Platform: Gameboy Advance

Genre: Action/Adventure

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

ETA: September 2003

Review: Golden Sun (Gameboy Advance)

Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder (Gameboy Advance)

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Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand

Now here’s one hell of an innovative approach to making a game. Hideo Kojima and the kool kats at Konami have come up with a way to utilize actual, real-life sunlight to affect what is going on in a game. Taking advantage of the GBA’s portable nature, gamers will be encouraged to play the system outside in the sun so to help the hero of the game, a young vampire hunter named Django.

As most of us know, vampires really aren’t too keen on sunlight, what with it causing them to burst into flames and consequently die. As such in the game when Django is hunting these beasts down in the daytime he’ll have a distinct advantage much of the time considering the vampires’ weakened state because of their surroundings, but once the sun goes down the vampires will be much stronger, making our heroes job much harder.

With a solar sensor being incorporated right into the cartridge, the game will be able to discern just how much natural sunlight the GBA is being exposed to, affecting the strengths and weaknesses of the vampires and Django. Players will even be able to blast off a “solar gun” that stores up the solar energy stored up, pummeling some enemies. Even more interesting is that certain enemies in Boktai can only be defeated when players are playing in the sunlight.

It certainly is an ambitious outing what Mr. Kojima has planned for this game, but you can’t help but wonder what happens in the winter or rainy seasons when sunlight is far and few between. Will there be enough natural light for the game sensors to pick up so Django can still mop the floor with the monsters, or will players be out of luck then.

Features:

- Solar sensor on cartridge absorbs sunlight and influences gameplay

- Real time clock system changes the environment depending on the time

- Certain monsters and creatures can only be destroyed by using sunlight

- From renowned producer and game designer Hideo Kojima

Mr. Nash

July 19, 2003