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 - A Definite ClassicTo start I would like to remind everyone reading this that a lot of companies are taking advantage of the GBA to re-release some of their older line-up. These games don't have all of the flashy graphics that newer GBA games have but more often than not make up for it in gameplay. But it gives those of us who grew up in that generation of gaming history a chance to re-live the classics in a more modern form. Besides, how many us still have an original NES that we need to blow on or jam something on top of the game itself to get it to work? I know I'm tired of messing with it... Anyway, this game IS one of those classics, so don't expect great graphics. And the voice-acting, yes voice-acting, isn't that great. This game originally came out for the Super Famicom and never made it stateside. But you may know of the other titles in this series. Tales of Destiny (PS1), Tales of Destiny 2 (PS1), Tales of Legendia (PS2), Tales of Symphonia (GC) and Tales of the Abyss (PS2), this one being the first. And if you're into role-playing games, than this would be a perfect fit to your collection. This game provides hours of questing, summoning, mini-quests and even cooking! While not as extravagant as Star Ocean, the cooking element adds a nice twist to the healing aspect of the game. Plus the main character Cress, can earn moves while leveling up and then in turn level up those skills simply by using them in combat. Once you have mastered some skills, you will be able to use combo skills from books that are found throughout the game. Some of the dungeons are easy to get lost in, but for the most part it moved at a good pace. The battle sequences are side-scrolling in real-time, but you can issue commands when you want while the battle pauses, also similar to Star Ocean. The other three members of your party are computer-controlled, but the characters AI can be tweaked to your liking. Like if Claus is summoning too often or unnecessarily, you can tell him to save his magic. Oh and you can switch control to whichever character you want. There are well over 100 enemies to defeat and add to your monster list and for the item collectors you get a book that lets you know how many of items you have found within the game. So all in all I was very pleased with this title. I love to have a good, interactive story to take with me and get into. I just ordered the newest one, Tales of the Abyss for the PS2 and can't wait to see how far this franchise has come. Oh and P.S., someone tell Square Enix to take a lesson from Namco and release Star Ocean for the GBA or DS! We're still missing that one in the States!! Rating:  - Casual GamerI own a nintendo simply for the Zelda series. I happened to find a gameboy in my workplace that some kid left behind and decided to purchase a game for it. This game surprised me with many, many hours of entertainment. Just when I think I have it beat the game gives me another epic quest to go on. I even played it for 30 hours lying on the beach of Curacao on my honeymoon! There is some hidden adult humor in it also; the kind to fly over a kids head but make a more muture person chuckle. A massive RPG thats fun for all ages, cant go wrong with that! Rating: - A WONDERFUL MASTERPIECE!!!This is a great game! You can battle monsters without the use of menus. Cool! You can equip weapons, shields, accessories,etc. that you have. Pretty good, right? You can also cook stuff that restore health and mana points(points needed for skills). This is very similar to "Tales of Symphonia", which is excellent. The gameplay is good. So is the sound. The graphic is a little no good,but it doesn't really affect the game that much. This game is worth the money. Check it out!!! Rating: - Wonderful Port! What took so long?!Tales of Phantasia really should have been exported when it was originally released. However, releasing it for the GBA has really been worth the wait. (Thank you, Nintendo, for re-releasing so many great games from Atari-SNES for the GBA! I love you!) Had it been released originally, I would have definetly snatched this up. Considering all the kids (now adults) I knew at the time who also played RPG's, I know that this would have been ranked as one of thier favorites. Just to prove my point, I called the friends I could get a hold of and told them to buy this game. They're pretty enthusiastic. ^_^ Don't listen to the young'uns who can't handle anything not rendered in 3D: Tales of Phantasia may not be the most gut-ripping, jaw dropping, adrenaline pumping game around, but it makes up for it in pure fun and good old-fashioned 2D RPG goodness. Add voice overs, nice (and cute) main character sprites and animations, decent music, good graphics (wonderful for the time it came out; aged pretty well!) and real time battles to the mix, and you start wondering why more games didn't use this formula. It really brings the story and the games itself to life. the game itself can get a little buggy-- -occasional pops and skips in the sound in some areas at one point of the game -pressing the A button in front of an NPC didn't do anything, once. Left, came back, worked the second time. However, I'm a forgiving person. Porting things to the GBA isn't nearly as clean a process as people seem to think it is. It also wasn't nearly enough to stop me from playing. 5 stars, for being impossible to put down for the past 3 days. Rating: - FANTABULOUS!!!This is a great game! You can battle monsters without the use of menus. Cool! You can equip weapons, shields, accessories,etc. that you have. Pretty good, right? You can also cook stuff that restore health and mana points(points needed for skills). This is very similar to "Tales of Symphonia", which is excellent. The gameplay is good. So is the sound. The graphic is a little no good,but it doesn't really affect the game that much. This game is worth the money. Check it out at once!
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