GBA Favorites Roundtable

— Clark says —
Klonoa: Empire of Dreams is not only one of my favorite GBA games, it’s one of my favorite games of any system. From beginning to end, this game is full of so many clever puzzles and brilliant platforming moments. Klonoa was such a refreshing change of pace from all the Super Mario Advance rehashes and still stands as one of the most creative platformers ever made.

My second pick is Denki Blocks. Tetris was the original Game Boy’s prize-winning puzzler, and Denki Blocks is the GBA’s. Although I don’t think this game sold very well. It was more about careful consideration than quick reflexes, which made for some incredibly tough–but incredibly rewarding–puzzles. It even had a hot-seat multiplayer mode that was surprisingly popular with my non-gamer friends.

I haven’t enjoyed any of the more recent Warioware games, but the first one, Warioware Inc.: Mega Microgame$, is a lot of fun and, quite honestly, should be in every GBA collection. I haven’t tried Warioware Twisted, but I think it’s safe to say the original GBA game is better than all the other Wariowares. How can you say no to 200 zany microgames as well as near-perfect ports of Dr. Mario and Gnat Attack? Huh? How?!

And no list of mine would be complete without Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. I picked this game up while in China, and it suddenly took precedence over all the sight-seeing in Beijing. That’s how good it is (or how easily I am addicted to feeding chickens and brushing cows). While Harvest Moon 64 is my favorite in the series, Friends of Mineral Town is a close, close second.

— Saul says —
Golden Sun: I’m not a big fan of Role Playing Games, to be honest. I’ve tried on several occasions to play through the Final Fantasy games, but unless the game is more action oriented, I tend to get bored pretty quickly. That said, an RPG with a decent story and good fighting mechanics will certainly grab my attention. Golden Sun fits the bill nicely, and its portability made it the perfect game for long flights. The story gripped you right from the start, and yet the game didn’t drag the beginning out with a long tutorial-type level. You were off and adventuring rather quickly.

Yoshi’s Island: One of the huge draws for the GBA was the ability to play classic titles in portable form, and it doesn’t get much more classic than Yoshi’s Island. Beautiful environments and sublime platforming gameplay make this game a must-have for GBA and DS owners. The controls are as responsive as you’d expect from a top tier Nintendo platformer, but it was the incredibly vibrant environments and over the top boss characters that make this game so memorable.

Legend of Zelda Minish Cap: While the Capcom developed “Oracle” games were a lot of fun, they never did quite capture the Zelda “magic.” Minish Cap, however, felt much more like a true Zelda game and was thoroughly enjoyable. The quirky story hooked you from the start, and the talking cap wasn’t nearly as annoying or absurd as I initially thought it would be. Transforming into mini-Link added plenty of charm, and rock-solid Zelda gameplay puts this title right up there with Link to the Past as the best portable Zelda game available.

— Edmond says —
I would definitely consider the Minish Cap for the GBA as one of my favorite Zelda titles of all time. Before playing it I had never known that my Game Boy was capable of producing such wonderful graphics that were crucial in making the Minish Cap the visual masterpiece that it is. Surprisingly enough, the tunes in the game were equally important in defining its mood and I can even remember most of the music in the game today. The absence of Ganondorf in the game’s plot was surprising, but also proved to be a refreshing change from what we have come to expect from Zelda titles. Though the adventure is not epic on the scale that its 3D counterparts were, Minish Cap proved to me that it could easily contend with the console games that Link is famous for through its charm. It will always be a favorite of mine.

Despite being a port, Final Fantasy IV is also worthy of mention. Graphically the game gets the job done, but the visuals have lost some of their initial luster as time has passed. But the sound and story departments are where FFIV really shine. It has a distinct feel that the Final Fantasy juggernauts of more recent days seem to have lost, and the GBA captures this feeling perfectly. And while I’m on the subject of ports, I might as well mention A Link to the Past briefly for its tremendous influences on gaming.

— Marc says —
I’ve played a ton of games on my GBA in the past years and still do from time to time even though my DS games have taken over. One game I keep going back to is Jet Grind Radio simply because it is such a great port of none other than the Dreamcast version which is no small feat. The levels are all almost the same and the music is of great quality for a GBA game although it loops a bit earlier than the original ones. Overall though a lot of fun can be had with this game and it is so pretty that I think it is one of those games that really shows what the GBA was capable of.

Another wonderful game that made me lose my life for a while is Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. The sequel to this game is coming to DS and I am so excited! This game is so loooooooooong! I mean, there is so much to do that you probably will never finish. The combat system was very interesting and the job system made you want to try different combinations and see what was more effective as well as level up your characters and get better weapons to build the ultimate team. There were also over 200 missions to do and I personally never saw the end of it. If you want to have your money’s worth, this is the game to get!

All 3 DKC games were ported to GBA, but I always thought that Diddy Kong’s Quest was the best of the trilogy. It has easily as much challenge as the other ones but the environment and the game’s style just won me over. The game is kind of on the short side and doesn’t offer much once you’ve finished it, and it’s also not the best SNES port ever, but I still think the gameplay holds up over the years. Maybe nostalgia affects me a bit, but as far as platformers go, I truly believe it is in the top 10 ever made.

And of course, what would a GBA owner be without a Pokémon game! If you own a GBA and don’t have one of the 5 Pokémon games released for it, you seriously have a problem! Almost unlimited gameplay as well as lots of collecting to do and incredible multiplayer support if you have the wireless adapter. This is Nintendo’s number 1 franchise on handhelds, and there is a good reason for that… Gotta catch’em all!!

And finally, although recently released, I’d probably have to say that Final Fantasy VI Advance is the pinnacle of GBA games. I am definitely biased on this one as it is my favorite RPG game of all time, but even if the music is a bit lacking compared to the original one on the SNES, the added dungeon, final weapons and all the fixed bugs make this a great port and also a lengthy RPG with a lot of reasons to come back to it.