A port of Max Payne
This is the Game Boy Advance port of the first Max Payne game, with an isometric view, while retaining most of its mechanics (bullet time included) and storyline.
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So full disclosure, I played only the first level of this, and that's because in the first place I was only playing it because I was really, REALLY curious to see what this game would be. Max Payne on the GBA? What does that look like? I thought I was in for a quick laugh.
But truthfully? This is like, an actually competent game. It's a demake of Max Payne, turning it into an isometric shooter on the GBA. Other than that, it has the same story, and even has the same areas, enemy placement, hell the gameplay is pretty spot on. I couldn't imagine "Max Payne on the GBA" being translated more literally. It even has the same PROBLEMS I had with the actual first Max Payne! Not enough painkillers, way too much damage! This is somewhat exacerbated by a problem unique to this version: enemies can see you from offscreen, and that can lead to frustration as you get shot before you could know an enemy was even there, but it didn't bother me to the point of rage.
I will say, I may actually play the entirety of this game one day when I have time for it. Diving in slow motion in an isometric space was really fun. My biggest piece of advice and my biggest criticism of the game: the audio is HORRIBLE. Cutscene voice files are so crunch its kinda funny (and kinda painful), but even the music that plays in the levels crackles and pops. I would unironically advise playing this game on mute.
But truthfully? This is like, an actually competent game. It's a demake of Max Payne, turning it into an isometric shooter on the GBA. Other than that, it has the same story, and even has the same areas, enemy placement, hell the gameplay is pretty spot on. I couldn't imagine "Max Payne on the GBA" being translated more literally. It even has the same PROBLEMS I had with the actual first Max Payne! Not enough painkillers, way too much damage! This is somewhat exacerbated by a problem unique to this version: enemies can see you from offscreen, and that can lead to frustration as you get shot before you could know an enemy was even there, but it didn't bother me to the point of rage.
I will say, I may actually play the entirety of this game one day when I have time for it. Diving in slow motion in an isometric space was really fun. My biggest piece of advice and my biggest criticism of the game: the audio is HORRIBLE. Cutscene voice files are so crunch its kinda funny (and kinda painful), but even the music that plays in the levels crackles and pops. I would unironically advise playing this game on mute.
Max Payne on the GBA - pretty damn good! If a physical copy of this wasn't $$$ I'd love to have it for a collector's item, even if I don't own a GBA anymore. But playing this on my homebrew Wii (on my 50 inch TV which looked hilarious) was a trip... and thank god for the save states because this game can be bullshit sometimes.
Bullet time on the GBA never looked cooler (and even the slo-mo sound effects are great) and this version is surprisingly faithful to the original, levels are very similar and even certain rooms and details are identical. It's a bit more stripped down/condensed but that's appreciated.
As for the bullshit, since this is isometric and you're thrown into large rooms where you can't see everything, expect to get shot from offscreen enemies constantly. And there are fire obstacles here that can kill you in one hit which can be almost impossible to avoid as you have to be pixel perfect - the isometric view makes this even worse.
Just make sure to save state a ton in the later levels and you'll be fine - absolutely worth checking out if you're a fan of the series and you'd like to see Sam Lake's pixelized face and hear James McCaffrey's voice in all its 8-bit glory
Bullet time on the GBA never looked cooler (and even the slo-mo sound effects are great) and this version is surprisingly faithful to the original, levels are very similar and even certain rooms and details are identical. It's a bit more stripped down/condensed but that's appreciated.
As for the bullshit, since this is isometric and you're thrown into large rooms where you can't see everything, expect to get shot from offscreen enemies constantly. And there are fire obstacles here that can kill you in one hit which can be almost impossible to avoid as you have to be pixel perfect - the isometric view makes this even worse.
Just make sure to save state a ton in the later levels and you'll be fine - absolutely worth checking out if you're a fan of the series and you'd like to see Sam Lake's pixelized face and hear James McCaffrey's voice in all its 8-bit glory
The GBA version of this game is actually sick as hell.
