DaBargainHunta

I recently picked up both Lady Sia and Puyo Pop for the GBA from Costco for $14 each, and I'm very glad I did. Have any of you guys played either of these little gems?

Lady Sia is a very underrated action platformer. The graphics are drop-dead gorgeous and the main character has all kinds of nifty little animations. It's a shame that Lady Sia didn't do better sales, but I guess that's what happens with games that aren't "name" games. If you don't have this yet, I highly recommend grabbing a copy.

Puyo Pop is obviously based on the famous Japanese puzzle game Puyo Puyo (it has been released here in the past as Kirby's Avalanche for SNES and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for Genesis). This is the first time I've had a chance to play this puzzler, and let me tell you, it's one addictive puppy. Puyo Pop is apparently rare and hard to find (I heard THQ discontinued it), so I'm glad I got one for myself. You should all do the same.

EDITED TO ADD: I bought Ninja Five-O a while ago from EB (paid full price for their last copy). It seems to be very hard to find, but trust me when I say that it's worth tracking down at all costs. I haven't had this much fun with a game in a long time. It's basically a mixture of Shinobi and Bionic Commando. Nice graphics, fantastic old-school gameplay, good challenge - what more could you ask for?

ANOTHER EDIT: Scroll down for my thoughts on Karnaaj Rally. Trust me when I say that it's a MUST-HAVE game!

Thoughts on these games? Any other hidden treasures for GBA or GB/GBC that are worth recommending?

Superboy

*waits for someone to name-drop Ninja Five-O*

PixyJunket

Puyo Pop is awesome, my favorite puzzle game and I guarantee I can crush anybody (and I'll prove this next year if the Xbox Puyo Fever has Live support).

Lady Sia has great graphics but I found the game to be too clumsy.

I'll always recommend Mr Driller 2 and Mr Driller A.. they are Japanese import but can be gotten cheap on eBay, and they play on US Gameboys and you don't need to know Japanese to play. Mr Driller 2 is THE reason I first got my GBA on launch. The greatest action/puzzle hybrid ever. I could play this game forever.

Klonoa rocks, but getting hard to find.. even better is the import Klonoa 2, same exxxcellent gameplay as Klonoa one with MUCH better graphics and enviroments, and more levels, more stuff to find in each level, etc. Then there's Klonoa Star Heroes, an action/RPG hybrid.. very, very fun.. sad to see it not come over here, it's very good.

DaBargainHunta

Ooh, I forgot about that one. I have it too, and it's awesome.

I think I'm gonna add it to my original topic and post.

DaBargainHunta

What do you find clumsy about it? Yeah, it's a bit awkward at first that the character moves forward every time she uses her weapon, but that's easy enough to get used to and adapt to.

Jtnguyen12

Can't Find Ninja Five O (GBA) in any local stores (including Ebgames, gamestop, bestbuy, kmart, walmart, cc, target)

Seem like i have to order it thru. online

Galanthas

I couldn't find Puyo Pop anywhere until finally seeing buy.com selling it for 16.99. Was worth every penny

I can't find Ninja Five-O anywhere near me so I'll have to order from Amazon when I have the cash.

Pinball of the Dead, Chu Chu Rocket and Bomberman Tournament are great to.

Another gem that I found at buy.com but couldn't find anywhere else until recently was this:


Everyone should own this one

PixyJunket

Mmm.. Gyruss..
Mmm.. Time Pilot..

claweight

hell yeah!!! konami arcade advanced kicks behind!!! like i have been saying before, rush 'n attack is such a great game and is my favorite of the bunch next to time pilot (which a suck at!).

PixyJunket

I own Time Pilot.. I used to go up to the corner store and rack up the points when I was in high school.. Time Pilot 84 or whatever the sequel was craptacular.

rfduncan

Saw this at two separate Target B&M's yesterday for $13.99. Guess I should grab it.

PixyJunket

Along with Pac-Man Collection and Namco Museum..

Galanthas

I couldn't find it anywhere near me about 4 months ago. I noticed it at Wal-Mart last week so I guess Konami probably produced some more.

Superboy

Wow, you were out saving the universe while i was still in diapers!

PixyJunket

You were in diapers in 94-95?

