One thing which never ceases to amaze me is some of the things that they are able to do on the little, hand held Game Boy Advance. It definitely looks small, but one look at any one of it's many strong titles like Golden Sun or Pinball of the Dead and you will see that it's packing a whole lot more power than it's looks let on. One of these impressive areas is in the ever growing library of first person titles that are available. Original classics like Doom and Wolfenstein have been faithfully re-created in portable form, and the newest in the remade classics library is Duke Nukem Advance. Any FPS fan can remember running through the various buildings and strip clubs of the original PC or PSX title, and now the destructive fun is back, only this time in a more compact version.

Duke Nukem Advance puts you in control of the egotistical, trash talking hero from the original on a 19 stage mission to stop alien invaders from taking over the planet. Armed only in the beginning with a communicator to talk to his direct higher up, a pistol, and a size 12 boot to lay down some heavy alien butt stomping, Duke sets out to show these invaders why they picked the wrong planet to try and take over. Along the way, he will of course pick up bigger and better firepower to get the job done. All of the high action found in the classic is back once again, and it is pulled off pretty well on a system with a control pad and two shoulder buttons. The control pad moves Duke forwards, backwards, turns left and right ... and the shoulder buttons are used to strafe. A jumps, and B fires one of the many weapons available. Duke can also look up or down by holding both shoulder buttons, but the developers were kind enough to adopt a sort of Doom mentality by enabling the player to hit enemies even when the crosshairs aren't directly lined up. Basically, it isn't necessary to aim down a flight of stairs to hit the target, as long as it's directly in front of you and in view of it's dead meat. This allows you to keep strafing to avoid enemy fire but keep progressing as well without getting frustrated trying to aim and move at the same time.

Each mission has varying objectives, and there is enough difference in them to not get too repetitive or dull. Since this is a FPS title, the core element to the game is "keep moving and kill everything that moves", regardless of the stage. The missions themselves, however, range from things like finding an alien data disk to disengaging an alien super weapon. There are also timed missions which are more along the lines of "get out before the whole place goes BOOM in a minute and a half", or even one calling for you to do what Duke does best ... rescue the four lovely ladies who have been trapped in the alien ship. Altogether, a well done package of non stop blasting with enough mixture in ultimate level outcome to keep it interesting.

Each mission is part of a larger overall stage, per say, going through 5 different settings ... which mixes it up as well. Duke starts off in Area 51, then will head through other places as well like Egypt, Australia, or even the alien ship in order to wipe out the bad guys and save the planet from harm. While each level has it's own look and feel to it to make it different from the others, things tend to be a bit bland in the very beginning. Area 51 consists mainly of four walled, white rooms with a few scattered boxes here and there for scenery. Every now and then you run across a computer panel of maybe even a subway track, but overall it got a tad repetitive. Then, Egypt comes along and you start saying to yourself ... "Oh, here's where it gets better!". The stages following are well done, for the most part, and while each one may be part of the same stage ... it adds a little different flavor than the last. Duke starts running through Egyptian crypts filled with potential lava hazards, through the conditioning vents of  buildings, or into the belly of the mother ship as well. There is even some classic Duke Nukem action where he moves from city streets into Chinese restaurants, gas stations, and even the trademark "entertainment clubs" ... minus the entertainment of course.

Graphically, Duke Nukem isn't the prettiest game on the system, but looks pretty good next to some of it's predecessors like Doom for example. All of the original bad guys are back, including the snake men, the shotgun pumping pigs in the police gear (No pun intended there, eh?),  the lizard men with the chain guns, and even the floating heads. Each is distinguishable from the other, even though they may be a tad grainy, but an up close run in shows that they are done in pretty decent detail ... even more than some of the other FPS titles available on the GBA. Some of the weapon clips look similar and can be tough to make out which one it is at times (like the pistol and the MP5 machine gun), and can be a decision to make in whether or not to risk a potential hazard to pick it up. The backgrounds range from a sort of washed out look (once again Area 51) to decent detail (Check out the skyline on the balcony in Australia!), and each level is never your "run down the hall and find the exit". Each contains a few scattered secrets here and there and multiple twists and turns to keep you busy.

Overall, Duke Nukem should be a purchase for an on the go FPS fan looking for a solid title to add to their GBA library. It's a lot of fun, fast action, and a fast moving FPS title to once again tell you why you bought that little system to begin with. And as I sometimes do ... I want to toss a quick note to you parents out there looking to maybe pick this game up for a youngster. It did receive a T for Teen rating, but it does contain M rated material like lots of guns (of course), blood spatters from your enemies, collapsed carcasses, and a few mild four letter words tossed in here and there (Damn for example). So, nothing worse than others ... but check it out first if the aforementioned is a concern for you. Anyway ... happy blasting to all you Duke Nukem fans out there ... HAIL TO THE KING, BABY!!!!!

Gameplay: 8.9
Varying missions, lots of firepower, and simple to get into controls which allow on concentrated destruction rather than precise aiming, which would have been very frustrating. The change of locales adds for a nice touch and breaks monotony as well, and each stage has a couple of secrets to be found. Periodic issues like enemies shooting you from behind a wall or an obstacle are found here and there, but nothing which was frequent enough to cause a lack of enjoyment or major problem.

Graphics: 9.1
A little grainy at some points, but overall a nice mix of backgrounds, foregrounds, and the enemies were done in decent detail for the little screen. The first stage is a little bland and washed out, but it gets better as you progress. Some levels could get a little confusing on where to go, since the walls, floor, and ceiling all looked like a brain ... but finding the exit was due more to lighting than the way the game was done. (GBA backlighting is whole different issue for me that I won't get started on here.)

Sound: 7.2
Each stage has it's own little background noises, like alarms or howls, and gunfire was done well. The voice of Duke is here in this game, but is kind of hollow and rough overall. It's still neat to hear the classic one liners like "Come get some" or "That's gonna leave a mess". The opening music is somewhat annoying, and there are no voiceovers or in game music tracks. 

Difficulty: Easy
The game has multiple save slots, and four difficulty levels so the first time player can get comfortable with the setup, then the veteran can see just how "bad" they really are.

Concept: 8.9
It's the Duke ... nuff said. Actually, this game is an FPS at it's core, but has enough varying objectives and a goofy but original storyline to set it apart from others that have come before it.

Multiplayer: 8.8
Up to four separate players can deathmatch by hooking up multitaps. Each player has to have their own GBA and copy of the game as well. FPS deathmatch on the road trip to Florida! Cool!

Overall: 9.1
Definitely a good buy for the FPS and Duke Nukem fans from the 90's out there. This game has tons of action, blasting away at alien scum, and won't get beaten in the course of a couple of hours. It's definitely one of the deeper ones out there, and will provide a fun title for those of you who need a good, fast shooter title for your GBA.