“Boktai: The Sun is in your Hand” is a new innovative game for the Game Boy Advance. It features a “Solar Sensor” that changes the gameplay based on the time of day and whether it’s sunny or not.

The story of the game is that, not too far from here and now, undead creatures have appeared, resulting in the natural cycles of life being broken and many species becoming extinct. The main character, whose name is changeable, is the son of a vampire hunter. As he is walking along in the City of Death, where all the undead live, he meets a floating flower thing named Otenko, who is a messenger of the sun. Otenko tells him that his father had almost destroyed the evil Count, and so you must go to his castle, bring back his coffin, and then do something with a sun machine. Then it turns out that the coffin has a fake Count, so you must find the real one. Otenko helps you along the way, giving helpful hints. It’s all very, very confusing.

The most innovative part of this game, though, is the Solar Sensor. It can sense the sunlight hitting it. The main character’s weapon is the Gun Del Sol. It uses sunlight as energy. While it is sunny, you can charge your gun’s power up if you’re outside or under a skylight. You can store the extra sunlight that you get in sunlight storage units. If there is too much sun, though, the gun may overheat and won’t be usable until sunset. Even if it’s not sunny, there are ways to regain energy. There are Solar Fruits that can charge up your gun, and shooting the gun in dungeons sometimes results in Solar Bamboo Shoots that send out Health Bugs, Sun Bugs, or Darkness Bugs (that take away sun energy). There’s also an internal clock that measures time of day. Undead are stronger at night than in the day, so it is better to try to play during daytime.

The graphics in the game are…okay. They are done in a unique style, without black outlines. It seems like it’s done as art, rather than just “graphics”. It’s ok, but nothing special or great.
The sound in this game is good. There are actual voices in it, that sound like voices rather than blips or bloops. Otenko says occasional things, like “Taiyoooooooooh!” and “Otenko!” The music isn’t memorable, and appears less frequently.

This game is unique, for better or for worse. Some may like the excuse to get outside, and others won’t. 8/10.

Buy Boktai: The Sun is in your hand on Amazon!