DNA Factor is the first released and most likely, the crappiest of Konami's JP3 GBA titles. Park Builder is a much more creative concept and Primal Fear seems to make better use of GBA's graphics capabilites than any other game out so far. DNA Factor is basically a decent side-scroller action game combined with a 'Galaga' style shooter. The plot is that a plane has mysteriously crashed on Sorna, scattering the 'DNA particle' samples and 'base DNA' capsules over the island. You have to recover them and reconstruct the dinosaurs in the lab. In short, the point is avoid dinos, get the little colored dots.

Some of the game's biggest problems actually come from trying too hard to make use of GBA's capabilities. Each level has both an upper and lower 'track', each with its own enemies, obstacles, and DNA particles. You must collect a certain number of particles per level, so it's really not possible to bypass one track and still clear the stage. On the plus side, it makes things more challenging (and also more frustrating at times). However it's sometimes difficult to tell where you can and cannot switch tracks, and on which track various objects are. For example, I leapt to my death thinking a log bridging a gap was on the upper rather than the lower track. Also the use of tracks means that on the control pad, Up is used for moving to the upper track, and Down to the lower. This forces the R shoulder button to be crouch, which is completely counter-intuitive, and on multiple occasions I was wildly hitting the Down control pad while attempting to dodge dinos. L and R shoulder buttons would probably have been better for track-switching, with the control pad used for movement. However this game has no options menu at all, so you have to deal with the controls as-is. Also, the graphics, while nice and detaled in a 'cartoony' way, are almost too busy at times, and its really hard to see things on some levels (even with a light), such as the compies in the jungle.

Gameplay is challenging, and the first time I played through each of the levels, (ok, so I'm on three - hey, its only been a day) other than the first one, they really frustrated me. It definitely takes practice to get through them. A big problem is the lack of weaponry. You don't start with any means of attack (aside from a goofy and useless jump kick), and the weapons are often placed so far through the level that you're nearly dead by the time you get to them - this is supposed to be an 'action' game, right? Since when does running up and down, while occasionally crouching and jumping, qualify as an action bonanza? Plus the weapons just plain kind of suck. So far I have encountered the crate of food (yes its a weapon, of sorts), the tranquilizer pistol, and the knife. The food lets you throw meat so the compies will go after it and not you - however it rarely distracts the little buggers long enough. The tranq pistol has too few shots; you can take down a few of the annoying Gallimimuses (Gallimimi?), but unless you really budget your shots and don't waste at all, you run out with several dinos still left to face. The knife is actually pretty cool, though it only works on compies. For some unknown but funny reason it looks like a butcher's knife, and its the only weapon I've gotten so far that lets you really take out those damn little things in a satisfactory manner.

The shooter mode, while a bit cheesy, is suprisingly fun. In some ways better than the main sidescrolling level, and would be nice if there was a 'puzzle mode' in which you could just play various stages of the shooter. It is a combination of a shooter and puzzle; you have to find and fill in the color coded missing DNA particles, while either avoiding or using DNA particles to knock 'mitochondria' away from the DNA 'injector'. If the mitochondria hit, you lose. This is the biggest letdown in the design of the shooter stages - you have to go all the way back through the sidescroller to get another shot if you screw up.

One of the best things Konami did was include a save-game feature, which I did not expect since many of the recent GBA side-scrollers have inexplicably left this out. You'd never make it through the game otherwise, unless you sat and played it straight through for hours. You can choose between two characters in the game, Mark and Lori, and the only difference seems to be the choice of male and female characters (which is actually better than having a bizzare, ambiguously-gendered persona like Game Gear's old JP sidescroller). There are also some differences on some 'Game Over' screens (In the jungle stages, Mark's shows his HAT stuck on a branch and Lori's a piece of ripped cloth), which quite nicely vary with the levels as well. There doesn't seem to be a difference in difficulty between the two though. Cutscenes, are, as everyone says, very nice, and the 'Dino File', which gets added to after every level, is a nice-looking and clever way of giving you tips on how to deal with the various saurian menaces you must face.

All in all, its a decent game. If you're looking for a challenging GBA side scroller, this one gives you that and the thrill of being JP-related. Castlevania is still the best sidescrolling action game for GBA, though it has a lot of RPG elements. On the one hand, DNA is better than some of the GBA side scrollers just because of the savegame and the added element of the shooter level, but its many little design frustrations can get annoying. Its basically middle-of-the-road, qualitywise, and I'd say buy it, if you really want something JP and can tolerate the annoying stuff, but you might wait till the price goes down. Otherwise wait for the more fun Park Builder or the cooler-looking Primal Fear.