When you stop and think about it, the Game Boy Advance is perhaps the last gaming platform that was truly built for 2D gaming, first and foremost.
By the time Nintendo's million-selling handheld arrived on the market in 2001, we were already a few years into 3D being the norm for home video games, and by the time its successor, the DS, arrived in 2004, there was a definite shift to 3D in the world of portable consoles, too.
While I wouldn't say the GBA was the pinnacle of 2D pixel art, it was certainly a high point – a device where 2D art could flourish and evolve. If you doubt my stance on this (and you're perfectly welcome to), then I'd recommend you flick through the pages of The GBA Pixel Book, created by Robert Bannert, Thomas Nickel and Martin Nagel. Originally published in Germany by Elektrospieler in 2023, it's now getting its English-language debut thanks to Bitmap Books.
Like The SNES Pixel Book before it, The GBA Pixel Book is all about 2D art. The book's pages are covered in some of the most glorious pixel artwork ever created for video games and feature some of the console's most acclaimed releases, such as Fire Emblem, Golden Sun, Wario Ware, Metroid: Zero Mission, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Gunstar Super Heroes, Legend of Zelda, The: Minish Cap and many, many more.
What's so refreshing is that the team behind the book haven't simply picked out the most acclaimed titles and left it at; a whole double-page spread is devoted to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, largely because Henk Nieborg (Xeno Crisis, Battle Axe) worked on it and contributed some of the most amazing pixel art the GBA has ever seen. Elsewhere, space is given to some of the GBA's lesser-known releases purely because the art they showcase is of note, even after 20 years.
The design and layout of each page remind us of '90s magazines like CVG and Mean Machines and really allow the visuals to shine. It's almost impossible to look at even a few pages without feeling the burning desire to dust off your GBA and witness these graphics in motion; from a design perspective, the whole thing is a visual feast.
If I were going to find fault with The GBA Pixel Book, it would be the text, which is clearly translated from the original German and can sometimes come across a little awkwardly. This is a common issue with any book that is being localised from one region to another and is a minor complaint – on the whole, the writing is very good and does an excellent job of communicating what's so special about these games.
Pixel art hasn't died off as many predicted it would, and it's possible to find many amazing examples of it on modern machines – but it's now an artistic choice rather than the only option. Back when the GBA was the best way to game on the go, artists and developers had no choice but to embrace pixels – and that is perhaps why the GBA is home to so many amazing 2D games. This book is the most convincing evidence of that you'll find anywhere.
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