Surprisingly, one of the better GBA platformers has come from TDK Mediactive.
At this year’s E3, I had the chance to sit down and check out TDK Mediactive’s Lady Sia, and with all the licensed crap being slung around on the machine, found it to be one of the more entertaining GBA platforming titles that I had come across. It had not been receiving much press because TDK is unfortunately not always known for its high-quality, but with the boxed copy of the game now in my hands, I can honestly say that while it has its fair share of problems, it is one of the more entertaining 3rd party titles that has been released on the portable in its short lifetime.
Lady Sia isn’t having the easiest time with her quest against the evil that is invading her homeland. Her leaders do not believe that the T’soas are a real threat, but as they speak, they are quickly setting a trap. As Lady Sia sets out in a fit of anger, she is captured and thrown into a jail cell, only to be saved by a mysterious, unidentified ally. Now with a clear purpose in mind, she escapes in search of the T’soas leader who has brought this terror to her world.
The mechanics of Lady Sia are easy enough to pick up on; the gameplay is, more or less, the standard platforming fare, with a good dose of magic and sword fighting thrown in for balance. If you are a gamer on the prowl for a platformer that takes some great strides in the genre, you might be better off looking at Castlevania: Circle of the Moon or Klonoa: Empire of Dreams; Lady Sia will not do much to impress you. But it what it does do, however, it does pretty well, even if at a fairly basic level.
Magical powers actually mix up the game’s direction many times throughout the game, such as when Lady Sia confronts a snow-covered boss ten times her size and must use a spell that transforms her into a monstrous Sasquatch Sia. The sasquatch spell is game-controlled, but the three others (Water, Fire and Air) are initiated through the use of Street Fighter-esque button combinations. Because of the button movements, though, it makes it can make it difficult and frustrating to execute the magic during gameplay.
It’s obvious some extensive technical work went into Lady Sia, as what struck me most were the incredibly smooth animations, sharp and stylized 2D graphics and impressive weather and scrolling backdrops that were present throughout all of the game. All of the game’s characters movements have been given amble amounts of animation frames, especially Lady Sia’s, resulting in a very smooth appearance. Instead of a few clouds in the sky or a colored background, the environments in Lady Sia are much more detailed (in that cartoony sort of style), showing entire cities and miles of confusing twisting caverns.
Unlike many other GBA publishers, TDK has not simply thrown out anything into the market with Lady Sia. It certainly is not going to revolutionize the way we play platforming games, but it is definitely an enjoyable, great looking title that is worth checking out.
