Judging by the mass of licensed titles released over the past couple of years, it’s safe to say that the Game Boy Advance has hit a brick wall in terms of new, quality releases. While the majority of major publishers seem to be focusing their efforts on the newer generation handhelds (DS and PSP) many smaller publishers have continued to milk the GBA as much as they can. And who could blame them? The GBA still sits at #2 on the list of highest selling platforms in the world, second only to the PS2.
Thus, for any aspiring GBA fan that’s looking for a new game to add to his collection, I’d say the plethora of older releases is the best reservoir to tap. Take exhibit A for example, Deal or No Deal for the GBA. Off the bat, the idea of making a videogame about a TV show that’s almost entirely based upon luck just doesn’t seem to spark any interest in my book (me being the hardcore fan that enjoys innovative and challenging gameplay). Nevertheless, DSI games has taken it upon themselves to make a rendition of the title and sell it to the mass market.
An Inconvenient Truth
The premise behind Deal or No Deal is simple. There are 26 cases, each with different dollar amounts ranging from $.01 to $1,000,000. You choose a case at the beginning that you wish to keep and then you choose cases you wish to discard up until the final one (either your case or one of the others on the board). Throughout the game are several rounds of case selection where a banker offers you a deal according to how much money is still on the board. Whether you take the deal or take your case, you receive whatever money that is offered. Now, a videogame version of this nature seems to hold a little less water as the game itself relies almost entirely upon luck. Let’s face it, choosing a random case in real life on a game show broadcasting on national TV for the chance to win real money is a lot more enjoyable than choosing a random case on a videogame with nothing on the line. At the end of the game, whatever money you win is completely forgotten with no high score indicator, no campaign mode, not even an exciting ending to congratulate you for your efforts.
At least the aforementioned issues could be tolerable if the game were made properly. Well, to put it lightly, this game has a fatal flaw that keep it from being the slightest bit enjoyable: the random aspect of the game that makes it even a little bit suspenseful loses all of its appeal when you realize that the case amounts vary only by a few predetermined sequences. That’s right, there is no randomization involved in this game! If you start to realize a pattern in the cases you’re choosing, this is not a coincidence, you’ve seen this order before.
…No Deal!
As for the game’s overall appearance, it shouldn’t surprise you that the game lacks any visual quality whatsoever. For one, the only animation in the game is Howie’s mouth, the opening of the cases, and the icon that highlights which case you’re picking. The rest of the game consists of bland looking screenshots that only vaguely resemble the set of the show, not to mention the fact that the models don’t have faces. And then there’s Howie. To say that he looks bad is merely an understatement. A more truthful report would be that he looks like a talking head on a statue body (the only thing that moves is his face) and his hands look like a cross between a bear and a tiger’s paw. Let’s just say this game’s visuals ain’t very pretty.
What’s worse, the sound isn’t any better. There are only 4 songs in the game, all of which are highly repetitious and bland in composition, and there are only around 10 sound effects in the entire game. What’s more, the sound clips for the crowd are completely choppy and sometimes play at the wrong times (negative response for positive results and vice versa). Howie’s voice was obviously the main point of emphasis in developing this game and his repetitive responses (3 in all that are responses to your case choices) get annoying after hearing them a few times. Granted, he doesn’t sound all that bad for GBA voice rendition but it’s still a little muffled overall.
Other aspects of the game that could have redeemed it are the extra modes and multiplayer. However, these modes are just more luck based mini games with the same aforementioned problem and multiplayer requires a Game Boy Advance link cable to play either mode (come on DSI, do we really need a link cable for a game that is turn based and has minimal animation?). So, if you consider the fact that this game is priced at an MSRP of $19.99, you should quickly see that the game is highly overpriced for what you’re receiving.
Case Closed
Deal or No Deal looks like a harmless rendition of its TV counterpart but after closer review, we can see that it’s far from anything that properly encompasses the aspects of the license it’s wearing. Deal or No Deal the show is a game about suspense and luck that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Deal or No Deal the game has no randomized luck and gives you absolutely no reward for your efforts. Poor graphics, sound, and gameplay modes only add to the poison. At the end of the day, there’s only one response to this title: NO DEAL.