Full Review

Chessmaster for the Game Boy Advance is a sort of no-frills chess game. For most serious chess players, we don't expect a lot of pomp and circumstance when playing. We just want a challenging game and the Chessmaster series of games is notorious for its game engine and thinking skills. This is the chess game for the GBA.

Chessmaster allows you three different types of game: Standard, Handicap, or Board Setup. Standard chess is your basic game of chess. Handicap allows you to remove certain pieces before playing, which to me is kind of dumb. Board Setup lets you place the pieces however you wish and is a good way to work out strategies for certain situations, sort of like setting up shots in billiards.

When playing, you can hit Select to get into the options menu and adjust the game settings. You can change the response time per move so that you don't have to sit there and wait on the computer to go. You can choose from six different board layouts, ranging from wood to newspaper to circus, or you can switch on a tutorial mode which is great for beginners.

Gameplay is your basic overhead view of a chessboard. There's no 3D objects here. To move, you simply use the pad to choose a piece, then hit the A button once to select it and then move where you want it to go and double tap the A button to drop it. Like chess itself, the movement is simple and straightforward, but the mastery of the game is in the strategy.

This game also features a Chess Tutor section that not only gives you the basics on how the pieces can move, but also shows you some special moves and strategies. Even when you aren't actually playing chess, this game can also serve as a nice little e-book for helping you build up your chess skills. I was quite impressed with the tutorial.

Graphically, this game is a little bland, but I wouldn’t expect a chess game to be all shiny anyway. The boards could have been a little more colorful, but they do the job. The sound is reduced to simple little dings and chimes sort of like the basic sounds in Microsoft Windows, but in chess you don't want a bunch of distracting music or noise anyway.

Chessmaster is the chess game for people who like to play chess. It isn't too flashy but makes up for it with solid artificial intelligence and lots of features to help your game. If you want to play chess on the GBA, this is the only way to go.