Must have games for GBA

[Kert]

My GBA player have been sitting in dust for too long.

Looking for quality games for this system.

List good games only please.

Any type of game is fine.

Thanks.

 

[Zero Satori]

Fire Prowrestling A is as solid as the legendary series to which it belongs.

Advance Wars is still to this day a quality game, and excellent with a link cable.

Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire is a worthy successor to those which came before (if you like the "collector RPG" sub-genre, that is).

Everyone's going wild about Astro Boy in the Unrelated Topics forum right now.

Those are just off the top of my head; I didn't really get-into the GBA, but I know those ones for sure. Hopefully others around here will have better knowledge (particularly with imports!).

 

[Bestwald]

I don't have my GBA collection with me right now, but the system has got a ton of good games.

If you like strategy games, try:
-Advance Wars 1 & 2
-Fire Emblem 1 & 2
-Mech Platoon

some solid action games:
-Castlevania (all 3 in the trilogy)
-Metroid Fusion
-Gunstar Super Heroes
-Astro Boy
-Spiderman Mysterio's Menace
-Ninja Five-o
-Super Army Wars (very under-appreciated)

some good RPGs:
-Tactics Ogre
-Phantasy Star Collection
-Shining Force
-Golden Sun 1 & 2

-Gradius Galaxies is a good shooter
-Racing Gears Advance is a good racer
-ChuChu Rocket/Puyo Pop/Polarium Advance are good puzzlers

And then there are a ton of good nes/snes remakes:
a bunch of Zeldas, Marios, all that...
Actually GBA has some good ports of classic beat em ups too like:
-Final Fight /Double Dragon/River City Ransom...

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch but check all those out!

 

[RBjakeSpecial]

I'm having a lot of fun playing through Wolfenstein, Doom and Doom II on GBA. The shoulder buttons work well.

 

[aria]

The Minish Cap is probably one of the best 2-D Zeldas ever made. It got lost a bit in the shuffle because it came out after the launch of the DS.

 

[Chainclaw]

The best game on the GBA is Rhythm Tengoku.
For real I'm not even joking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUXo54tncs0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04knfFaJmWY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTDLxaB2PBc&feature=related

 

[Ancient Flounder]

The Minish Cap is probably one of the best 2-D Zeldas ever made. It got lost a bit in the shuffle because it came out after the launch of the DS.

Truth. Loved playing through its. Lots of cool dungeons and collectibles to find. It's definitely worth picking up.

 

[Bestwald]

With all due respect to other members opinions, Minish Cap is easily the worst 2-D Zelda game ever made.

Just like in Wind Waker, Link is now childish and annoying (to look at and listen to), combat is way too easy, there’s too much dumb dialogue, too many silly side quests (that don’t properly reward your effort), rupees are too easy to accumulate, dungeons have become totally linear… In fact the whole game is linear, there’s no sense of exploration and never a doubt about what to do next. It’s a sad thing to admit but the Zelda franchise may have lost its mojo somewhere around ’02.
But hey, if chasing down chickens and collecting retarded figurines is your thing, then go grab Minish Cap.

 

[astrodan88]

With all due respect to other members opinions, Minish Cap is easily the worst 2-D Zelda game ever made.

Not quite the worst, but certainly a shallow experience. Very linear at times (especially the dungeons) and the easiest game I've played in recent memory. I kept waiting for the game to take the training wheels off and really get serious and then... it was over.
I never died until the final boss. That's not a testament to my skill, just the insultingly low level of challenge the game presents.
It looks great and is fun enough to warrarnt a play but lower those expectations.

On another note, you can supplement the challenge factor with these other GBA gems:
Double Dragon Advance: (already mentioned but worth seconding) Expanded port of arcade original; larger moveset, new enemies and stages; easily the best double dragon game ever; one of the best beat-em-ups I've ever played for any system.

Ghouls and Ghosts: port of SNES game with additional levels from the first 2 (redrawn); still hard as nutz.

The megaman zero games are also quality. If you like Megaman X you'll feel at home.

 

[Mad Mage]

With all due respect to other members opinions, Minish Cap is easily the worst 2-D Zelda game ever made.

Just like in Wind Waker, Link is now childish and annoying (to look at and listen to), combat is way too easy, there’s too much dumb dialogue, too many silly side quests (that don’t properly reward your effort), rupees are too easy to accumulate, dungeons have become totally linear… In fact the whole game is linear, there’s no sense of exploration and never a doubt about what to do next. It’s a sad thing to admit but the Zelda franchise may have lost its mojo somewhere around ’02.
But hey, if chasing down chickens and collecting retarded figurines is your thing, then go grab Minish Cap.

That was well put and I couldn't agree more.

