Lawrence.com

The Dynasty Warriors series is pretty much the definition of a "love it or hate it" situation. Some gamers can't stand the arcadey, repetitive action, while others can't get enough of the epic battles. Those that criticize the repetition are missing what's truly appealing about the series: It gives you the sense of battle on a huge scale, from the perspective of a single soldier. This portable version of the game offers nothing even resembling that feeling. Running around as a 2D sprite killing 3-5 onscreen enemies can't compare to running around a 3D battlefield slicing through enemy forces 30-40 men deep.

It's important to note that this version is significantly different than its console big brothers in some key areas. The main difference is in how the battlefield is represented. On the consoles, your character starts in a friendly territory, and then sets you free on a huge map of allies and enemies. You can run anywhere, anytime, and choose your own path. Upon loading a map on this GBA version, you'll immediately notice that things have changed. The main battleground map is no longer free-roaming, it's turn-based. You can move one space at a time (unless you meet certain time criteria in battles), and it plays like the most boring game of checkers you've ever seen. After moving, prepare to hit the A button for a long time, because you're inundated with pointless, repetitive text such as "Cao Cao's forces are struggling!". I can see how this might be sometimes pertinent information, but I got tired of seeing the same messages 10-15 times per map. There's no "quick move" option, and you're forced to watch the computers moves every time. This becomes extremely tiresome right away.

Once you're actually in a battle, it becomes apparent that the gameplay isn't much better than the presentation. The player is given a time limit to defeat a certain amount of enemies. You can receive either a "Close Call", "Victory", or "Triumph" rating, depending on how fast you win the skirmish. These mini-battles are far more tedious than the console battles, and far less entertaining. Attacks are very basic, and all you have to do is run around and mash the A and B buttons over and over again until the enemies are all defeated. Power-ups and Musou attacks are available, but they really don't help ease the monotony. A single map can take a significant amount of time to complete, thanks to the slow moving turn-based system. This makes it doubly frustrating when you finally get to the final objective for the mission, only to have some boss immediately decimate you with some fireballs.

As is usually the case in the Dynasty Warriors series, you'll start by choosing a faction, followed by a character. There are a ton of characters, and even more maps, but I can't imagine any gamer being patient enough to want to play through this game multiple times.

Graphics: C+

Sound: B-

First Play: C-

Last Play: D-

Gameplay: D-

Overall: 62% D-