Please recommend some GBA games

[TCapp]

I finally broke down and bought a Game Boy Advance (hey, I wanted to go to Animal Island on my Animal Crossing game, what can I say?). But I would love to try some good games. It came with a Pokemon Pinball game, while mildly entertaining, it is not very riveting.

I'll tell you what kind of games I like, and perhaps you all can recommend similar games for the GB.

I love really good RPGs, like Paper Mario, Secret of Mana, The Elder Scrolls, and stuff like that. I like all Mario games, I've even enjoy Banjo-Kablooie (or whatever it's called). Zelda totally rocks. Animal Crossing. I'll even occasionally play FPS, providing they aren't too gory. e.g. Star Wars, Heretic and suchlike. I will not play things like GTA or anything questionable.

I've noticed that Pokemon games seem to be bountiful. I played a couple on an Emulator some while back. Red and Green I believe. They seemed identical for the most part. Are these new ones the same? Is Pokemon overrated or is it actually worthwhile?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Harpuia]

Sword of Mana, Fire Emblem... That's all I can think up of. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire is horribly overrated, Fire Red/Leaf Green is pretty good though.

 

[skysthelimit]

Sword of Mana, Fire Emblem...

Also for RPGs, you should check out Golden Sun and Tactics Ogre. Both of them are great as well.

 

[Shinji Ikari]

All these guys have good ideas..

but FInal fantasy 1 and 2 are coming out for GBA i believe.

 

[Pseud]

I second the Golden Sun suggestion. Immense.

 

[Harpuia]

There's a new Zelda game coming out soon called Minish Cap. You might wanna try that one too.

If you're looking for card RPGs, Duel Masters: Kaijudo Showdown is probably your best bet, though it's massively slow.

 

[selune]

both Golden Suns and very soon KINGDOM HEARTS Chain of Memories comes out. Yay!

 

[Harpuia]

Kingdom Hearts for GBA?

 

[selune]

Yeah, it's not the same KH that's on PS2, but a related game. We're jazzed here! Dec. 7th. Heard it's a card based strategy game. And then, KH2 next Sept. rumored.

 

[skysthelimit]

Yeah, it's not the same KH that's on PS2, but a related game. We're jazzed here! Dec. 7th. Heard it's a card based strategy game. And then, KH2 next Sept. rumored.

hmm.......i'll have to look into that then.

oh and also.....I love your avatar! Everyone loves Magical Trevor!

 

[Harpuia]

Yeah, it's not the same KH that's on PS2, but a related game. We're jazzed here! Dec. 7th. Heard it's a card based strategy game. And then, KH2 next Sept. rumored.

Ah great. Card-based strategy games are fun to play...

It's just too bad there aren't any good ones besides Yu-gi-oh, at least not any good-designed ones anyways...

 

[Ellesar]

The Lord of the Rings games are good
Zelda: A Link to the Past

There's a new LOTR rpg out now, that I want to play. It's called The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

 

[Xaddiline]

YEAH!!! You should buy both Golden Sun games and it's rumored that there is maybe gonna be a third Golden Sun game... My aunt likes the Golden Sun games and she is like 40 some... They are so cool... AND WHO IN THE WORLD IS MAGIC TREVOR??? There are some Yu-Gi-Oh games you might like too like Yu-Gi-Oh the Sacred Cards.

 

[TCapp]

I looked in my local stores and sadly did not find as much as I would have liked. I did not see Sword of Mana, or the older GBA Zelda games (I forget what they are called). I don't recall seeing Golden Sun, either.

I might just have to order some on Amazon. Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone. Feel free to keep 'em coming.

 

[Xaddiline]

TCapp, what games did you see? And do you have a PS2 or GameCube?

 

[selune]

hmm.......i'll have to look into that then.

oh and also.....I love your avatar! Everyone loves Magical Trevor!

The tricks that he does are ever so clever... Thank you.

 

[TCapp]

I have a GameCube. I saw games like *thinks* ......

Kirby and the Mirror (or something like that), Pokemon FireRed, Mario Golf, Mario and Luigi do something or other, some old style Nintendo re-creations, Harvest Moon, other stuff like that.

 

[Brian]

If you like Paper Mario, I highly recommend getting Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. It's a very well done RPG with a heavy focus of timed attacks during battle and different abilities that are used outside of batte. IMO, it's one of the best RPGs on GBA.

Both NES Zeldas are on GBA in the classic NES series. I love them and I think $19.99 each is a good price, but I heard lots of complaints about the price. The GBC Zeldas are very sweet and definatly worth getting.

As far as Mario goes, I highly recommend Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2. Both games are excellent ports of classics with some new features. However, there isn't much new in Super Mario Bros 3 without the e-reader, though the game is worth getting for the main game alone. Super Mario World has a Lost Levels style Luigi that plays different from Mario. Playing as Luigi in SMW is a blast. Mario vs. Donkey Kong is sweet too. It's a great action/puzzle game. If you don't mind older GBA games, I highly recommend Super Mario Land and Donkey Kong (the one just titled Donkey Kong).

The Pokemon games are extremely good IMO. They are simple RPGs with a cool monster collecting aspect and some mini games. Fire Red and Leaf Green for GBA are updated versions of Red and Blue for GB. Ruby and Saphire are GBA exclusives. I heard that they are great, though I have only played the GB ones. Out of the GB ones, I recommend Gold/Silver/Crystal (only difference between them is the monsters included in the game).

There is a GBA Banjo Kazooie game, but I don't really recommend it. It's extremely short, relies too much on collecting, and most of the bosses are very similar. It's not a bad game, but it could have been much better.

I love the GBA Castlevania Circle of the Moon and Castlevania Aria of Sorrow. Both of them combine action and RPG elements. I'm not sure if you would find them too objectionable, though. They both has some blood and gothic elements in them and are rated T.

IMO, the GBA Metroid games are great. They are non-linear adventure games where you try to find items and weapons to progress. Metroid Zero Mission is much more non-linear than Metroid Fusion, but both are excellent games. One good thing about Zero Mission is that it has the original NES Metroid as an unlockable.

 

[The-Doctor]

I recommend The Sims busting out!

 

[Brian]

If you don't mind importing, there is a GBA version of Super Mario Bros 2 Japan. This is the game that is in Super Mario All Stars as Super Mario Bros. the Lost Levels, not the game where you throw vegatables at enemies. It's part of the Famicom Mini series, the Japanese version of the classic NES series. It has levels 9, A, B, C, and D just like the original. These levels were left out of the GBC version of Super Mario Bros for Super Players in Super Mario Bros DX for GBC. It's an exact port of the original Japanese Super Mario Bros 2 and has the original NES graphics and the ability to play as a different playing Luigi too. I also recommend the classic NES series Super Mario Bros for GBA (no extras, but full screen and other advantages of the GBC Super Mario Bros DX) and the GBC Super Mario Bros DX (good version of original SMB with some cool extras and a somewhat toned down port of Super Mario Bros 2 Japan included).

Here is a URL to a reliable site where you can get Famicom Mini SMB2J for GBA. http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-67-77-1-15-super+mario+bros+2-70-5zc.html The GBA has no region protection, so Japanese games can be played on US GBAs without any alterations or adapters. Just pop the cartridge in and play. I recommend getting at least one Famicom Mini becuase the packaging is awesome. A mini game box inside a cool looking plastic box.