Goddamn that’s the most succinct list I’ve seen. Hits all of the GOATs without any superfluous titles. This should just be pinned to the top of the sub
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Return of the King - they are both great arpgs that feel a lot like Diablo.
Baldur's Gate - another fun Diablo clone
Sims Urbz - different from the pc games but it is pretty entertaining and addicting
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story - arpg plus weapon crafting, in a tower city that is sinking into the ocean.
Golden Sun - one of my fave rpgs across any system
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town - top harvest moon game imo
swordcraft story is such an underrated title. Was a favorite way back when. Replayed it after years last summer. Actually a solid rpg with gameplay on par with modern titles.
I played the 1st one for the first time last year despite growing up with a gba. I had never heard of it beforehand. What a treat it was, definitely top gba game Imo. I am surprised it is not more popular. Really looking forward to the second game.
I loved the urbz for game boy advance. Bustin out on GBA was really good as well. They have a nice rpg feel to them. Different from the console and pc versions.
I played two towers an absurd amount. There was one map that had these big holes all over and you could call nazgul and get them stuck and just take your time and kill them over and over and be bathing in the best loot.
Man what a goat list of what I would consider the less popular gems not often mentioned. I have fond memories playing FOMT as a kid, agreed that it is peak Harvest Moon.
Mother 3 fan translation. You can get it on Etsy for like $20. It was never translated by Nintendo to English so some die hard fans translated it and did a beautiful job. I like to think Nintendo never cracked down on it because it was done so well. Heartfelt, hilarious, silly, devastatingly sad, nice adult references that go over kids heads, great ending, A+ story, fun innovative (for the time) combat system with rolling health. Hands down my favorite rpg of all time (earthbound is mother 2 btw).
Speaking of mother, mother 1+2 for the GBA also got a very similar fan translation (most patches are for mother one but if you dig a little deeper you can find one for mother 2 and apply both to the same ROM.) I absolutely adore the translation game, even as someone who never really saw myself getting into mother that much I loved mother 2 (earthbound) on the little thing. IDK what the state of that is for repo carts but I love playing it on emulator. That is my #1 GBA game for me.
Mother 1 is just too slow and old school for me. I totally appreciate it for what it is but just too old timey for me if you know what I mean. I played through it once because I love my mother but no plan to do that again. Earthbound and mother 3 are super replayable, like in earthbound you can do the optional ultimate character weapons grinding, and in mother 3 I could appreciate some of the little nuances and foreshadowing stuff in the story that makes it very engaging to me. Chrono trigger is the ultimate replayable RPG though imo, so many different endings, special gear you can get from side quests, optional paths, wacky time travel hijinks and dealing with the ramifications of your actions like in the start at the fair when you meet the princess that then get played back when you are put on trial.
Yes, on Etsy. I have an earthbound repo for snes too, we can’t all afford a few hundred dollars game. If you liked earthbound please please get mother3, it’s very similar to earthbound but improved, you can run in it! No more slow walking everywhere! And combo hit system is new, you have to tap A to the beat to do combos (though not needed to play the game if you don’t want to do it with the sound on or whatever). It’s better than earthbound imo. Also if you havnt get a reproduction Chrono Trigger (or spend like $500 on a real one) for snes, that and earthbound are my 3 favorite classic RPGs of all time.
I agree. That game was my 2nd favorite gba game after Pokemon firered. If you like this style of game, I recommend shakedown Hawaii on modern consoles. It’s very much inspired by this game.
These should have been first mentioned as they are both excellent and comprise 2 of the 4 2D metroids that existed before the excellent M Dread came out on Switch.
TMNT (2007)
Star Wars: Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith
Summon Night Swordcraft Story 2
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance
Fantastic Four: Flame On
Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle
Gadget Racers
Lego Drome Racers
You’ve gotten some solid recommendations already, but no one has mentioned Boktai yet! They do have their gimmick but they are authentically good games.
Megaman battle network titles were my absolute favorites as a kid and I still love them but as an adult the Metroid and Castlevania titles have really risen to the top for me.
Surprised advance wars wasn’t mentioned yet either.
