Namco is amazing! I've always known this, especially after playing Klonoa for the very first time. But some of the most talented game developers in the world have attempted to do what Namco has done and failed miserably. I had confidence in Namco, however, I must admit that I was not 100% certain that they could pull it off. I was worried for nothing though. Tekken Advance is here and it is incredible! I have not enjoyed a portable game this much since the Game Boy Advance's launch. Namco can now join Activision as the only game developers in the world that have successfully ported a PSone game to the GBA. Don't get me wrong, Klonoa: Empire of Dreams was an excellent game. However, it had smaller worlds that catered to the GBA's color-driven architecture. Klonoa was a 2D game to begin with, so I wasn't surprised to see it perform well on the GBA.

On the other hand, Tekken was a polygonal fighting game that utilized every ounce of the PSone's power to create a fast, intense fighting experience that no other game could offer. You had the ability to sidestep and evade enemy attacks; perform 10-hit combos and a plethora of special moves; almost every character controlled differently, etc. None of gameplay mechanics had ever been done before on the Game Boy Advance. More importantly, polygons had never been done on the GBA. Yes, the boarders in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 were made up of polygons, but the backgrounds were not (since the GBA cannot produce very many polygons). So Namco decided to scrap the current polygon engine and develop a new one that used sprites instead. Believe it or not, this did not damage the gameplay one bit. Tekken Advance is pure Tekken goodness. All of the moves, most of the combos and the best characters (except for Eddy Gordo) are all here. The only drawback is that the game moves a little slower due to the system's weak processor. But after a few minutes of play, that tiny loss of speed seemed trivial. The game is still a blast to play. No, wait, I take that back. Tekken Advance is better than a blast. It's better than excellent. It's better than any other fighting game available for the GBA. The competition must be beating their heads against the wall right now, wondering why they couldn't have been the ones to do develop such a high-quality game. Super Street Fighter II: Turbo Revival is one of my favorite games for the GBA, but if I were stranded on a desert island and could only have one game to play, it'd be Tekken Advance. Not Castlevania: Circle of the Moon or Phalanx or any other game but Tekken Advance. I love those two games very much, but Tekken Advance has something that no other game does: infinite replay value. I'm not saying that you won't get sick of it, because if you play Tekken Advance as much as I used to play Tekken 3, you most certainly will. Regardless, you'll still want to play it more than anything else the GBA has to offer. I've been playing Tekken 3, the arcade/console version of Tekken Advance, since March of 1997 and I still love it. Tekken Advance is virtually the same game, only portable.

Incase I forgot to mention it before, let me tell you that this is the first and probably the only 2D/3D fighting game that you will ever see on the GBA. You can actually sidestep to evade your opponent’s moves! The camera zooms in and out according to your position on the screen. The characters become a little pixelated when the camera zooms in, but when zoomed out, they look incredible. They are some of the most realistic cartoon characters that I have ever seen in a fighting game on any platform. The animation puts Street Fighter to shame. I have never seen such fluid animation before. Namco may have been forced to remove every polygon from the game, but the characters are animated so realistically that if you stood a few feet away from your GBA, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference!

I've praised a lot of Game Boy Advances games over the past few months, but I have not enjoyed praising any of them as much as Tekken Advance. (Phalanx is a close second.) Tekken Advance is so much fun to play that it makes writing about it fun because I can share my joy with others. $40 is a lot of money to spend on a game, but I believe in that old saying, "you get what you pay for." I know that that's not always the case, but it should be. If you buy Tekken Advance, you're guaranteed to get what you pay for.

My only gripe is that Eddy Gordo is not a playable character in Tekken Advance. He was one of the most popular characters in Tekken 3 and yet Namco passed him over for Gunjack. I like Gunjack and all, but that was a huge a mistake. Other than that, Tekken Advance is as perfect as a GBA game can get.

Tekken Advance is on sale this week at Best Buy for only $29.99. That's ten bucks cheaper than the MSRP. Don't hesitate to get Tekken Advance at such a low price. Hurry -- the sale ends Saturday, February 16th!

Gameplay: 9.5
You won't find a fighting game on the GBA with better gameplay than Tekken Advance. Heck, you'd be hard-pressed to find any GBA game with better gameplay than Tekken Advance. I've played every fighting game on the GBA, and Tekken Advance is the only one that plays like a next-generation game. Just when I think that Namco can't get any better, they create a game that goes above and beyond the competition, proving that they are still the world's greatest fighting game developer.

Graphics: 9.1 
After playing Tekken Advance, you may be wondering if there will ever be a better looking game released on the GBA. It's true that graphics get better with time, but Namco has done such an amazing job with Tekken Advance that I doubt that any game will ever look better. Street Fighter, King of Fighters and Mortal Kombat Advance cannot compare.

Sound: 7.9
Tekken Advance features the same great music from Tekken 3. Unfortunately, the quality of the music is not nearly as good. The sound effects are close, but the system's cart format prevents the game from sounding arcade-perfect.

Difficulty: 7
If you've mastered Tekken 3, you'll have no trouble beating Tekken Advance. All of the moves, combos, etc., are exactly the same.

Concept: 9 
Is Tekken Advance a port of an old game? Yes. But is it "just" a port? No, it's a high-quality fighting game that utilizes the true power of the GBA. The GBA cannot produce a large number of polygons, so Namco removed them and used sprites instead. They replaced many graphical elements, but the great gameplay remained.

Multiplayer: 9.2
Tekken Advance is one of the best multiplayer games that I have ever played. It's non-stop fun that'll keep you and your friends busy for hours.

Overall: 9.5
Buy Tekken Advance. I repeat, buy Tekken Advance! This is a public service announcement. If I told you to take cover because it was storming outside, you'd listen, right? So why not avoid the tornado of other GBA games and get Tekken Advance. Or, if you've got the cash, embrace the tornado -- just be sure to get Tekken first.