Game Boy Advance

Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand

All things considered, Boktai might as well be titled Metal Gear Child: Suns of Kojima. Fans of Kojima’s work on Metal Gear need not hesitate before checking out this little handheld masterpiece. The culmination of fine artistic direction, creative gameplay innovation, and oodles of replay is a game with excellence rivaled by few. And it just might help a few lonely geeks get a date - realistically, not likely.

"Boktai" pode ser simplificado como "mais um jogo de ação", e certamente se encaixa como um competente esforço nesse sentido. Mas a luta com/contra o Sol não falha em despertar o interesse de qualquer jogador. Acima de tudo, o jogo é uma das mais interessantes experiências feitas com videogames na atualidade. Se ao menos mais criadores fossem ousados e criativos como Kojima...

Boktai feels very much like a late-career kind of game, something you’d make when you felt pangs of guilt over the fact that you’ve devoted your entire life to keeping children locked up indoors. When Hideo Kojima said you’d have to play his latest creation outside in the sun, he wasn’t kidding the game absolutely requires the light from that life-giving mass of incandescent gas.

Boktai is an exciting and challenging game that will bring a whole new generation of gamers out into something they might not have seen in a long time, the sunlight.

I, for one, was somewhat disappointed with the lack of top-rate new games for the Gameboy Advance as of late. Sure, there have been a few really cool new games, but a lot of the library has been comprised of Super Nintendo ports, rehashed sequels, and quite a few crappy franchise titles made for, undoubtedly, a quick buck on the publisher's part. Boktai silenced me - the GBA definitely has a lot of life in it, and games like this prove it.

The only real drawback of Boktai’s dependence on sunlight is how it affects scheduling. If you work or go to school all day long, chances are that you’ll have crappy or no sunlight by the time you get home to play games. It can become difficult to find time to play this game, which will drive you nuts once you get into the story and want to play as much as possible. The fact that you will be motivated to play is a testament to the solid, satisfying gameplay, which is impressive and compelling no matter what you think of the sun sensor. If you ever get any game time before sunset, and if you aren’t turned off by the heavy-handed emphasis on puzzles, Boktai is an excellent purchase for your GBA.

„Geh doch mal an die frische Luft, du kannst doch nicht die ganze Zeit vor dem Ding hängen! Du kriegst noch viereckige Augen!“ Welcher Jugendliche kennt die meist nervigen, aber nicht immer zu Unrecht gesprochenen Worte seiner Mutter nicht? Das Tolle an Boktai ist, dass man an die frische Luft muss, um seinem Hobby zu frönen. Stubenhocker werden den letzten Endgegner gar nicht erst zu Gesicht bekommen. Boktai – The Sun is in your Hand ist ein herrlich innovatives Spiel. Es spielt sich wie eine Mischung aus Golden Sun und Castlevania, der einzigartige Solar-Sensor gibt dem Titel eine ganz individuelle spielerische Tiefe mit ganz neuen Rätseln. Gleichzeitig ist dies aber auch der einzige wirkliche Kritikpunkt an Boktai. Wenn ihr gerade mal kein Sonnenlicht zur Verfügung habt, dann könnt ihr Boktai nicht vernünftig spielen.

Overall, Boktai is my pick for most original GBA game of 2003. The built-in light sensor coupled with a world full of dynamic environments that actually change depending on the amount of sunlight the game pak detects ensures that the game’s most interesting bullet-point feature is more than just a gimmick. The RPG action, great visuals and sound, and excellent plot progression sweetens the deal even more. Quite simply, if you’re looking for an original and entertaining game on the go, shine a light on Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand, don’t get left in the dark.

Innovation. That's not a word I use a lot when reviewing Game Boy Advance games. Most of the time, developers aren't really trying to attempt new and exotic ideas for the handheld market, and much of the reason comes down to the Almighty Dollar; to many companies it's financially not worth the effort to be innovative on the Game Boy Advance. Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand is the epitome of innovation on the Game Boy Advance. No game like Boktai has taken an original, out-there idea -- in this case, a sunlight sensor -- and incorporated almost the entire game design around it. The result is a very special and unique Game Boy Advance adventure with interesting and successful gameplay elements, and the only thing holding this game back is its time-restrictive gameplay and its use of unoriginal and redundant level challenges throughout the adventure.

