Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP - Onyx and Flame

Lead Games Tester Tim Velgos reviews the merits of buying an Onyx Black GBA SP versus a red FLAME GBA SP.

Either way, you win!

Sometimes, the color of the Game Boy Advance SP can really make a difference, depending on your playing environments. The Onyx, for example looks quite nice at night with the lights out. And the Flame looks Crimson in the sunlight. You can take the Onyx with you ANYWHERE and pull it out. You see, it easily looks like a conservative PDA.

Or, you can trick your friends and tell them your Onyx SP is a cell phone. (Guaranteed NOT to work). If you haven't bought a Nintendo Game Boy SP yet, you've waited long enough. In fact, whether you choose to buy a Flame or an Onyx, it's YOUR choice!It could influence your game play strategy--red hot or sleek black!

If you enjoy playing games on the Game Boy Player, you will realize its limitations. You can't bring the Game Boy Player with you on the bus, or a car-trip, or to your sister's painfully boring violin concert! Therefore, getting an SP makes sense because it's so portable. You can practically take it anywhere you want, when you want!

The graphics look incredible on them, especially in the proper backgrounds. And, you can either play with no sound, a little sound, a normal amount of sound, or MAX SOUND! The digitized stereo sound is awesome with headphones!

Also, you might want your Game Boy Advance SP to be noticed or not. If you get Onyx, it won't get noticed as much, and people will not bug you as much about wanting to play it (trust me when I say this, you will get tired of hearing that age-old question, "What is that?!").

If you dare take your Onyx Game Boy Advance SP to school, it could blend it with your pants (assuming here that you wear black pants). On the other hand, The sizzling red Flame would attract attention. Good attention is some people will ooh and aah and say that it’s cool. Bad attention is some people will bug you about wanting to play it. Also, keep your Game Boy Advance SP at home if your having bully troubles because they might steal it or they might beat you up for it!

And finally, if a teacher saw you carrying a Flame GBA SP, they’d know what it was instantly. Let's just say you don't want YOUR GBA SP in your teacher's desk drawer. Not a good way to maximize your game-play, dog!

I would say that the Onyx Game Boy GBA is good for going places and staying home! And the Flame is good for playing at home. But hey, I could be wrong and they could both be great choices, but these are my experiences with them from going to school with each one, and playing each one at home. Your mileage may vary! Whatever your decision is, you will have fun playing GBA games on the GBA SP! Nintendo rocks!