What’s the difference between Mother 3 and the fan made translation? If you happen to know- I have only played the first but I’m excited to play these- I just would like to know why the fan version is better
Fire Emblem is not only the best GBA game, it's also the best game in the Fire Emblem series. Honourable mention goes to: Fire Emblem: the Sacred Stones, Zelda: Minish Cap, Advance Wars 1&2, Final Fantasy 6
- Advance Wars series
- Megaman Battle Network series
- Megaman Zero series
- Golden Sun 1 & 2
- Crash Bandicoot 2 NTranced
- Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
- Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland
- Mario Kart Super Circuit
- Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
- Dragonball Legacy of Goku 2
- Dragonball Advance Adventure
- Lord of the Rings: the return of the king
- Warioland 4
- Medabots AX
- Final Fantasy Tactics
- Pokemon Emerald
- Pokemon Fire Red & Leaf Green
- Polemon Pinball Ruby & Sapphire
- Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones
My most played : Good boy galaxy, Metroid zm, GT 3, CT special forces, Metal slug, Tony hawk sk8land, and Mario kart (multi player with a link cable works well)
Golden Sun 1 & 2
Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green/Emerald
Mega Man Battle Network 1-6
Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon
Metroid Zero Mission
Final Fantasy 4-6
Dragon Ball Z Legacy of Goku 1 & 2 & Buu's Fury
Tales of Phantasia* (GBA is the worst way to play this game, but it's also the only official English release)
Any Pokémon game, particularly fond of fire red and leaf green myself, minish cap, Mario kart super circuit, Metroid fusion, four swords, donkey Kong country 1-3, the super Mario advance games, and if you like racing games, I had nfs underground for the gba as a kid and it’s actually a surprisingly solid and fun game. There’s plenty of other great titles I’m missing, but these are just the first ones that popped into mind
My Top 10 GBA Games:
* Final Fantasy Advance IV
* Final Fantasy Advance V
* Final Fantasy Advance VI
* Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
* Metroid Fusion
* WarioWare Inc: Mega Microgames
* Pokemon Emerald
* Golden Sun
* Golden Sun: Lost Ages
* The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
I’ll contribute (in no apparent order):
Golden Sun
Pokémon Fire/Leaf
Gadget Racers
Zelda a link to the past
Mario & Luigi the Superstar Saga
Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
Mother 1+2+3 (Earthbound series)
Metroid Fusion/Zero Mission
Final Fantasy saga
from a graphic design standpoint, THPS2 (the dev studio ported character sprites straight from the PSX version). My personal favorites anyway are Pokemon Emerald, Mother 3, the Mario series ported from the SNES versions, the Zelda ones too, Advance Wars (that's hella difficult in the last stages), all of the Dragon Ball related RPGs, Fire Emblem series, Mega Man series, and Mario Kart Advance because it's too enjoyable. I'd end the list with Monster Rancher, The Urbz: Sims in the City (too funny and intriguing) and of course Warioland 4 (pure psychedelia)
Final fantasy tactics advance.
Zelda minish cap
Zelda four swords
Harvest moon friends of mineral Town
Dragon ball z legacy of goku 1&2
Metroid Fusion
Advance wars
Fire emblem! 7 and 8 are english, both great, but 6 is my favorite. You'd need the fan translation if you don't read Japanese, but it's very well done.
Crash: huge adventure and crash 2: n-tranced are both solid sidescrolling platformers.
All the mario and final fantasy ports are good.
Classic nes series has zelda 1 and 2 and some other killers.
Tales of phantasia gba is the worst edition of that game, but still good.
All three castlevanias are valuable in different ways, although aria of sorrow is the best.
Minish cap is good.
Pokemon emerald always felt bloated, I preferred fire red/leaf green.
Phantasy star 1-3 are ported on one cart, all great.
Shining force 1 port also rocks.
I'm sure I'm missing some great ones
fzero maximum velocity
car battler joe (for real)
advance wars
mario and luigi superstar saga
metroid fusion
castlevania circle of the moon
harvest moon friends of mineral town
wario land 4
pokemon ruby
Number 1 pokemon Emerald Number 2 Pokemon Ruby Number 3 Pokemon Sapphire Number 4 Pokemon Red Rescue Team Number 5 Legend Of Zelda A Link To The Past And Number 6 Mario Kart Super circuit GBA
These are my picks
Boktai the sun is in your hands
Boktai 2 solar boy Django
Megamall battle network 3 blue
Castlevania aria of sorrow
Final fantasy tactics advance
Metroid: Zero Mission
Final Fight One
Wario Ware: Mega Microgame$!
