We're here to help. At the end of every month, we'll offer our choice for the Game of the Month for the Game Boy Advance system. Sure, you can certainly look through our review scores and read up on all the great games released on the system, but like many readers, maybe you're curious which one we'd choose over the other...even if one received a higher score. We've received hundreds upon hundreds of emails asking questions like, "If you only had the money for one game, which one would it be?" This is our way of answering this question.
After we've finished evaluating every game to come down the pipeline, we put our heads together and decide on a single "best of" winner that's worthy of the title "IGN Game of the Month". Pretty simple, don't you think? Now that we have the guidelines out of the way, let's move on and congratulate this month's winner...
Why We Picked It:
It's a dark day when a hamster gets to trot away with the Game of the Month award. But that's the Game Boy Advance market for you -- unpredictable, with much lower expectations and a weaker saturation of truly great A titles. July had only one game that could be considered "great." It's this one.
But in all honesty, Hamtaro: Ham Ham Games is, despite its cutesy exterior and sickeningly sweet theme, a fun set of Track & Field-style games. It's an acquired taste, especially if you haven't marched through the previous two Hamtaro games in the handheld market. But if you can manage to pass the "cuteness" threshold, there's a lot to like in Ham-Ham Games. Some challenges are worse than others, but the design's entirety is a satisfying, portable-friendly take on the Track & Field design.
Runner-Up: None.