O jogo é bem curtinho, vai de 2 à 3 horas jogando normal morrendo algumas vezes.
Mas pra compensar isso o jogo vai aumentando o tanto de tiro que os inimigos devem tomar para morrer, o que te deixa insano. Falando em inimigos a IA deles são incrivelmente frustrantes, porque eles não erram tiros e te dão muito dano, ainda mais em levels mais avançados.
Quando tem muitos inimigos ou muitas coisas acontecendo na tela o jogo da uma lagada imensa e fica mais lento do que no bullet time, mas não é algo que atrapalha.
O jogo não é tão ruim, mas é muito frustrante e com uma curva de dificuldade muito grande comparando ao começo do jogo pro final.
Mas pra compensar isso o jogo vai aumentando o tanto de tiro que os inimigos devem tomar para morrer, o que te deixa insano. Falando em inimigos a IA deles são incrivelmente frustrantes, porque eles não erram tiros e te dão muito dano, ainda mais em levels mais avançados.
Quando tem muitos inimigos ou muitas coisas acontecendo na tela o jogo da uma lagada imensa e fica mais lento do que no bullet time, mas não é algo que atrapalha.
O jogo não é tão ruim, mas é muito frustrante e com uma curva de dificuldade muito grande comparando ao começo do jogo pro final.
An interesting port (one could also call it an official demake) which turns Max Payne 1 into an isometric shooter.
There's a decent amount of voice acting, the comic book panels are implemented well, the atmosphere is a good replica considering what they worked with and the developers did their best to include a good variety of weapons and make the gameplay as action packed as possible.
Your sight is a little limited which can sometimes mean taking a few cheap shots, but l didn't find this to be much of a issue with the exception of the semi-last level. That one can take a bit of patience.
The game is pretty short and can be finished in a little over 2 hours.
While not really something someone should go out of their way to play, if you're a fan of the Max Payne games, you could give this one a try and appreciate the ambition.
There's a decent amount of voice acting, the comic book panels are implemented well, the atmosphere is a good replica considering what they worked with and the developers did their best to include a good variety of weapons and make the gameplay as action packed as possible.
Your sight is a little limited which can sometimes mean taking a few cheap shots, but l didn't find this to be much of a issue with the exception of the semi-last level. That one can take a bit of patience.
The game is pretty short and can be finished in a little over 2 hours.
While not really something someone should go out of their way to play, if you're a fan of the Max Payne games, you could give this one a try and appreciate the ambition.
Is it good? Ehhh not really. The big problem is that enemy AI consists entirely of shooting at you the second you're in sight, which is all well and good when your dodging around corners but there are lots of situations where you're stuck taking cheap hits. The devs seemed aware of this and gave you four lives per level that instantly drop you right where you died. Even with that some levels can be a bit annoying and take a couple tries, the manor and underground base especially.
Is it incredibly ambitious, impressive, and worth playing for fans of Max Payne? Abso-fucking-lutely. An incredible amount of work has been put in to faithfully demake Max Payne for the Game Boy Advance, with locations seemingly recycling textures from the main game and memorable setpieces recreated. When the gameplay works as intended you're shootdodging around familiar environments and it's all tied together with *fully voiced" cutscenes from the original game! A couple levels had to be cut - the boat and parking garage and the nightmare sequences aren't playable - so there are a couple awkward cuts in the story, but the amount of effort into making it all feel like Max Payne is incredible and worth a couple hours of your time if you're a fan.
Is it incredibly ambitious, impressive, and worth playing for fans of Max Payne? Abso-fucking-lutely. An incredible amount of work has been put in to faithfully demake Max Payne for the Game Boy Advance, with locations seemingly recycling textures from the main game and memorable setpieces recreated. When the gameplay works as intended you're shootdodging around familiar environments and it's all tied together with *fully voiced" cutscenes from the original game! A couple levels had to be cut - the boat and parking garage and the nightmare sequences aren't playable - so there are a couple awkward cuts in the story, but the amount of effort into making it all feel like Max Payne is incredible and worth a couple hours of your time if you're a fan.