A Travel Companion With Fun in Mind

By AARON CURTISS

Feb. 24, 2000 12 AM PT

Oh, the joys of modern travel: middle seats, wayward luggage, odd-smelling rental cars. Perhaps the only enjoyable part of getting from Point A to Point B these days is the chance to get reacquainted with an old portable companion--Game Boy Color. I recently spent two weeks on the road--half for pleasure, half for business--and the only thing that kept me sane was the pocket-size library of Game Boy Color titles I stuck inside my carry-on.

In addition to the perennials--”Tetris,” “Scrabble,” “Donkey Kong” and “Solar Striker”--I brought along four new games: “Bionic Commando,” “Construction Zone,” “Uno” and “Yoda Stories.” Although the quality varies from game to game, any one of the bunch provides enough enjoyment to block out the screaming brat in 17C. Or, because all are easy enough for kids to play, they can keep a fidgety tot from turning into a screaming brat.

Bionic Commando

“Bionic Commando” is exactly what it sounds like: an action game featuring heroes with mechanical appendages. And it’s the perfect way to let off a little steam when the drunk in the next seat decides that your shoulder makes a comfortable pillow.

Players assume the role of either a male or female commando with a giant retractable claw for a right hand. The mission: rescue a fellow commando from the clutches of the Avar Empire, which plans to invade the peaceful land of Karinia.

Most of the game is a traditional side-scroller. Think 16-bit Mario with particle guns and assault rifles. Players use the claw to grab objects and to swing from platform to platform. Along the way, players intercept enemy transmissions to help them pinpoint the location of their captured comrade.

But “Bionic Commando” offers more than just left-to-right shooting action. Players move from level to level by navigating with a map. Sometimes access is blocked and play switches to a top-down view in which players have full freedom of movement. It’s a nice change. And at points during the game, players are called upon to pick off enemy soldiers from a distance and the view switches to a close-up “sniper” view.

Control is dead-on and the levels are nicely detailed.

Although the game has an “Everyone” rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, some parents may feel squeamish about letting their younger children play a game that centers on shooting bad guys. There is no gore, and bad guys simply disappear when shot.

Construction Zone

I read somewhere that some people’s fear of flying stems from their feeling of powerlessness. Few things cure that more quickly than the feeling of pure power that comes from sitting behind the controls of a multi-ton Caterpillar loader or tractor.

“Construction Zone” features 11 pieces of Caterpillar heavy equipment--from pavers to combines--that players control to complete tasks as varied as fixing an inner-city pipe break and harvesting crops.

“Construction Zone” clearly targets younger players, but I suspect more than a few grown men will find it enjoyable. After all, what guy doesn’t find bright yellow earthmoving equipment alluring? All of the action in “Construction Zone” unfolds in a top-down perspective. It takes a couple of minutes to get used to the controls, which change depending on the vehicle’s position.

Jobs get more difficult as players move from the countryside through the suburbs to the city. Obstacles obstruct some of the job sites, and it gets trickier to guide the big equipment along narrow streets. But none of “Construction Zone” is really that hard. A foreman named George--cute, huh?--guides the players through the game, and there’s no risk of botching a job so badly that a level restarts.

And that’s my only beef with “Construction Zone.” Reasonably adept players can finish the game in less time than it takes to fly coast to coast. For $30, a game ought to offer more than just a couple of hours of play.

Uno

Given the size of most airline tray tables, it’s pretty tough to play traditional card games. “Uno” puts the deck of the popular party game onto a Game Boy cartridge and allows players to deal themselves into a round with computer opponents.

For long-term playability, “Uno” is the best of the four. I found myself coming back to it again and again over the two weeks and it finally earned a spot in my core traveling library. Why? Because it’s simple.

True to the original, the objective is to match cards--either by color or by number--and be the first to dump all cards in a hand. The game can be played either alone or against a human opponent with Game Boy’s link cable. Control is a cinch.

Yoda Stories

“Yoda Stories” takes a mildly entertaining PC desktop game and spins it into a Game Boy Color title that offers simple adventure action for “Star Wars” fans. It’s entertaining for a while, particularly if the players are captives on a flight or stuck in layover purgatory. “Yoda Stories” offers portable play that’s a very short cut above standard Game Boy fare.

Players assume the role of Luke Skywalker as he completes various missions on planets from Tatooine to Hoth. The graphics are nothing special, and play unfolds in the top-down perspective common to Game Boy adventures. Luke must fight storm troopers and Tusken Raiders as he searches for items necessary to complete each mission--these range from getting the Millennium Falcon out of Imperial hock to helping the Ewoks find their sacred lantern.

The puzzles get increasingly difficult as the game progresses, and players may ultimately find themselves becoming bored as they wander around a planet in search of the items they need to beat a level. “Yoda Stories” is great in small doses, but it’s not the kind of game that holds up over time.

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Essentials

Bionic Commando

* Platform: Game Boy Color

* Publisher: Capcom

* ESRB rating*: Everyone

* Price: $29.99

* Bottom line: Decent side-scroller

Construction Zone

* Platform: Game Boy Color

* Publisher: Mattel Media

* ESRB rating*: Everyone