Bitmap Bureau may have recently been in the headlines for its promising-looking Terminator 2 video game, but what is arguably the company's most famous creation is getting a new lease of life thanks to its release on the GBA.
Xeno Crisis is already available on a mind-bending number of platforms, including Mega Drive, Neo Geo, SNES, Dreamcast, N64, PS Vita, Switch, Evercade, PS4 and Xbox One, but its release on Nintendo's vintage handheld means it's the most portable it has ever been—playing Xeno Crisis on the Game Boy Micro is quite an experience.
Because the GBA has two face buttons and two shoulder buttons, it lacks the multi-directional shooting mechanic seen in the Switch and SNES versions. Instead, it employs the same 'hold for direction' system seen in the Mega Drive original—you can use the L and R triggers to rotate your direction of fire, however. The evasive roll move is mapped to the A button by default, while grenades are released using the R trigger (the L trigger doubles up as a roll button). While it lacks the versatility of a twin-stick setup, but it's perfectly serviceable.
Bitmap Bureau's superb multi-platform game engine means that the GBA version has lost very little in the transition; the visuals are fantastic, and the sound is crystal clear (and better than the Mega Drive version, especially the voices). The only real concession is the introduction of screen scrolling, as the GBA's lower resolution can't fit everything on screen at once.
Do you need another version of Xeno Crisis? Probably not, as everyone in the Western hemisphere should own at least one copy by now, but I love the fact that I can play one of the best top-down arena shooters of recent memory on a console small enough to fit into my shirt pocket.
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