The word "gimmick" tends to have a negative connotation. Many games have cheap tricks they use, like some specific feature listed in bold face on the back of the box that supposedly distinguishes it from the better, older games they're otherwise attempting to emulate. We refer to these little twists as "gimmicks," but the gimmicks themselves aren't what make these games mediocre--it's that the gimmicks don't make up for the games' underlying flaws. On the other hand, a game like Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand is gimmicky in a good way. Developed by Metal Gear Solid designer Hideo Kojima's studio, this is a very well-produced 16-bit-style action adventure game in the same vein as the classic The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but it's got a completely unique twist: It uses sunlight. Boktai would be a great game even if it didn't have a fancy solar sensor built right into the cartridge. That just serves to make it even more interesting.

Totalement inédit, le concept de Boktai basé sur l'utilisation de la lumière solaire convient parfaitement à l'aventure qui est proposée dans le jeu, même si elle entraîne pas mal de contraintes qui obligent le joueur à jouer en extérieur. L'expérience vaut tout de même largement le détour, et une suite est d'ores et déjà prévue pour l'été prochain.

For a first attempt at a new series, Konami did pretty well. As Boktai 2 was released late last year, we can expect a sunshiny future for Django as his epic quest unfolds. This game came with an interesting twist for all the seasoned gamers out in today’s market. For all of you Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear fans, look forward to some decent handheld stealth action. For all of you Castlevania followers out there, be prepared for yet another intriguing story of vampires, the undead, and the supernatural. And for those of you that have spent a little too much time indoors, use this game as an excuse to walk out the door and bask in the winter sunlight. And if all else fails, at least you can get a tan.

Au final, le concept de Boktai, basé sur l’utilisation de la lumière solaire, convient parfaitement à l’aventure que le jeu propose (ce serait plutôt l’inverse en fait, l’histoire au service du concept), malgré les conditions requises pour jouer. L’expérience vaut tout de même le détour, si comme moi vous êtes avide de concepts novateurs dans les jeux vidéo. Juste un dernier conseil : si vous comptez acheter ce jeu, n’attendez pas septembre. D’après vous, pourquoi est-il sorti quelques semaines avant l’été ?

Over all, Boktai is a decent way to pass the time when waiting for a different game to come out. I wouldn't put a reserve on it if my local EB was out of stock, but I would probably check the other store down the block for it. As far as replay value goes, unless you live in a constant sunny area, you might not pick this baby up again until you're out walking your dog in the summer time.

When Boktai shines, it shines brightly; a beacon of innovation to be held aloft for others to follow in its ideals. But the trouble is it doesn't always shine (the game or the weather) and the result is a rather limited and gimmicky appeal, which could have been so easily forged into something essential. We applaud the innovation; we even revel in most aspects of its implementation, but sometimes a game just takes things a bit too far.

While it is hard to decide if the gimmick or the game is more important in such an endeavor, in Boktai's case the gimmick certainly adds to the actual gameplay, but for most people it'll feel artificial or like an interface problem that's keeping them from advancing. The core philosophies behind Boktai are interesting and valid, and I hope that Konami learns from this experience so a future game can possibly use a more generally accessible variant. Until then, though, we'll have to deal with Boktai, which ends up being a solid game ironically both done and undone by its inception: the sun sensor.

This is an incredibly simple and shallow game for all the buzz it was being given. Bottom Line: This game is for kids only. No adult I know has time to do anything in the early morning hours aside from work, and supposedly attend class/walk off the hangover. The puzzles are easy, the game gives you more health power-ups than you will ever use, and there isn't a single enemy that's remotely challenging after you pick up the second gun frame in the Prologue.

From a purely intellectual perspective, Boktai is a wonder of design. The cartridge has a special sensor that detects sunlight, which in turn powers your character’s ("Solar Boy") weapon – one which he uses to defeat various occult baddies and vampires in the game’s numerous dungeons. Unfortunately, this innovative concept proves to be very frustrating in real life.