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Not a bad game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Was looking for a FPS for my new GBASP, and was given this. Very Doomlike, but what is missing is some music. Also, the enemies don't pursue you like they do in doom, but either way, it is a great little game. Not bad graphics either and pretty good texture for a handneld.

Dark Arena, another DOOM clone . . . the difference?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Dark Arena is the ninth best FPS for the GBA, the first announced, but the fourth released for the system. Dark Arena is pretty much a Doom clone. What's the difference between the two? Well, hmmm . . . Doom is a better game. Dark Arena features enemies with zero intelligence which make them a breeze to kill even on the hardest skill level. The graphics in Dark Arena seem a little more bright and sharper than Doom but Doom looks better all around and is simply more fun to play. Dark Arena does offer a good variety of weapons, some neat looking enemies, and some fun levels but all of this is sub-par to the Doom games. Dark Arena is definitly a fun and welcome entry in the growing library of GBA games under the FPS genre but definitly a weaker one.

Mmm Beer i mean F.p.s.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: November 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The best fps ever. in fact i had to write this after i bought it because so many people are dissing it. take my advice if you are looking at buying this dont pay attention to those people saying its bad. it has got to be the best fps ever and one more thing dont play it on easy if you want to beat it cause you can only beat it on hard or medium and watch out for Dark arena 2 because once you beat it it mentions a sequel.

A Good Shooter for the Advance

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I had seen screens/previews of this game before the Game Boy Advance came out. The Advance came out, and it wasn't til about two years later that I actually got one. Soon enough I got this game. I was planning to get Duke Nukem Advance, but they didn't have it where I checked, and I ended up getting this one.

This game, supposedly, plays like Doom. I haven't played the classic Doom, but this game feels like an old school shooter nonetheless. And that's partly what I like about it, is the no-frills action of it. a pure and simple shooter, of sorts. It's a very different feel from a lot of the games nowadays that get bogged down in storylines you could care less about, games that have cutscenes, games where you have to manage inventories, games where... just, I don't know. This game is easy to go into and just play.
The difficulty begins to ramp up pretty quickly, around the fifth level.
I recommend this game to fans of shooters. I so far have enjoyed it.
The graphics disappointed me at first - the screenshots look better than the game does when playing, perhaps, because when it runs, some of the textures blur and become distorted. It runs fairly smoothly, though. I assume the graphics are still decent if not good for Game Boy Advance. However I haven't played any other first person shooters on the system.
My favorite level so far has been this one where you were in a sort of "arena" and there were these big monster.. things. It was fun strafing around firing rockets at them. yes, a rocket launcher. this game has some decent weapons. There are also some large robotic type enemies.
The only complaint I could have is that I don't like a few of the monsters - they occasionally seem generic or uninspired. then again, I think a lot of the enemies in id's games seem uninspired, too.
If only they would make a mech game for game boy advance...
p.s. the lack of an in game save is not a big deal to me. several game boy advance games use a password save, and to me it's not a big deal. it doesn't take long to input a password. plus you have the advantage of getting someone else's password to advance if you're stuck. :) not that I'd do that, of course. of course...

Not very good, Just kind of drags on and on

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: April 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game only beacuse it was on sale an it was probably a mistake. you can beat it in a few hours and there are better games out there for GBA that are first person shooters. Like "Doom" is a good one or "Duke Nukem Advance." These one are more exciting. Dark Arena has a good story line however you don't really get to participate in the main points of the game. i paid about $15.00 for it which is about how much it is worth.

This is A GBA PPL

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

ITs not bad this is not a xbox at least its 3d!! you get awseome wepons its very challenging its like doom and a cool game you cant beat in 5 min the level are cool to

bad, boring, sadly lacking in fun

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I,too, love Wolfenstien, and Doom...that was what I was hopeing for!
Nope.
Forget it.
HAH!
As others have written, it freezes, they have the baddies WAAAAAAY more powerful than you, it's like fighting 100 guns with a teeny pocket knife!
I didn't put up with it long...saved the reciept, and took it BACK.
Now I have a game that works, at least.
do not waste your time or money on this game.

Return to sender!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I bought this because I LOVE Doom, Wolfenstien, and other first person shooters...
At least those WORK.
I contacted the company when my guy froze, and got killed when he froze. They knew about it...couldn't fix it.
BAD graphics, even poorer sound! My sister, who can usually figure out a game tried this thing....no such luck, the game kept freezing.
There is no excuse for a game freeze, and al I can say is...
AVOID THIS GAME! GET DOOM! GET WOLFENSTIEN!
Now if only someone could put out Marathon for GBA!

A Great Game for What It's Meant to Be

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Dark Arena is a fantastic game. I wanted a First Person Shooter that didn't require tons of thinking and puzzle solving. I just wanted something to relax with and have some fun with after a long day at work. This game accomplishes that. It has suprisingly crisp and colorful graphics. For those people that said the graphics stink, I think their expectations are too high. This is not on an X-Box or NGC. It's on a GBA with a tiny screen. I feel that the enemies have great looks to them and the weapons are fun and creative. The only reason that I have not given this game 5 stars is because there is not music during the game and I don't like writing down passwords. I wish it had a built in "Save" feature. Other than that, this game is awesome! All video games do not have to be extremely complex and difficult in order to be fun! Lots of games now are way too complex...So complex in fact that they aren't any fun if you just want to sit down and play for a little bit because it takes too much time and effort to get into them. Don't get me wrong, I like many of those games too, but that's not what this game's about. Purchase this game if you want a fun, medium involved, stress relieving game!

Dark Arena is a pretty decent effort....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: August 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Despite its' similarities to DOOM, Dark Arena isn't a bad game. It's a pretty decent effort from it's creators. Better than what I originally thought it would be, honestly. If your a First-Person Shooter fan, its' definitely worth your time. If not, you might want to pass this one up. It's that simple.

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