I'm gonna list a bunch of games without reason because topics like this have been done before. Trust me, I'm a GBA connoisseur and these games are awesome:

Rhythm Tengoku
Megaman Battle Network 2 and 3
Megaman Zero series
Caatlevania Dawn of Sorrows
Warioware and Warioware Twisted
Drilldozer
Wario Land 4
Advance Wars 2
Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga
Riviera
Astro Boy
Double Dragon
Final Fight
Pokemon Pinball Advance

 

[Kert]

Bought Astro Boy. Can't wait until it arrives.

Thanks for the suggestion guys.

 

[SouthtownKid]

DOUBLE DRAGON ADVANCE

If I could only have one GBA game, without a doubt that would be it.

 

[aria]

Guardia Quest in Retro Game Challenge caused me to go out and get Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls so I could go back to playing FF1. Oh man, its awesome. They made a few tweaks from the NES that make all the difference, and this FF1 port also has more dungeons.

 

[ratson]

Mario Pinball,i knew a guy who had it and i can't find one

 

[Moose]

holy shit, ive been hearing about rythym tengoku for a while, but just got around to watching the videos of it in action. That game looks fucking great. Combines the speed and insanity if Warioware with Parappa. Oh im definitely picking that one up.

 

[Mad Mage]

Mario Pinball was a big disapointment. Beat it in a couple hours and there isn't a good score challange system, making replaying it kinda pointless.

 

[aria]

People who didn't like the Minish Cap are crazy, and its good they have publicly identified themselves as deviants.

 

[Deuce]

Ninja Five-o

This. Shinobi meets Bionic Commando. Not the greatest visuals, but awesome gameplay.

Also, Metroid Zero Mission beats Metroid Fusion any day. Using a 2x4 with nails in it.

 

[Kunai]

Unfortunately, I did not really enjoy The Minish Cap as much as I would have liked to. I never died in the game, and the only time I had a threat of losing my life was against the final boss of the game.

It was an interesting game to play, but lacked polish and challenge compared to A Link to the Past.

I am also on the Double Dragon bandwagon. DDA is easily the best beat-em-up I have ever played, and this is the most complete DD ever. A must for any beat-em-up fan. It is also the main reason why I have a Nintendo DS Lite and GBA compatibility.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

Guardia Quest in Retro Game Challenge caused me to go out and get Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls so I could go back to playing FF1. Oh man, its awesome. They made a few tweaks from the NES that make all the difference, and this FF1 port also has more dungeons.

I thought there was only 1 extra dungeon..? Could be wrong though.

Anyways. This thread is making me want to go pick up a few new GBA games, which I never thought I'd do. Times like this make me glad I've got a GB Player and a fatty DS without the lame sticky-outie GBA slot.

 

[HeartlessNinny]

Unfortunately, I did not really enjoy The Minish Cap as much as I would have liked to. I never died in the game, and the only time I had a threat of losing my life was against the final boss of the game.

This strikes me as an odd reason to dislike Minish Cap. The last challenging Zelda game was Zelda II, if you ask me, and I've played 'em all (except Majora's Mask).

Either way, I thought Minish Cap was awesome, and certainly better than the GBC games (not that they're bad by any means).

 

[J. Max]

Unfortunately, I did not really enjoy The Minish Cap as much as I would have liked to. I never died in the game, and the only time I had a threat of losing my life was against the final boss of the game.

It was an interesting game to play, but lacked polish and challenge compared to A Link to the Past.

That's like saying that Sgt. Peppers isn't as good as Revolver. Don't compare games to A Link To The Past, especially handhelds - they're going to be good in different ways.

Besides, your also making an unfair comparison - ALTTP is one of the more revered games of all time. Very few games come close to it's polish and challenge.

 

[Kunai]

I know it's not a fair comparison, but anytime you have a great series, it's natural to make the comparisons. I also heard a while back that a division of Capcom was responsible for making this game, not Nintendo... so I guess it can be considered a little unfair to think that way.

Also, yeah I really like games with challenge. I didn't want to imply that Minish Cap was a bad game because of lack of difficulty. Keep in mind I am a masochist when it comes to gaming... I played both quests in the original Zelda long time ago without ever picking up a sword. I remember getting to the very last dungeon in quest 1 doing that.

I don't think Minish Cap was bad at all really. I just don't think it is in the top level of GBA games available.

I also didn't die while playing Wind Waker for GC. That was also a nice game IMO and it was very enjoyable.

I haven't played Twilight Princess yet but I would like to someday.

lol sorry for turning this into a Zelda thread.

 

[Spycee]

Astroboy is very good.

Another one that is a must have is Sigma Star Saga. It's a mix between gradius and zelda. VERY interesting

Mazes of Fate is worth trying if you like dungeon crawling.

 

[guigui]

Another one that is a must have is Sigma Star Saga. It's a mix between gradius and zelda. VERY interesting

It sounds like it is indeed.

I am supporting everyone else that said Rhythm Tengoku. Quite expensive to found though. I play this on my PSP and it is just fine. For some weird reasons, when I try it on my wii, I get some millisecond response time from the controller, which completely screws the game experience...
Anyway, cant wait until I get that Rhythm Heaven version for the DS !