right up.
Aesthetics:
Graphically everything performs to near perfection. There is still a bit of Anti-Aliasing on sharp mode with full screen but it still looks great. Playing classics like Final Fight One And Yoshi's Island on full screen feels pretty much just like playing on a SNES.
Sound:
The sounds are ported perfectly. Hearing a Gameboy game through your surround stereo makes it sound a little bit better since you can make some adjustments to it, but its still standard Gameboy fare. No problems here.
Control:
Another plus is the gameplay. Alot of games become alot easier to play when you have a larger/brighter view of the action. I always found Yoshi's Island very hard to play on the GBA's small screen, but on the TV, things were much easier. Contra Advance was another title that gave me some trouble, but with the Gameboy Player I was mopping up aliens like it was 1992. Using the Gamecube controller also helps to make things a bit easier to control. You can also use the analog stick if you feel more comfortable with it, but you dont get analog control. If you dont like the gamecube controller, you can use your Gameboy Advance to Gamecube link cable and have your GBA as your controller.
Multiplayer:
Multiplayer is thankfully included, although the instructions warn you not to connect more than one gamecube together. Using the front port, you can connect the Gameboy Player with other GBAs for up to four players. If the action all takes place on the same screen like in Final Fight ONE, the other player can just ignore the action on the GBA screen and look at the TV too. All four control sockets are active during a single player game, so if your desperate for some co-op you could play Mario Kart Super Circuit and have one player control the kart and the other player using weapons. E-reader is also supported and can now be plugged directly into your Gamecube.
OVERALL:
For a suggested price of $50, you cant go wrong with the Gameboy Player. It works perfectly, and has enough options and features to keep gamers happy. Older games are fun to replay on the big screen. Perhaps Nintendo will even release updates to the boot disc with extra options, borders and features. Playing Gameboy at home just got a whole lot better.
The Lowdown on  Gameboy Player [accessory]
| Aesthetics: Very Good |
Control: Awesome |
| Gameplay: Awesome |
Multiplayer: Above Average |
| Sound: Awesome |
Innovation: 4/6 |
| Lasting Appeal: 6/6 |
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Overall: Awesome!
"Top of the Genre"
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Gameboy Player [accessory]