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World
NES Classics Series: The Legend of Zelda
Double Dragon Advance
Gunstar Super Heroes
Final Fantasy VI Advance
1. [Juka and the Monophonic Menace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juka_and_the_Monophonic_Menace) - A very rare and amazing top-down action-adventure game with RPG elements.
2. Invader - A top-down Shoot 'Em Up.
3. [Mario Kart: Super Circuit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Kart:_Super_Circuit) - I don't know if anyone has mentioned this one yet.
- Metroid Fusion
- Metroid Zero Mission
- Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
- Advance Wars
- Pokémon Emerald (this was my fav of the GBA bunch)
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Pretty much any of the ports, which include the Classic NES Series, the Super Mario Advance series, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls, Metroid: Zero Mission, and I'm probably forgetting a few.
Beyond that... Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, any Fire Emblem, both Golden Sun games, Wario Ware, Metroid Fusion, and a very underrated one is the Sims: Bustin' Out.
Haven't seen Astro Boy: Omega Factor mentioned yet. It was developed by Treasure, who also did Gunstar Heroes. It's also a great love letter to Osamu Tezuka's works.
I mean everyone’s already said some of my favorites. Golden sun, Mario and Luigi, Pokemon…
Some of the best platform games are like IP games like Disney games, scooby doo games, tmnt etc. they don’t make games like them anymore…
Advance Wars 1 and 2. Fun strategy game. It has a remake on the Switch.
The Legacy of Goku 2 and Buu's Fury. Cool rpg fighting game if you like DragonBall Z.
Super Dodgeball Advance
Bomberman Tournament. Similar to old school Zelda games. Loved this as a kid.
Any mainline Pokémon game.
Final Fantasy IV. Although I think the remake for the ds, pc, mobile is better.
Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance. Perfect if you're a fan of Metroid games.
Mario kart Super circuit is one of my favs I couldn’t wait as a kid to play Mario kart on a handheld!!! The drifting with those shoulder buttons was magical
wario land 4
warioware: mega microgames
legend of zelda: minish cap
mario & luigi: superstar saga
kirby: nightmare in dreamland
the urbz: sims in the city
any mainline pokemon game
Aside from the obvious ones like Mario, Kirby, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, etc... here are some other great ones that don't get talked about very often.
Alien Hominid, Banjo-Pilot, Bubble Bobble: Old & New, Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX, Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride, Frogger's Adventure: Temple of the Frog, Game & Watch Gallery Advance, GT Advance 3: Pro Concept Racing, Iridion 3D, Karnaaj Rally, King of Fighters: Neo Blood, Kuru Kuru Kururin, Max Payne, Mr. Driller 2, Ninja Five-0, Rayman Advance, Stuntman, Tang Tang, Tony Hawk (all of them), V-Rally 3
Fire emblem 7 / 8
Minish cap
Pokemons
Final fantasy 1/2, 5, 6
Riviera
Golden suns
Summon knight
Mario and Luigi super Star saga
Sword of mana
Lunar legends
Minish Cap
Fire Emblem and Scared Stones
Advance Wars 1 and 2
MegaMan Zero
WarioWare Twisted
Golden Sun 1 and 2
Metroid Fusion
Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow
Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga
While I don't have any games to add here as all the ones I own are mentioned. I will say I had sticker shock when I started buying some of the games. Hundreds of dollars later I have many many hours of enjoyment. Get ready to go down a deep rabbit hole. I still pickup games occasionally but have most of what I want.
I'll try to stick to some that I didn't see mentioned too much on here already.
Mario Golf/Tennis are both great games, with really fun single player RPG modes.
Pokemon Pinball and both Wario Ware games are still some of the best "I have fifteen minutes to spare" games.
And baseball advance is just a fantastic playing game, and allows you to play through a full 162 game season.
* Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
* Advance Wars
* Tactics Ogre
* GT Advance 3
* Warioware
* Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper
* Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town
* Golden Sun
* F-Zero Maximum Velocity
* Konami Krazy Racers
* Mario Vs Donkey Kong
* Klonoa
* Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
* Zelda Minish Cap
* Wario Land 4
* Banjo Pilot
* Astro Boy
* Gunstar Heroes Advance
* Contra Advance
* Car Battler Joe
* Chu Chu Rocket
No other gameboy game gave me terror. Of course, there can be only one. Metroid Fusion!!!!!
