The left shoulder button brings up your character's inventory, while the B button is used to examine an object or person, and the A button is used to interact with said person or object. Another common-sense observation by Revolution is that pointing and clicking simply doesn't work well without a mouse. Holding down the D-Pad to move your cursor across the screen then trying to position it on a small object would be painful to say the least, so if you choose not to highlight these objects with the right shoulder button the appropriate icon will appear when you character draws near to them.

'So the interface has been trimmed?' you wonder aloud, 'how much of the rest of the game has received this dumbing down treatment?'. It's an understandable reaction, but an unfounded one; Revolution have only edited the more superfluous dialogue from the P.C version because the speech had to go ( they experimented with implementing it, but in this case their ambition proved too much for the format ), and as for graphics these are some of the most beautifully realised you'll have seen on the GBA, with the majority of character animations smooth and intact.

Fortunately, the dialogue in the title is strong enough to support itself without the novelty of speech, and it's unlikely you'll find yourself hammering the A button to skip through a conversation. This directly ties into the plot, which is where Broken Sword shines, branching out from what seem like simple events into global conspiracies and age-old portents.

Your character, an American tourist named George Stobbart, is well-realised in his interactions with the various characters in the game, his humorous and sometimes obvious responses showing that he still believes himself to be on vacation even while trying to solve a murder-mystery, a light-heartedness which rubs off positively on the player.

Dialogue choices are represented by icons which you can select to carry the conversation in a certain direction, and can frequently be re-selected until they disappear from the menu - indicating the person you are talking to has nothing more to say on the subject.
The puzzles, which take up the vast majority of the game, are logical yet challenging, you'll never fall foul of a problem needing an irrational solution; such as using a fish to open a wardrobe.

As with all the best adventure games, you'll curse yourself for not figuring it out sooner, and although the puzzles grow suitably more difficult as you progress through the game the answer can always be reached by considering the items in your inventory, your surroundings, and experimenting as often as you can.

Graphics-wise Broken Sword just couldn't be better, perhaps the only negative thing I can find to say is that you will need a strong light to make out all the details, but then this is an unfortunate problem which affects most GBA games. Some pixelation is evident when George gets close to the screen, but the majority of the time BS is a visual feast, and half the fun in trying to reach a new location is to see how lushly realised it will be. Your adventure takes you around the world from Paris, to Syria, Spain and Ireland, so every surrounding has it's own distinctive identity, and more than likely you'll enjoy every second you spend in them.

Sound is well-realised, although the orchestral themes are slightly limited by the GBA's hardware, meaning that if you spend a long time in one area you might find it easier to turn the music off rather than listen to it repeatedly. Sound-effects, although sparsely used, add to the atmosphere of the title well, although as with all GBA titles they'll often come across better through headphones.

Now for the stick which many will use to try and hobble Broken Sword before its barely out of the starting gate - it's not an original title. True, this game has seen good circulation on both P.C and Playstation formats, and obviously for those that played these editions the GBA version will hold little appeal. The attraction of portability cannot be underestimated, however, and to be able to play a title of this quality on the move is a significant plus point.

If you haven't caught it before then this is a version that won't disappoint you, with the transference to the GBA a truly classic title is being opened up to an entirely new demographic - and how could anyone not be happy with that?