After returning my Cobra Light, I bought a Pelican Light Shield to see what it could do. In some ways it is like the Cobra Light. A one-piece item, it doubles as a screen protector, but it actually covers the full plastic screen cover. It also has a pass-through port, an on-off switch, and a dial to control the light’s power input, allowing you to adjust how much juice that baby sucks up.

The peripheral is built very sturdily, with a hinge made with metal. It pokes out upwards and away a little when closed, but it is surprisingly compact: it fit in my official GBA carrying case I got at E3 while still on the system! When down, it seems to do a very good job of protecting your window into the portable world. When turned off, the shield casts a slight shadow with its lid, but it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem unless you are at extreme angles. You can even take it off if it becomes a real problem. But onto the light itself… With a GBA game, the light works quite well. The bulb does leave a little glare, but it can be angled so that it is usually above the LCD screen, and it isn’t nearly as annoying as a Worm Light reflection. For GBA games, you’ll probably want to keep the thing at full power. The bottom corners of the screen are slightly less illuminated than the rest, but it is not a very noticeable diffusion. In fact, overall, the light covers the screen fairly well. I don’t know how well this compares to the Worm Light Advance, but it seems to do the job fairly well for me. In GBC mode, it is a dream come true. It covers almost ALL of the screen, and you’ll probably want to turn down the brightness to keep that battery light from going out. Unless there are subtle dark tones in the corners of a game, feel free to use the stretched-out mode.

My only complaint is that I’m a little worried about power consumption. When at full power, the Light Shield causes the Power light to take a significant drop (especially in GBC mode.) I don’t know how it compares to the other lights on the market in power consumption, but that brightness dial should come in handy in medium light conditions. And, like most GBA items, it comes in the GBA colors.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with my purchase. It does its jobs well, and at $9.99, you can’t lose by investing in this product. This green-suited plumber gives the Light Shield two gloved thumbs up!