Superboy

Hehe...i guess i misunderestimated the age of the game

*runs*

Galanthas

Time Pilot was released to arcades in 1982.
http://www.klov.com/T/Time_Pilot.html


Your timing was probably right, it's just that Pixy was probably late to playing it heh.

Quake1028

Konami Arcade Advanced (paid $10 new for mine, natch)
Pinball of the Dead
Car Battler Joe
Karnaaj Rally
Puyo Pop

You guys should check out your local Toys R Us. They are a goldmine for $9.99 GBA games.

DaBargainHunta

Konami Arcade Advance is another one I forgot to mention. I love it. Truthfully, the only game in that collection that really does anything for me is Rush'n Attack because I grew up with it and not any of the others. They're still nice to have though.

Sega Smash Pack (the one with Golden Axe, Sonic Spinball, and Ecco The Dolphin is also pretty cool. I got it for $10 from KB a while ago. Spinball is a lot of fun and Ecco seems interesting, but the real reason I bought it was for Golden Axe. It's such a rush to be able to play that classic on the go.

I still need to buy Sega Arcade Gallery, which has After Burner, Out Run, Space Harrier, and Hang-On. It seems to be fairly hard to find, even though it's only been out a few months, so I should probably get it soon.

Quake1028, where did you get Konami new for $10? I paid $14 for mine. Also, I've been looking for Karnaaj Rally. Where can I get it for $10? How 'bout Car Battler Joe? What other $10 games have you seen at TRU?

Is Pinball of the Dead really that good? I saw it at Coscto a while back but left it there because I figured it would be crap. Now it's no longer there. Where else has it?

Thanks.

squidget

I saw sega arcade gallery at circuit city(sterling, va) yesterday for $19.99

DaBargainHunta

"Goldmine" is a bit too generous (at least judging from the selection at my TRU), but there ARE some nice finds.

Here is a list of the notable $10 GBA games at my location (the ones I remember anyway):

- Karnaaj Rally (I picked it up - more below)
- Wolfenstein 3d (AWESOME game. I wish I hadn't gotten it from EB months ago for $12)
- Virtua Tennis
- Masters of the Universe (heard this was crap, so I passed)

I picked up Karnaaj Rally. Folks, ignore the putrid box art and just get this game (LINK to the worst box art...EVER!).

In a nutshell, Karnaaj Rally is a top-down racer with weapons (there's nothing more satisfying than shooting a well-placed mine for the car behind you to crash into). The graphics are unbelievable! Games like this show that developers can get so much more out of the GBA than we're used to seeing if they make the effort. The visuals are - dare I say - PSX quality. The speed of the cars may seem a bit slow at first, but after a couple of games, you'll realize that it's perfect for the game.

It's insanely addictive. I couldn't stop playing it. I came home with it in the evening, played it nonstop for a couple of hours until the battery died, then switched over to the Game Boy Player and played some more, then switched back to the GBA with a semi-charged power pack (the thing you put in the battery slot instead of batteries to give the GBA power). All in all, I didn't stop playing 'till around midnight. Yes, it's THAT good.

Get it...NOW!

Superboy

There are about 20 copies at my local Fry's. It's running for $30, so i'm waiting for a price drop. It's not exactly rare, but the demand is only so-so. There's not really a market for rare GBA games.

DaBargainHunta

No Fry's around here. :\ It seems that the only place near me that had it was EB. Gamestop had never even heard of it (a video game store that doesn't know anything about what they're supposed to be selling - wonderful!). So, while the game isn't super rare, it's a bit difficult to track down (even online). If I were you, I'd grab it now (unless of course you're absolutely confident that Fry's will still have plenty of copies if/when there's a price drop). In the meantime, you should pick up Karnaaj Rally from TRU for $10.

Gizmo

EB seems to carry almost every game made while GameStop does not. This is not a bad thing as they won't have 30 copies of Nickelodeon racing...

Superboy

The quality of the EB and Gamestop stores in my area is almost totally dependent on the individual locations. There's one gamestop near me that's fantastic and even carries a good portion of Dreamcast games, and another that hardly even has any PS1 games. There's also an excellent EB near me as well, probably the best one i've been to in my lifetime.