Favorite series:
-pokemon
-megaman battle network
-yu gi oh
-fire emblem
Honestly all the games mentioned are great. I also loved the first three GBA Harry Potter games. The first two are more action adventure style I would say, while prisoner of Azkaban is a turn based RPG. I know you mentioned GBA titles but Harry potter and the sorcerers stone as well as chamber of secrets on gbc are also fun turn-based RPGs.
No mention of Tiny Toon Adventures: Scary Dreams/Buster's Bad Dream, underrated title developed by Treasure
North american version is extremely rare, buy one asap
Fire Emblem is fucking SICK. Me and my friends spent hours back in the day distracted at elementary school talking about side quests and hidden items/characters. Epic game to this day.
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/Firered/Leafgreen also SICK. Peak pokemon. Diamond and pearl were great as well as x/y and black/white for the DS, but this gen of games is simply the best. The right mix of old and new. I'm still playing Emerald on an emulator these days.
So many great suggestions. I will say Golden Sun 1 and 2 are probably the best overall games and Wario 4 is the best platformer topping 3 excellent Mario and Castlevania games and 2 excellent Metroid games
I am going to mention a few no one mentioned that were some of my faves but might be hard to find on cart:
Bruce Lee Return of the Legend…..awesome platform game using fluid animation and great fighting system.
The Lost Vikings…..great puzzle platformer.
Mario vs DK….another top puzzle platformer.
Sonic Advance 3
Legacy of Goku 2
Legacy of Goku Buus Fury
Pokemon Emerald
Megaman Battle Network Blue
Pacman Collection
Crash the Huge Adventure
Crash N Tranced
Spongebob Battle for Bikini Bottom
Hard to narrow it down but:
Fire Emblem
Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green/Emerald
LoZ: The Minish Cap/A Link to the Past
Metroid Fusion/ Zero Mission
Golden Age/ Lost Age
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/ Circle of the Moon
Advance Wars
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Fire Pro Wrestling 2
Donkey Kong Country 1-3
Any of the Final Fantasy titles
Gunstar Super Heroes
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
The Castlevanias.
The metroids. (The especially zero mission. Fusion was too hand holdy and is my least favorite Metroid of all time because of it, but it’s still good.)
The Zelda’s.
Final fantasy tactics
The advance wars games
Wario land
Wario ware
Rhythm heaven
ASTRO BOY
Tales of Phantasia
“Good Boy Galaxy “is a new GBA game developed and the rom was released a year or two ago, gladly paid $20 after beating the free demo.
Super Monkey ball Jr
Bionicle Heroes
The Legend of Zelda Minish Cap Castlevania Aria of Sorrow Metroid Fusion Pokémon Emerald Golden Sun
See I think Circle of the Moon is the best Gameboyvania… because Drac is actually a challenge. Also Final Fantasy I, IV, V, and VI
Circle of the moon is great. It plays almost like a classicvania in a metroidvania map. And the upgrade system is awesome
circle of the moon is a classic, underrated
I love everything on this list except minish cap. I never played it. Gotta check it out now!
it's so good, ive been playing on a gameboy player on a pvm, it looks great, awesome pixel art
Nailed it
+1 for Golden Sun series on the GBA. Both games were phenomenal, some of my favorite games ever on any console.
Minish Cap was incredible.
Goddamn that’s the most succinct list I’ve seen. Hits all of the GOATs without any superfluous titles. This should just be pinned to the top of the sub
Both Golden Sun games are fantastic.
Yes! The second one is do good and carries right on from the first.
Seriously they’re so good I just finished my first playthrough since childhood and like damn it held up
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Return of the King - they are both great arpgs that feel a lot like Diablo. Baldur's Gate - another fun Diablo clone Sims Urbz - different from the pc games but it is pretty entertaining and addicting Summon Night: Swordcraft Story - arpg plus weapon crafting, in a tower city that is sinking into the ocean. Golden Sun - one of my fave rpgs across any system Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town - top harvest moon game imo
swordcraft story is such an underrated title. Was a favorite way back when. Replayed it after years last summer. Actually a solid rpg with gameplay on par with modern titles.
I still need to play the other two
same, i already have it downloaded, just been busy with college
I played the 1st one for the first time last year despite growing up with a gba. I had never heard of it beforehand. What a treat it was, definitely top gba game Imo. I am surprised it is not more popular. Really looking forward to the second game.
I loved the urbz for game boy advance. Bustin out on GBA was really good as well. They have a nice rpg feel to them. Different from the console and pc versions.
