Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe for Game Boy Adv Reviews & Ratings by IGN

The Chronicles of Narnia takes to theatres in less than a week, and while the games have been scoring relatively well across the board, the DS and GBA titles offer up an interesting combo to the already saturated market of movie-games. The DS version shocked and entertained us with its above average visuals, and enticingly epic battles. However, while Narnia DS was hit and miss on many aspects, the GBA version manages to deliver a humble yet enjoyable experience all around. Rather than trying to deliver a product of DS proportions, Narnia GBA simply admits that it is what it is, and gets the job done because of it.

It really is an interesting situation when the two games are looked at in contrast. The DS version is obviously going to be more popular among retailers, due to the flashy visuals and more upscale production, which is why it is being used momentarily as a basis of comparison. However, while the GBA version isn't perfect by any means, it does have a stronger overall design. Narnia delivers an isometric action adventure experience much like its big brother, though it has the luxury of using the very tried and true Lord of the Rings engine. Because of this, the action is a bit more fluid than the DS version, offering a much stronger core feel to the game. Battle can reach over five on five, allowing 10 or more characters on screen at once, each delivering full animations with no lag. While the visuals are scaled back due to technical restraints, Narnia uses every inch of the screen whenever possible.

The overall design is also a bit more basic, leaving room for more core values rather than flashy presentation elements. There is no character swapping in Narnia DS. Each of the tasks are divided into chapters, and the player controls only one hero for each chapter. The other heroes, along with various animals from the Narnia world, will accompany the character, but the focus is on one child per chapter. The only issue with this design choice comes with poor character AI. Whenever leaving an area, the screen fades out and back in with all characters together again. This rule simply must be used if success is to be had, and there were many times where running to these area breaks is necessary since AI allies actually get lost in the world while attempting to follow! While these situations are simply inexcusable, they do happen at a small frequency, and most of the AI complaints are due to lack of aggression during battles.

Fortunately, where character aid suffers due to poor AI, many improvements have been capitalized on in this version. The cold system that was used in the DS version has been taken to a much higher level, having the harsh Narnia winters actually cause health loss if the warmth bar depletes. Luckily, fires and warming items can be found virtually anywhere. Unlike the DS version, items can be collected and saved for when they are needed most. Items cover a wide range of affects as well, giving health, warmth, attack and defense increase, or a combination of multiple boosters. There is no leveling up, however, so each battle is basically hit for hit. The health bar is also specific to only the player's character, making management a bit easier at the expense of less involvement with the AI allies. Because only one character is used in each chapter, all special abilities can be accessed by any hero, and are assigned to the B button via the in-game inventory. This is refreshing in such a scaled down adventure, since players don't have to worry about which character has what ability. If a skill is needed, it is there to use.

Since the GBA is a weaker overall system, presentation is difficult to pull off when dealing with an epic adventure such as Narnia. Luckily, the game's production feels humble in design, offering just enough graphical flavor to keep the game interesting while still assuring that it can keep solid gameplay a priority. The game looks fine, but not amazing. Character animation is solid, though some of it is very low-frame since the game features a huge cast. Many situation-specific animations are used as well, having bridges fall or entryways break off. Narnia's designers did a great job of knowing what gamers wanted to see, and what they needed to see. Sound presentation is also surprisingly strong, offering a very movie-themed sound track along with decent sound affects for GBA. The sound presentation, much like that of the graphical side, knew its limits and delivers an above-average score that keeps the mood: Nothing more, and nothing less.

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