Well, after digging though my GBA collection, I decided I can't really do too much of a review on this thing - Since I don't have a lot of duplicate GBA games to test out the multiplayer function of the Majesco Wireless Link, I'm going to have to give more of an "Impressions" type mini-review, detailing some of the tests I did with these.
First, let's talk a little bit about the product. The suggested retail on this is about $10 - not a bad deal, really. I managed to pick up three for $4 each at a K-Mart that was clearing them out. (They also had the related Majesco Wireless Messanger for the GBA, but it was marked $17 - out of my range for a neat product that I wouldn't get the slightest bit of use out of, aside from playing around with it - and then, I'd have to buy two.) Anywhoo, the size of this item is quite compact, really. It's only slightly bigger than a GBA cartridge, if you don't count the 1" antenna sticking out of it. The main gripe I have about the wireless link is that the design on it is made for the Game Boy Advance SP - so the Link Light (when indicates units in range and link) is backwards on the original GBA - making it slightly awkward to check. It wouldn't be much of a complaint, but when you have the SP unit open, you can't even see the Wireless Link unit in the first place, thus making it so the light is facing the front on the SP is just crazy. Minor complaint though.
Of course, this unit will not work on the Game Boy micro, as the link port on the micro is a different size alltogether. This limits you to using the Wireless Link on the original Game Boy Advance, the Game Boy Advance SP and the Game Boy Player, although there are some issues when using the Game Boy Player, which I'll cover here in a bit.
The range on the unit is pretty good, really. It's about 15 feet with a direct line of sight, 10 feet through a wall.
Onwards and upwards, to the acutal function of the Wireless Link - how well does it multi-play?
My first test was to simply try the unit out. Using two GBA units and two Mario Bros. compatible games (In this came, SuperStar Saga and Super Mario World), I started the multi-player game up and played some classic Mario Bros. It ran quite smoothly, in fact - no hoops to jump through or anything.
My second test was to use the unit with a game that features multi-cart download play. So, using two GBAs and one copy of Super Mario Bros. (Classic NES Series), I attempted to download the game from one GBA to the other. This did not work - the GBA without a cart did not respond at all, the GBA with the cart just gave a Link Error message. Thinking it could be possible that this was just a fluke with the Super Mario Bros. game, I then tested out Mario Kart: Super Circuit- that too failed.
Third, I tried something that I knew wouldn't work - using the Wireless Link to link two old school Game Boy Games, first, the original Tetris, then a neat little puzzle/action game called Quarth. As I expected, neither worked.
Next up was using the Game Boy Player. My first attempt was to use the Game Boy Player to link to my SP and play the Four Swords half of the LttP/Four Swords GBA Cart. After several failed attempts, the closest I was able to get the game to actually load and link, but anytime I attempted to load a level, the game would give error messages. Was it Four Swords causing the error, or was it the Game Boy Player?
- First, using two GBAs, I attempted to link Four Swords - and was able to make it work with no issues.
- Second, using one GBA and the Game Boy Player, I attempted to link Mario Bros. - and was able to make this work with no issues.
So I'm not quite sure what to make of this...
The next set of testing was three player linking (since I was only able to purchase three of these). First, I tried linking two GBAs and the Game Boy Player to play Mario Bros. This was an utter failure. On occasion, I was able to link two units, with a third one constantly searching, but I was never able to get all three to recognize one another - and on one occasion, one game actually crashed completly before loading the multi-player menus.
Since I had previously expierenced errors using the Game Boy Player, I then tried linking my three GBA units together. It took a couple of tries of hitting the right buttons at the right times, but I was able to get three-player Mario. Bros up and running - and it too was smooth.
Finally, I tried linking my copy of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 to my e-Reader to be able to scan in some power-ups. This too failed - the e-Reader unit just waited for communication while the SMB3 unit gave communication errors.
Unfortunatly, my library of multiple GBA games is limited to being able to test Mario Bros (up to four players) and Four Swords (up to two players), so this is where I have to end my tests. The conclusion being that if you want to link two GBAs/SPs together, then this product is actually quite worth the investment. Three units - perhaps, if you don't mind a little aggervation and a little work on the timing. If you want to link to a Game Boy Player? I'd say pass.
Topic: Majesco's Wireless Link for GBA/SP (Read 6750 times)
