Max Payne (Game Boy Advance)

ESRB Rating
100 point score based on reviews from various critics.
5 point score based on user ratings.

User Reviews

Focusing on What Matters WWWWolf (422) 3.5 Stars3.5 Stars3.5 Stars3.5 Stars3.5 Stars

Our Users Say

Category Description MobyScore
Overall MobyScore (10 votes) 4.2

The Press Says

Game Chronicles
This is a fantastic edition of the Max Payne game that proves the GBA doesn’t have to sacrifice anything of the original to make a great port provided the designers are willing to give it the time and attention it deserves. Everything from the violent visuals, great sound, classic narration, graphics novel presentation, and intense gameplay is back and condensed into one of the best GBA action titles of 2003. If you own a GBA and old enough to play an M-rated game then Max Payne should be an instant and permanent part of your GBA library.
Game Boy Advance owners and action fans, Max Payne is the type of game that delivers all the goods and remains just as addictive as the console versions. Gamers will be putting this into their GBA systems just to remind themselves how powerful the little handheld system really is and how its never too late to bring past favorites to our beloved system. Hopefully we’ll start seeing a trend where other game companies start using all the things the GBA system is capable of handling. Until then, Max Payne is just one of those games you shouldn’t do without.
Max Payne is essentially an action shooter with the basics of an adventure game -- hitting triggers or switches to open doors -- thrown in. The hook of the game design is its implementation of what's called "Bullet Time," an effect stolen from the film version of The Matrix; players, scratch that, must utilize Max Payne's bullet time ability to slow down the passage of time. One tap of the R trigger sends time on a slowdown, and puts Max in a superhuman dive in the direction he's facing. This gives players the ability to avoid enemy bullets, as well as lock in on these bad guys to take 'em out with a few blasts from the gun. The Bullet Time meter is limited, but as long as your aim is true and bad guys get shot, it'll replenish. But successfully blasting through an area without Bullet Time enabled is nearly impossible, so wasting what little Bullet Time you have is definitely not a good thing.
Die GBA-Umsetzung des hierzulande indizierten PC-Originals hat mich sehr fasziniert. An den Perspektivenwechsel gewöhnt man sich innerhalb der ersten Spielminuten. Von da an geht es richtig zur Sache. Falls man weiter als bis zur nächsten Gewehrmündung kommen will, ist die Bullet-Time ein unverzichtbarer Begleiter. Ist auf dem Bildschirm viel los, so geht die Grafik-Engine merklich in die Knie. Allerdings kann man dieses Manko leicht verschmerzen, da der Großteil des Spiels ohnehin in Zeitlupe abläuft. Überrascht war ich von der Sprachausgabe, die bei allen Bildern, welche die Story weitererzählen, benutzt wird. Alles in allem kann ich jedem Action-Fan den Titel empfehlen, da die Hintergrundgeschichte spannend ist und die Action sehr gut auf dem GBA umgesetzt wurde.
Deaf Gamers
On the whole I think this is a very good Game Boy Advance version of Max Payne and whether or not you've played the PC, PlayStation 2 or Xbox version of the game it's an enjoyable shooter that is quite unlike any other title on the GBA. There are one or two problems though such as enemies are usually audible before they are visible but it isn't as big a problem as you think it would be. You could argue that it doesn't last too long as it's only going to take around six hours at the most to complete. Still it's a very enjoyable game and all things considered Max Payne has arrived in style on the Game Boy Advance.
Nintendo Difference
Si vous aimez un tant soit peu les jeux d’action, à n’en pas douter Max Payne fera votre bonheur. Pour les autres, je n’aurai qu’un conseil : ce jeu-là a quelque chose qui le différencie des autres, il serait dommage de le rater !
GameCell UK
This is a graphically impressive GBA game, with clear, crisp sprites, and nicely detailed levels. The sound is good, with decent samples and clear speech during the cut scenes in the game. If you’re into the Max Payne and own a GBA, You’ll love this version of the game. Definitely an essential bathroom time killer (or possibly for whilst on the way to, or at work). Recommended.
80 (UK)
That said though, overall Max Payne is an undeniably alluring little isometric shoot-'em-up with some tolerable flaws, and if, like me, you plan to get stuck into the PC sequel in the near future, then it offers a succinct and vital refresher of key plot points. It's also one of relatively few truly adult games available on the handheld, and ultimately for managing to deliver on the original's grown up premise without resorting to spud guns, fluffy clouds or the charmless template of a side-on shoot-'em-up, Mobius more than deserves the plaudits.
Max Payne definitely deserves its M rating. Its story, tone, and language are miles beyond what most folks are used to from a GBA title. Happily, so is the look and sound of the game. If you don't mind dealing with one of the more difficult games the GBA has seen, you'll be wrapping your thumbs around one of the most technically advanced titles made for the system.
Game Informer Magazine
What sounds like a virtual train wreck on paper (bringing a cinematic PC masterpiece to the puny GBA) actually comes to life as a scrappy little-engine-that-could title for the handheld set. From the start, it’s obvious that the gang at Möbius is a talented lot (with the good sense to have umlauts in their name!). Not only has it constructed a good isometric replication of the original Max Payne – the company also included all of the game’s vaunted graphic novel cutscenes with fully recorded voiceovers.
When video and computer games make their ways to handheld platforms, it's hardly a surprise that drastic changes have to be made. More often than not, Game Boy Advance games with a console or computer counterpart bear little or no resemblance to the other versions of the game. But that's starting to change. Games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for the GBA showed that it's possible to keep the same basic gameplay and level design intact. All it really did was present the same action from a different perspective. And that's precisely what Mobius and Rockstar have done with Max Payne for the GBA. The same basic action and level structure are intact from the original PC version, but it's all seen from an isometric perspective. Unfortunately, this Max Payne serves better as an incredibly neat idea than as a full-fledged game.
Bien sûr, Max Payne conserve aussi ses défauts dans cette adaptation. Bourrin à souhait et relativement court, le jeu n'est peut-être pas un indispensable. Néanmoins, ses évidentes qualités de défouloir hypnotique et sanglant en feront tout de même un bon investissement pour qui souhaite redécouvrir la série sous un autre jour.
GamePro (US)
The miniature Max does a few things remarkably well, the most notable being a fine translation of Bullet Time to an isometric view: Simply tap the shoulder button and fire a barrage of bullets in any direction to take out the bad guys’fun wow! The comic book style presentation, complete with narrative panels and lots of (low-quality) voice acting, is pretty cool, too, crafting a nice little story to drive along the gameplay. Alas, the rest isn’t as inspired or well wrought; confusing level design, repetitive action, and the vile villain called slowdown eventually start to grate on the nerves. And Max Payne, for all his righteousness, doesn’t quite stand the test of time.
Après avoir fait parler ses ingrams sur PC, PS2 et Xbox, Max Payne renoue avec ses premières mésaventures sur Game Boy Advance. Mais entre la puissance des 128-bits, un moteur 3D et l’effet bullet-time, l’adaptation sur la portable de Nintendo n’est pas chose aisée et c’est Möbius Entertainment qui se charge du projet. Et il faut l’avouer, la tâche étant plutôt corsée, le résultat ne reflète pas toutes les attentes.
Possédant plusieurs défauts entachant sa réalisation, Max Payne s'en sort plutôt bien sur GBA. Passée la difficulté élevée, les problèmes du positionnement des ennemis ou du gameplay à dompter, cette adaptation est on ne peut plus fidèle à la version d'origine ce qui n'est pas peu dire !