Now that I have a DS I’m finally re-igniting my long-dormant interest in Game Boy stuff. I seriously haven’t paid any attention to GB gaming since the Game Boy Color days, so I’d be interested to know what GBA-savvy QT3ers would put on their must-must-must-have lists.
Both Golden Sun games if you like console RPGs. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow. Warioware. Those should get you started.
Edit: Oh, and all the Metroid games. Duh.
Fire Emblem, Fire Emblem, and Fire Emblem.
If you like GTA…do NOT get the GTA for GBA. It’s sluggish (framerate issues), which is more of an issue that you’d think. Payback is imminent, too, if you like GTA-style games. Possibly worth waiting for.
Ninja 5-0 is a fantastic side scroller in the style of Ninja Gaiden/Shinobi. It’s a little short, but very well done.
I’m into the classics, and I found Konami classics and Midway’s Arcade Hits do the job.
River City Ransom and Double Dragon complete the nostalgia trip. Both fun, if a bit lacking in polish. They could use a healthy dose of up-to-date-itis (crappy, incomprehensible options; ability to save missing or crippled; graphics overhaul lacking).
Karnaaj Rally is a top-down racer with guns/mines, much like Death Rally of yore. I found it quite fun.
Finally, you can’t go wrong with ANY of the Metroids or Castlevanias. Great games all, even if Circle of the Moon lacks a bit of oomph. Cant speak for latter Castlevanias, as I haven’t gotten them yet - but acquantainces speak highly of’em. I played and beat both Metroids - Fusion is the better of the two (scripted events + story = WOO!), but Zero Mission is fun for nostalgia’s sake (and even if the story’s lacking, the gameplay is there).
My last gem is Elevator Action Old & New. It’s a personal thing, but I love that game :D It is obtainable, although not cheap. Just FYI, if you’re into way way old skool; the original (Old) is a perfect reproduction. The New…is fun, but it lacks the simplistic charm of the old.
I think that covers everything…
Mario Advance series
Sonic Advance series
Mega Man Battle Network series
Pokemon series
Dragon Warrior Monsters series
Any of the above will do.
I enjoyed Golden Sun, but it became a bit wearing in the second game, and I’m currently stuck 1/3 - 1/2 of the way through.
Advance wars is a great series, though there’s no real reason to get the first one, as the second one is better in every way. I’m about 5/6ths of the way through the AW2 campaign, and that’s surprising as I’m not one for TB strategy for its own sake.
Finally, despite being recommended by Bob, Pokemon is surprisingly addictive and enjoyable.
Midway’s Arcade Hits only does the job if you work in sewage treatment. Namco Museum and Pac-Man Collection are good, though.
Fire Emblem, the Megaman RPG type games, and of course, the Metroid remake.
If you buy one GBA game this year, make it Fire Emblem, if you buy two, make it Advance Wars 2…
I’ll add my obligatory recommendation of Fire Emblem and Advance Wars 2. The first Advance Wars game can be hard to find, but the second game completely supercedes it.
I’ve gotten some enjoyment out of final Fantasy Tactics Advance, but I wouldn’t put it on a must-have list. The same goes for the Golden Sun games.
Wario Ware and Harvest Moon: FoMT are in my “to purchase” queue.
I may pick up a Pokemon title if they ever get around to releasing a newish-complete version like they’ve done with all the previous sets.
- Alan
You’re not stressing this enough.
[size=7]FIRE EMBLEM[/size]
:D
I’ll probably be flamed, but I recommend getting one of the PC GBA emulators, and trying some of the warezed roms out as demos. Technically illegal of course (just buy the games you play!), but I don’t see how else to filter through the tons of positive reviews for games which I mostly didn’t like.
In the end the only thing I found worth playing was Fire Emblem.
I find my GBA is great for when I have a short amount of time to kill, like when I’m waiting at a bus stop. In those cases, firing up an RPG like Fire Emblem is not as ideal as playing something more fragmented.
