This game will be remembered as the GBA game that finally did RPGs right.
User Rating: 8.7 | Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance GBA
I am a big fan of Champions of Norrath and Champions: Return to Arms, so I was looking for similar games. The most popular answer was Baldur's Gate, and when I heard it was coming in a portable version, I was overjoyed. This game has solid hack n slash combat, which melee attacks, ranged attacks, and spells. The controls are absolutely perfect, and couldn't of been better. This game shows what the graphical capacities of the GBA are, very good. This is one of the best graphical games on the system. The audio is pretty good, each monster makes their own soulnd and the weapon sounds are varied, but there is no in-game music at all. Most of the time, you just hear footsteps, roar, swing, roar, swing, shoot, scream in pain, ching of money, more footsteps. The sound is also very low, even with the sound turned all the way up. The enemies in this game are huge, as the bosses take up half the screen! In the beginning of this game, you choose from 3 fighting classes that each excell at one type of attack (melee, ranged, spells). After you beat the game, you unlock another race, that combines the best of all 3 races. In total, the game takes from 12 to 15 hours (which is a lot for a GBA game), but there is not much reason to play through again. It is only $20, so this is a very good value. There is some bad in this game. There is a lot of cursing in the dialogue, so keep this game away from the 13-under group. Also, the combat is a little tedious at times. My biggest complaint was the lack of a map, so I was lost a lot. However, the AI is smart, the story is addicting, and this is just an overall great game. It proves that you can make a good RPG on the GBA. 
