With the Advance Wars series, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, and now Sabre Wulf, the GBA has quickly established itself as a wonderful system for slower-paced, more cerebral titles. Sabre Wulf is actually a puzzle title masquerading as a platformer, similar to the recently released Mario Vs. DK. The Wulf has escaped, and the only way to reach his lair at the end of every level, and ultimately imprison the canine once again, is to intelligently use the limited number of animal friends at your disposal.

Animals can be purchased from the shop, or found in hard-to-reach areas of the levels themselves. Once an animal is in your collection, he's there for keeps. At the start of every level you begin anew with your full stash. There's an all-purpose monkey that explodes a couple seconds after being deployed, a witch which specializes in dispatching airborne enemies, a serpent which creates a sturdy platform allowing our intrepid to reach new heights, plus plenty more.

Since you don't have an unlimited number of animals, it's important to use them intelligently, and sometimes sparingly. The cool thing about the levels is that most obstacles can be tackled in numerous ways, and reward those who stop a while and think. Maybe you could use a couple of animals to take out all the enemies in your way, but why not use just one animal to jump over the entire lot of them? That being said, the flexibility of the puzzles can also be a drawback. I found myself using about half the animals over and over again, and literally never using the other half. The puzzle aspect of the title would have been strengthened if it included more situations that only had one possible solution.

At the end of every stage there's either Gold, Silver, or Bronze treasure to be collected, depending on how long it took you to get there. Picking up your prize awakens the sleeping Wulf, resulting in a mad dash back through the level, with the Wulf hot on your heels. Thankfully all enemies are gone, so a basic remembrance of the level's layout and some reflexes are all that's needed to escape with the booty.

Besides the repetitive nature of the obstacles in each level, these side-scrolling levels are largely very enjoyable. Where the game falters is in its RPG-style overworld. Outside of the levels themselves the game switches to a 3/4ths overhead view, and requires Sabreman to explore several varied locales, speak to villagers, and find and return all kinds of things that people have lost. It's almost as if the game wanted to be one part RPG, one part 2D sidescroller, but the RPG half of the title was never completed. Besides the starting area, each of the game's section has one resident, one identical shop, and one identical man who can warp you from place to place. A new wulf lair doesn't open up until the previous one is cleared, but when each one is never more than a dozen paces away from the last, it makes all this exploration seem a bit pointless.

The impressive amount of replay value almost makes up for the numerous fetch-quests that gamers are sent on. Obtaining a gold treasure at the end of a level opens it up in Challenge Mode, which is essentially a time trial mode, with a twist. Instead of your complete array of animals, you're limited to only what they give you at the start, and the selection is often very limited indeed. So not only do you have to work your brain even more to get to the end, but now you have a brutal clock to try to beat. Some levels require completion times of under 10 seconds to get the top medal.

With a little tinkering, Sabre Wulf could have been great. On the other hand, without a couple of the game's key elements, it would be a below average release. The final product is simply good. If you're looking for a long, fulfilling quest to eat up your evenings for a while, then it's probably best to look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you want a game that allows you to beat a level in 5 minutes, save, and then replace in your pocket until tomorrow's bus ride, then Sabre Wulf is pretty hard to beat.