It's surprising how few platform games have been announced for the GBA so far. On both the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color, they were by far the most popular genre, but, aside from Castlevania, this is the first offering for the Game Boy Advance...
And Pinobee: Wings of Adventure will be good! Aside from the fact that it impressed a fair few people when it debuted at Spaceworld, it is being developed by Artoon, a company formed by ex-members of The Sonic Team. The game plays pretty standardly as platformers go, but it's worth noting that Pinobee, the main character, is able to double and triple jump with ease, obviously thanks to his wings. The story is based on Pinocchio, and centres around Pinobee's quest for hearts (obviously) which will allow him to become a real bee rather than a robot.
A lot of the gameplay centres around Pinobee's "Flying Dash" which will allow him to fly through the air. As he progresses through the game, this dash will become more powerful, allowing him to fly further. Going back to previous levels once you're powered up, of course, will allow you to unlock hidden areas you couldn't access before. Each stage plays in the way you'd expect it to, with the aim being to reach the goal, at which point the next level will start after a brief cutscene in which Pinobee writes in his diary. There are also "Gold Enemies" who have to be defeated in each stage. If you leave them alone, they'll just come back stronger and more deadly in the next stage, so it's in your best interest to get rid of them as soon as possible.
One of Pinobee's more interesting features is item collection. Throughout the levels you can collect a huge number of different items, all allowing you to do different things. You can carry 24 at a time, and can even trade using a link cable. Pinobee is currently scheduled as a GBA launch game, and aside from a few minor control issues which may need sorting out, it's hard to see what can go wrong. I await it with anticipation.
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