El-Kabong

Well, I was just over in TRU a few moments ago, held in the powerful grip of a cheap Game Boy Advanced. Mmmmm. . . . 70 bucks for all that computing power. . . . yummy.

"But," I thought to myself - "I know NOTHING about the games. I'd be buying something totaly at random, and would probably come up with something stinky. Self, lets get out of here and do some research."

So, I ask the peanut gallery: what is the MUST have game for the GBA and why? Or since it is backwards compatable - what is the must have gameboy game period?

mmconhea

Tetris -GB
Tilt & Tumble Kirby -GBC
Super Contra -GB
Pac Man -GB
Dr. Mario -GB
Heiankyou Alien -GB
Ecks Vs Sever -GBA
Chu Chu Rocket -GBA


And many more I can't think of right now.

AgtFox

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Super Mario World (which comes out this week) are musts for the GBA.

Golden Sun is also very good if you're looking for a new RPG

El-Kabong

The extent of my console RPGing is Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 2 - so I'm not well versed in the ways of role players. How does Golden Sun stack up to those Dreamcast offerings?

the_dude8

i heard good things about advance war for the GBA.

Chaos

No RPG can stack up against Grandia II. I don't know about SoA, but from what I've heard, it's jsut as good if not better. Golden Sun is about a world where a select group of people can use 'psynergy', aka--------they're psychic. There's an ancient power of alchemy, which can control the world with its' power, and it's stolen by bad guys who kidnap your friends sister and your mentor. You go after them, helping people along the way and generally trying to save the world. The dialogue is a bit long, and the story is nowhere near as good as Grandia II (what storyline is?), but overall, it's pretty good. You can use physical attacks and use psychic attacks as well, in and out of battle. It's not a port either--------it's an original, hand-crafted specifically for the GBA. At the very least, it's worth a shot.

Travissk

I missed out on the Gameboy Color, but I have Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (I play it on my GBA) and it's really good, in my opinion.

GB (monochrome stuff)
Donkey Kong - you need this game. Not Donkey Kong land or country or whatever else they've made, just the original Donkey Kong.
Tetris (Tetris DX is also ok - avoid Tetris Worlds for GBA)
Zelda: Link's Awakening (color/DX verison also ok, probably better)

GBA
Advance Wars
Golden Sun - I haven't played it, but a lot of people really seem to like it.
Mario Kart Super Circuit
Mario World - comes out next wenesday, get it for $23 at Best Buy or $18 if you have a coupon from Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Pretty much everything else depends on personal taste. I really enjoyed Castlevania, Klona, Warioland 4, and Tony Hawk 2, which was my first experience with the series beyond my Playstation 1 Jampack Disc's TH2 demo. Megaman Battle Network is supposedly another good RPG, as is Breath of Fire.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 is coming to the GBA sometime, so hopefully that will be great. Avoid Mortal Kombat Advance like the plague

Sega is releasing their first Smash Pack for the GBA which contains Golden Axe, Sonic Spinball and Ecco the Dolphin.

If you think that you'll have quite a few opportunities to play a portable system, then I highly recommend the advance.

darkside

The classic Breath of Fire RPG is out for the GBA and Breath of Fire II is on the way.

Also check out Dragon Warrior III and Lufia if you like RPGs. I've also played Golden Sun and its well worth the money.

Grimfarrow

Just finished Golden Sun and found it to be extremely underwhelming. The battle system is terrible, especially toward the end. The Djinn system makes little sense. And the ending absolutely BIT. What a crappy ploy to get you to buy the next game, without resolving a single plot thread in the game itself! I feel utterly jipped.

Here are my recommendations for GBA games:

1. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
2. Wario Land 4
3. Advance Wars
4. Super Street Fighter II Turbo
5. Mario Kart Super Circuit

Games that already have sequels, so I'd rather wait for those to come out instead:
1. Bomberman Advance 2
2. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3
3. Megaman Battle Network II

Games I never cared for, even when it was on the SNES:
1. Super Mario Advance (remake of NES Super Mario 2)
2. Breath of Fire (dull)
3. Phalanx

Can't wait to get these:
1. Puyo Pop
2. Tactics Ogre Gaiden
3. Metroid 4
4. Street Fighter Alpha 3
5. Pocky & Rocky with Becky

Darth Kabong

Pardon me while I digress a moment.

This the one thing that's confused me. Retro gaming is in - that's an undeniable fact. Here is Nintendo, arguably the owner of the most classic arcade game properties ever (and certainly the one most intact and able to capitalize on this gem of the big arcade game companies).

So, where are the Nintendo's Greatest Hits carts? Load a gameboy up with the original Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, DK Jr, and so on - I guarantee they would fly off the shelves. And yet. . . nothing.

Oh well, I guess there's always MAME.

Travissk

Just to clarify - The GB Donkey Kong starts off as the arcade game does, but after that there are 100 or so puzzle levels after that. They don't play like the arcade game in many ways, but I had an absolute blast playing them. Of course, I was younger and I'm not sure how well the game would stack up against modern-day stuff, but I'll take the opportunity to recommend it again

I agree with the greatest hits cart issues. I know Nintendo can get by with putting Mario 2 or Mario World on a GBA cart, but I wish we'd see more (and better) best hits carts - so far most packages usually contain one or two great games and then random stuff thrown on there to bump the game count up. How nice would it be to be able to play through say, Donkey Kong 1, Jr. and 3 on a cart, with an extra game or two thrown in (Excitebike, Kid Icarus, or Balloon Fight?) Or the first few games in the Contra Series? I know I'd buy those in a heartbeat. But so long as companies can save their best to spread out on three carts, I doubt we'll see anything like this in the future.

Kellehair

Why would Nintendo, or any company for that matter, put more than one game on a cart when they can sell them just as easily individually?

Outlaw

GBC:
Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages
Super Mario DX
Kirby Tilt and Tumble (really fun game and unique)!
Kirby's Pinball
Harvest Moon

GBA:
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon!!
Super Mario Advance 1 and 2
Golden Sun
Breath of Fire
Klonoa
F-Zero
Mario Kart
Megaman Battle Network

There are quite a few awesome GBA titles out there and even more coming

flowerman

GB/GBC:
All Zeldas (Ages, Seasons, Awakening)
Mario Golf/Tennis

GBA:
Castlevania
Advance Wars
Golden Sun
SMA2: Super Mario World (Feb. 12)


Plus, there are a plethora of other good games that will be right up your alley in you enjoy the series.

Like the old Gradius series? Gradius Galaxies.
Want Sonic? Sonic Advance.
Old school RPGs? Dragon Warrior I&II, Dragon Warrior III.
Arcade Classics? Namco Museum.

There are tons of good games scheduled as well, and many that look like they could break new ground.

tanman

For all you Lunar fans, well, Lunar is coming to the GBA.

tanman

there was a price drop at Best Buy to 19.99 on this game coupled with the five dollar off coupon brings this down to a mere 15$ for this awesome game.