The Great Gaymathon Review #43: Guru Logi Champ (GameBoy Advance)

Game: Guru Logi Champ

Genre: Puzzle

Developer: Compile

Publisher: Compile

System: GameBoy Advance

Release date: 2001

If you want to know why I bought a copy of this game, check out its cover art (above). OK, so that wasn't the only reason I picked it up, but it was a rather prominent one. A few others: it was developed by the folks at Compile (makers of Aleste, Gunhead, Puyo Puyo and more) and it has garnered rave reviews over the years. Oh, and it's portable--as is the case with pretty much all of my favorite puzzlers.

So, has it lived up to expectations, despite the fact that I dropped a pretty penny on it? Definitely. That's mainly due to the fact that it differs from just about every other puzzle game I've ever played. If I had to name one it's similar to, I'd go with Picross. Even that isn't the greatest comparison, though, as while the two titles are alike in some ways, they're otherwise quite unique.

For instance, each "stage" in Guru Logi Champ starts with a semi-finished image. The player's job, then, is to complete the image by shooting blocks (from a cannon, using the GBA's A button) up into the play area. That's easier said than done, though, because: 1) you're given just enough blocks to complete a given stage and 2) blocks continue to slide across the play area until they run into another block. The good news: blocks can be sucked back into the aforementioned cannon by pressing the GBA's B button. Also, the play area can be rotated using the system's shoulder buttons.

Anyway, as is often the case with such games, it all begins rather easily before ramping up to a level of difficulty I like to refer to as "brain-breaking." Thankfully, it never crosses the line to "game-breaking"--as in, you get so frustrated you want to yank the cartridge from the system and smash it to smithereens.

In fact, it's nearly always completely enjoyable, due in no small part to Guru Logi Champ's wonderfully silly (and colorful) characters and graphics, which includes (in the game's single-player story mode) a number of hilarious intermissions, and its everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soundtrack, which includes both tropically-inflected and hip-hop-esque tunes.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

I'm going to miss playing games this way, too

Until the release of the DSi and DSi XL, Nintendo's portable systems were always region-free (i.e., they could play games from any country).

I've taken full advantage of that "feature" over the years by buying a slew of European and Japanese releases--like Compile's Guru Logi Champ (below)--for my trusty GameBoy Advance and DS systems.

Well, if this e-mail from Nintendo of Japan's customer-support staff--which suggests the 3DS will follow in the region-locked footsteps of the DSi and DSi XL--is to be believed, those days will soon be behind me (and you, if you tend to import games from other countries).

I'm sure the brass at Nintendo have their reasons for region-locking the 3DS, but I'm not so sure any of those reasons will keep me from giving them the stink eye whenever they release an awesome game in Europe or Japan and then refuse to bring it to the States.

See also: 'I'm going to miss playing games this way'

The wait is over

You remember this post, right? It's the one in which I whined about waiting for my copy of Guru Logi Champ (aka the GameBoy Advance's Holy Grail).

Well, the wait is over--it arrived! Yesterday, actually. Unfortunately, I've been so busy with work the last two days that all I've done so far is snap a few photos of its outer box, cartridge and instruction manual. Here's one of them:



Isn't it pretty? The box is sweet, too.

Anyway, I probably won't be able to spend some quality time with the game until this weekend. After that, though, I'll let you know if it really is a mash-up of Picross, Puyo Puyo and Magical Drop.

The waiting game

I'm generally a pretty patient guy. When am I not patient? When it's Friday and the weekend is more than a few minutes away, when an upcoming vacation is less than a month (or two) away--and when a game (or game system) is working its way through the postal system to my welcome mat.

When it comes to that last situation, I'm usually able to keep my antsiness in check--but not this week. That's because I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of a game I've been pining for since, well, I became aware of it a few years ago.

The game: Guru Logi Champ (aka Guru Logic Champ), a Compile-crafted title that Japanmanship's JC Barnett has called "by far The Best Puzzle Game Ever Created." (Capitalization courtesy of Barnett.)

Sadly, I haven't actually played Guru Logi Champ--I've just read reviews extolling its awesomeness--so I can't tell you much about it. The person who penned the game's Wikipedia entry swears it's a crazy combination of Picross, Puyo Puyo (kind of) and Magical Drop, though, and that's enough for me.

Anyway, I'll let you know if that description is at all accurate once the darn game is safely secured in my trusty GameBoy Advance.

Watch: A wacky (of course) Japanese Guru Logi Champ advert