Getting a GBA SP. Game Advice Needed

Boktai’s limitation that you can only do certain activities with full sunlight (i.e. direct path from sun to sensor) doesn’t make it worth the effort for those who are busy at work during sunlight hours.

Another crushing issue is if you play with the SP the light sensor is at the bottom of the unit which is an awful place. I would spend a full minute trying to position myself in a comfortable place to play where the sun wouldn’t be blocked by me, the GBA itself, or my arm/hands that end up next to the sensor.

I didn’t realize how much I enjoy the “play anywhere” nature of the GBA games until I got Boktai.

Btw - I found Ninja 5-0 to be a really good (tough!) game. I’d love to hear what you think of the other games!

-Scott-

That said, if you have a flash cart, you can patch Boktai so you can control the amount of sunlight detected hitting the sensor at will. Works like a charm.

If you’re willing to put the game in the sun, Boktai is a damn fine game. It’s honestly worth getting squinty eyes because you’ve never seen sunlight in months just to play the game. You can even get a tan while playing.

–Dave

Megaman Zero 1 & 2.

If you like Megaman it’s excellent, a good action game with an unreasonable learning curve and difficulty, but it’s so good that you actually try it 50,000 until you pass it.

-Shiroko

Yeah, Ninja 5-0 is very, very hard, but absolutely worth it.

That Ninja game looks good, but I should’ve stated earlier that I don’t really care much for typical platformer games, rather I like RPG’s or Strategy games, games with depth, as well as puzzle games such as Chu Chu Rocket or Tetris. Therefore I dunno if the Ninja game would appeal. Sorry I wasn’t clearer about this, and thanks again for the suggestions.

I’m playing through Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance right now and while it’s probably the weakest of the three Castlevanias on GBA, it has some inspired enemies and it’s EASY for anyone to beat. If you dig platform games but aren’t very good at them, definitely pick this up. Looks superb but the music is pretty much 8-bit.

I’d really like to see a true 2D Metroidvania on the current consoles. Probably not going to happen though… :(

–Dave

Just wanted to jump in and say I picked up a GBA this evening, really a lot of fun. Looking forward to the classic games coming out as well. Would love to see Metal Gear and Super Tecmo Bowl released on the GBA.

I don’t know why they haven’t released more remakes of SNES glory days titles. FF2+3, Chrono Trigger, Front Mission, Uncharted Waters 2, the RoTKs… Basically, everything Square or Koei produced for the SNES should get ported to the GBA. Those titles would work well because you don’t need very many buttons to play them, and doing that would almost certainly prod me into buying one.

Because if they released even more SNES remakes people would bitch and bitch about them doing that instead of creating original games for the platform?

Seriously…every time a remake is announced for the GBA, someone has a fit. If I were putting games on the GBA, it’d be original content only.

–Dave

Dave, are you seriously saying that you don’t want to see a remake of Chrono Trigger? That game alone would be reason enough for me to get a GBA. Sure a lot of the remakes are pointless cashing in, but some games are too good not to release again.

No, Dave probably would love to see that, as would I. I think he’s trying to say that Nintendo isn’t releasing remakes (even though they are, all the time, for everything except RPGs) out of petulant spite and profit-be-damned for the occasional person who complains about it on message boards. Which is pretty absurd. I’ve heard the more reasonable explanation is that this is fallout from Square and Nintendo’s falling-out and although Final Fantasy Tactics is a good first pass at a reconciliation, we may have to wait awhile before we see games like Chrono Trigger ported.

I mean, it isn’t just that there is a lack of good SNES RPG ports on the GBA. It seems to me like there’s a lack of good RPGs, period. Mario and Lugi was phenomenal but there don’t seem to be many good console RPGs outside of that for the system. I don’t want to see ports necessarily - just anything that even remotely approximates the quality of ten year old games like CHrono Trigger of Final Fantasy 6.

My understanding is that Nintendo refused to allow Square to put games on the GBA unless they’d make GC games. Specifically, one GC game for every 3 GBA games. I think it’s some kind of weird revenge thing.

I’d like a Chrono Trigger port, but there are new GBA games available now that are better than Chrono Trigger ever was.

Welp, I just got my first GB game for my upcoming collection, a full copy of Tetris DX, so I’m very excited. Next is Car Battler Joe and Advance Wars II.

Are the Advance War games becoming scarce? I went to a few stores by my work and no one had it. Was disappointing because I was buying my GBA that night and wanted Advance Wars to break the new toy in.

My experience has been that it is often difficult finding specific GBA games. If there’s a PC game I’m looking for, I can find it at pretty much any EB, Best Buy, or Fry’s Electronics. PC Game selection is fairly consistent across stores. In contrast, all the different stores seem to have different GBA games – a few high profile games will be at all stores, but the rest of the selection seems to vary widely from store to store.

Worse case, you can probably mail-order it.

<Bump>

Welp, I finally got my NES edition GBA SP with the following games:

Cannon Fodder (GBC)
Tetris DX (GBC)
Car Battler Joe
Pinball of the Dead
Fire Emblem
Advance Wars 2
Tactics Ogre

I think this will keep me going, especially since Mario Golf is coming out later this month. So far I’ve spent the most time with Car Battler Joe and Pinball of the Dead, and they’re both really excellent titles. I am so happy. :) Thanks for all the advice. :)

Have you played any other pinball games on the GB systems? Revenge of the Gator is all right, but a little slow. Little Mermaid 2 Undersea Pinball is incredible, if you’re into tables with loads of targets and trick shots. Pokemon Pinball (GB) was a joke to me; no challenge. Pokemon Pinball Advance seemed pretty good, but slow.

How does Pinball of the Dead rate?

Kirby’s Pinball Land for the original GB isn’t a traditional entry in the genre, but it is the best pinball game I’ve ever played.

Soccer with a squid!

-Scott-

Well, to be honest, this is the first GB pinball game I’ve played, but so far I’m enjoying it immensely. Killing wandering zombies on the board with the ball alone is worth the price of admission, since I’m a BIG House of the Dead fan. ;)