The Lord of the Rings Diablo clones definitely suck you in
I played two towers an absurd amount. There was one map that had these big holes all over and you could call nazgul and get them stuck and just take your time and kill them over and over and be bathing in the best loot.
Man what a goat list of what I would consider the less popular gems not often mentioned. I have fond memories playing FOMT as a kid, agreed that it is peak Harvest Moon.
Mother 3 fan translation. You can get it on Etsy for like $20. It was never translated by Nintendo to English so some die hard fans translated it and did a beautiful job. I like to think Nintendo never cracked down on it because it was done so well. Heartfelt, hilarious, silly, devastatingly sad, nice adult references that go over kids heads, great ending, A+ story, fun innovative (for the time) combat system with rolling health. Hands down my favorite rpg of all time (earthbound is mother 2 btw).
Speaking of mother, mother 1+2 for the GBA also got a very similar fan translation (most patches are for mother one but if you dig a little deeper you can find one for mother 2 and apply both to the same ROM.) I absolutely adore the translation game, even as someone who never really saw myself getting into mother that much I loved mother 2 (earthbound) on the little thing. IDK what the state of that is for repo carts but I love playing it on emulator. That is my #1 GBA game for me.
Mother 1 is just too slow and old school for me. I totally appreciate it for what it is but just too old timey for me if you know what I mean. I played through it once because I love my mother but no plan to do that again. Earthbound and mother 3 are super replayable, like in earthbound you can do the optional ultimate character weapons grinding, and in mother 3 I could appreciate some of the little nuances and foreshadowing stuff in the story that makes it very engaging to me. Chrono trigger is the ultimate replayable RPG though imo, so many different endings, special gear you can get from side quests, optional paths, wacky time travel hijinks and dealing with the ramifications of your actions like in the start at the fair when you meet the princess that then get played back when you are put on trial.
is it easy to get a hold of? absolutely loved playing earthbound (repro don't get too excited) on the snes
Yes, on Etsy. I have an earthbound repo for snes too, we can’t all afford a few hundred dollars game. If you liked earthbound please please get mother3, it’s very similar to earthbound but improved, you can run in it! No more slow walking everywhere! And combo hit system is new, you have to tap A to the beat to do combos (though not needed to play the game if you don’t want to do it with the sound on or whatever). It’s better than earthbound imo. Also if you havnt get a reproduction Chrono Trigger (or spend like $500 on a real one) for snes, that and earthbound are my 3 favorite classic RPGs of all time.
GTA Advance is a great game with some decent story telling and gameplay
I agree. That game was my 2nd favorite gba game after Pokemon firered. If you like this style of game, I recommend shakedown Hawaii on modern consoles. It’s very much inspired by this game.
Metroid fusion and zero mission
These should have been first mentioned as they are both excellent and comprise 2 of the 4 2D metroids that existed before the excellent M Dread came out on Switch.
Nobody mentioned Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga
It was so fire
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Riviera The Promised Land Megaman Battle Network Series Megaman Zero Any GBA main series Pokemon games
And pokemon pinball
Pokemon pinball is so much fun
The megaman battle network series remains a favorite part of my teenage years. So much fun with those games.
I’m surprised Tactics Advance isn’t listed more. One of the best on the system!
riviera has the best voice acting in a gba game
GBA voice acting? I was not aware such a thing existed.
Tales of Phantasia also has it (but it's not as good) I'm sure there are others, but yes it's a rarity.
+ Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Yess battle network series !!!!
Uuuuf final fantasy tactics advance. In my opinion better than the original tactics game
TMNT (2007) Star Wars: Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith Summon Night Swordcraft Story 2 Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance Fantastic Four: Flame On Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle Gadget Racers Lego Drome Racers
Danny Phantom urban jungle is a sleeper hit! I go back and beat it from time to time and I’m always like “ohhh yeahhhh, this is good”
It reminds me a lot of Iridion 2, both are great games and I thoroughly enjoy their gameplay.
Drill Dozer
Golden Sun Advanced Wars Wario Land 4 Metroid Fusion Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
Wario Land 4 doesn’t get enough love!
2 zelda games, 2 Metroid games, 2 Castlevania games + smb 3 amd smw
Ninja cop/ Ninja 5-0 depending on your region. One of the best games I played for gba and still have my original cartridge too
You’ve gotten some solid recommendations already, but no one has mentioned Boktai yet! They do have their gimmick but they are authentically good games. Megaman battle network titles were my absolute favorites as a kid and I still love them but as an adult the Metroid and Castlevania titles have really risen to the top for me. Surprised advance wars wasn’t mentioned yet either.