If you think you might play your GBA in spurts, two games I recommend are Denki Blocks and Mario vs Donkey Kong. Denki Blocks is a simple puzzle game, with hundreds of individual puzzles. I introduced the game to my family on a vacation and everyone liked it. Mario vs Donkey Kong is a platform puzzler. I can’t compare it to other puzzle platformers, but the levels are 1-2 minutes long, and the “puzzler” moniker is well deserved.
Of course, if you’re just going to sit down for hours to play your GBA, Fire Emblem is as good as it gets.
These games are not optional:
Advance Wars 1&2
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Astro Boy
Fire Emblem
Mario vs Donkey Kong
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Some other ramblings…
If you’ve never played a Pokemon game you should definitely give one of the GBA Pokemon games a try. I know, it’s Pokemon, but there’s a great RPG that started all of that crap. Check it out. If you have played a Pokemon RPG, well, they’re mostly MotS, but it’s pretty good S.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance will be really fun for at least fifty hours and then you’ll hate it and never finish it. But man those are a good fifty hours.
Aria of Sorrow is the best original platformer on the system (or any system, yeah I said it), but the other Castlevania and the Metroid games are also worth getting if you like that kind of thing.
The LotR games are like mini-Diablo. I played TTT and had some fun with it for a few days but that was about as much Aragorn levelling as I could handle.
I had a great time with Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, but I think it was mostly because I love watching Kirby talk on the phone and then seeing the other Kirbys go batshit insane.
I’m an idiot, add WarioWare to the list of un-optionals. I was lazy and just looked at the GBA boxes next to me but that one wasn’t in there so I forgot to list it. WarioWare is the perfect portable game. It’s like they invented the GBA for it. If you had any interest in Feel the Magic you should definitely try WarioWare. It takes minigames up a notch.
Okay, so I’m getting that I should probably check out Fire Emblem.
Yeah, but my list is the best one here so check those other games out, too :D
Mike’s list gets two thumbs up from me. And if you haven’t ever played it, Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past should be on your list.
–Dave
The only thing I liked and wasn’t mentioned is the megaman zero series. Which is mostly similiar to the old school megamans, and excels at being very hard compared to modern games.
I had a blast with all three. (Though the first is the best one)
Have no idea, but that’s probably one of the only games that I can lose to a boss 40 times and still not be willing to give up on it since its so fun.
-Shiroko
Cathcart’s list is fairly good for must-haves, except for the inexplicable adding of Donkey Kong Versus Mario, which is a fairly decent puzzle platformer but not a hell of a lot else. As other people have mentioned, Wario Ware (and Wario Ware Twisted when it comes out) also should be on the list and Ninja Five-Oh is fantastic. I don’t see anyone recommending Metroid: Zero Mission, which in my opinion is way better than Aria of Sorrow in spite of being a remake. Mario Golf Advance is another fantastic one and I’m a big sucker for the Harvest Moon GBA game. Also, when Zelda: The Minish Cap comes out, you simply have to buy it: it’s the best 2D Zelda ever. Warioland 4 is a great platformer, and I have a lot of fondness for The Two Towers as an excellent portable D2 clone - it doesn’t have random levels, but there’s five different characters and they all have different campaigns and powers. Anyway, if I was recommending five games to buy when you pick up your GBASP, these would be them, in no particular order:
Fire Emblem
Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga (Best RPG on the GBA… inutterably charming)
Astro Boy (best side scrolling SHMUP ever and replayable for dozens of hours)
Wario Ware (Twisted is better, but it isn’t out in the States yet)
Metroid: Zero Mission
Also, no one’s mentioned picking up a flash cart. These things are dead fucking cool. It’s not just for warez: you can use it to backup your saves, listen to mp3s, watch movies, run emulators, or just carry around 7 or 8 GBA games you bought on one cartridge. I consolidate all my games onto my 512mb flash cart and usually have a collection of NES/SMS/GB roms filling out the cart to boot. I have the X-Rom 512, which has worked flawlessly for me the last year, has great software and is one of the cheapest 512mb flash carts on the market at 85 bucks.