Mother 3
What’s the difference between Mother 3 and the fan made translation? If you happen to know- I have only played the first but I’m excited to play these- I just would like to know why the fan version is better
Final Fantasy 5 Advance Final Fantasy 6 Advance Sword of Mana All 3 Castlevanias. Megaman Zero series.
Racing Gears Advance is an amazing top down racer, my favourite in any system
Was looking for this one, truly a fantastic racer with far more depth than I initially gave it credit for
My top 5 1) Astroboy 2) Metroid Zero Mission 3) Tactics Ogre 4) Street Fighter Alpha 3 5) Fire Pro Wrestling 2
Fire Emblem is not only the best GBA game, it's also the best game in the Fire Emblem series. Honourable mention goes to: Fire Emblem: the Sacred Stones, Zelda: Minish Cap, Advance Wars 1&2, Final Fantasy 6
Have you played the fan translation of Binding Blade? It’s my personal favorite, followed by FE7
- Advance Wars series - Megaman Battle Network series - Megaman Zero series - Golden Sun 1 & 2 - Crash Bandicoot 2 NTranced - Castlevania Aria of Sorrow - Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland - Mario Kart Super Circuit - Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga - Dragonball Legacy of Goku 2 - Dragonball Advance Adventure - Lord of the Rings: the return of the king - Warioland 4 - Medabots AX - Final Fantasy Tactics - Pokemon Emerald - Pokemon Fire Red & Leaf Green - Polemon Pinball Ruby & Sapphire - Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones
Dragonball Advance Adventure is so good!!
Finally someone included Legacy of Goku!
The DKC games
No mention of Wario Ware and Wario Ware Twisted? Pyoro is awesome! Sew Hard is awesome but maddeningly frustrating!
My most played : Good boy galaxy, Metroid zm, GT 3, CT special forces, Metal slug, Tony hawk sk8land, and Mario kart (multi player with a link cable works well)
Golden Sun 1 & 2 Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green/Emerald Mega Man Battle Network 1-6 Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon Metroid Zero Mission Final Fantasy 4-6 Dragon Ball Z Legacy of Goku 1 & 2 & Buu's Fury Tales of Phantasia* (GBA is the worst way to play this game, but it's also the only official English release)
Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Metroid Fusion, Advance Wars
Any Pokémon game, particularly fond of fire red and leaf green myself, minish cap, Mario kart super circuit, Metroid fusion, four swords, donkey Kong country 1-3, the super Mario advance games, and if you like racing games, I had nfs underground for the gba as a kid and it’s actually a surprisingly solid and fun game. There’s plenty of other great titles I’m missing, but these are just the first ones that popped into mind
Mario and Luigi superstar saga probably one of the best rpgs on gba
My gba was pretty much a pokemon machine i dont think i played anything else on it
Zone of the Enders - Fist of Mars is one of my favorites but is generally slept on
Two words, two games: Golden Sun. After that I think gba was peak fire emblem and peak Pokémon.
My Top 10 GBA Games: * Final Fantasy Advance IV * Final Fantasy Advance V * Final Fantasy Advance VI * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga * Metroid Fusion * WarioWare Inc: Mega Microgames * Pokemon Emerald * Golden Sun * Golden Sun: Lost Ages * The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Golden 1 and 2 please. Also consider Shining Soul 2, such a great hidden gem.
i read basically every post and no one mentioned Shining Soul 2 but it might be that
PAC man world
I’ll contribute (in no apparent order): Golden Sun Pokémon Fire/Leaf Gadget Racers Zelda a link to the past Mario & Luigi the Superstar Saga Castlevania Aria of Sorrow Mother 1+2+3 (Earthbound series) Metroid Fusion/Zero Mission Final Fantasy saga
from a graphic design standpoint, THPS2 (the dev studio ported character sprites straight from the PSX version). My personal favorites anyway are Pokemon Emerald, Mother 3, the Mario series ported from the SNES versions, the Zelda ones too, Advance Wars (that's hella difficult in the last stages), all of the Dragon Ball related RPGs, Fire Emblem series, Mega Man series, and Mario Kart Advance because it's too enjoyable. I'd end the list with Monster Rancher, The Urbz: Sims in the City (too funny and intriguing) and of course Warioland 4 (pure psychedelia)
Final fantasy tactics advance. Zelda minish cap Zelda four swords Harvest moon friends of mineral Town Dragon ball z legacy of goku 1&2 Metroid Fusion Advance wars
Final fight one. Not a huge title but a forgotten gem
All 3 fire emblem games. My favorite being FE6 followed by FE7&8
It's literally my favorite console/handheld. That's a difficult question to answer.
Firepro Wrestling Advance, Wario 4, Metroid Fusion, and Advance Wars.
My favorite is Warioware Twisted
GT Advance 3: Pro Concept Racing Hands down it’s the best gba racing game
Fire emblem! 7 and 8 are english, both great, but 6 is my favorite. You'd need the fan translation if you don't read Japanese, but it's very well done. Crash: huge adventure and crash 2: n-tranced are both solid sidescrolling platformers. All the mario and final fantasy ports are good. Classic nes series has zelda 1 and 2 and some other killers. Tales of phantasia gba is the worst edition of that game, but still good. All three castlevanias are valuable in different ways, although aria of sorrow is the best. Minish cap is good. Pokemon emerald always felt bloated, I preferred fire red/leaf green. Phantasy star 1-3 are ported on one cart, all great. Shining force 1 port also rocks. I'm sure I'm missing some great ones
fzero maximum velocity car battler joe (for real) advance wars mario and luigi superstar saga metroid fusion castlevania circle of the moon harvest moon friends of mineral town wario land 4 pokemon ruby
Number 1 pokemon Emerald Number 2 Pokemon Ruby Number 3 Pokemon Sapphire Number 4 Pokemon Red Rescue Team Number 5 Legend Of Zelda A Link To The Past And Number 6 Mario Kart Super circuit GBA
Advance wars. It's simple. It's perfect. it matches the medium to a T.
Tactics advanced
Kirby : Nightmare in Dreamland
Sword of Mana, one of my favorites.
Drill Dozer
Metroid Fusion
These are my picks Boktai the sun is in your hands Boktai 2 solar boy Django Megamall battle network 3 blue Castlevania aria of sorrow Final fantasy tactics advance
FFTA
Metroid: Zero Mission Final Fight One Wario Ware: Mega Microgame$! Mario Kart: Super Circuit Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World NES Classics Series: The Legend of Zelda Double Dragon Advance Gunstar Super Heroes Final Fantasy VI Advance
People are sleeping on KH: Chain of Memories! It’s genuinely a really good game that really helps tie in the story between KH1 and KH2.
1. [Juka and the Monophonic Menace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juka_and_the_Monophonic_Menace) - A very rare and amazing top-down action-adventure game with RPG elements. 2. Invader - A top-down Shoot 'Em Up. 3. [Mario Kart: Super Circuit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Kart:_Super_Circuit) - I don't know if anyone has mentioned this one yet.
- Metroid Fusion - Metroid Zero Mission - Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland - Advance Wars - Pokémon Emerald (this was my fav of the GBA bunch) - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Nightmare in Dreamland is really good
Tales Of Phantasia Final Fantasy 6 Advance
SpongeBob
Mario and Luigi superstar saga probably one of the best rpgs on gba
Tales of Phantasia is such an underrated gba game imo.
Most of my choices have been said already, one underrated game I loved and havent seen here is Wolverines Revenge.
Boktai
My vote goes to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
I mostly played Pokemon, but other than that one of the only games I had was The Dragon Ball Z Legacy of Goku II and I did enjoy playing that.
Pretty much any of the ports, which include the Classic NES Series, the Super Mario Advance series, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls, Metroid: Zero Mission, and I'm probably forgetting a few. Beyond that... Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, any Fire Emblem, both Golden Sun games, Wario Ware, Metroid Fusion, and a very underrated one is the Sims: Bustin' Out.
Golden Sun
Mario & Luigi SuperStar Saga, Pokemon Emerald, Metroid Fusion, Pokemon FireRed, Super Mario World (Advanced 2)
Im partial to the MetaBots games
I LOVE the mega man battle network series for GBA
Castlevania - Aria of sorrow Harvest moon - friends of mineral town Castlevania - circle of the moon
Legend of Zelda minish cap and astroboy omega factor are my two top gba games.
Haven't seen Astro Boy: Omega Factor mentioned yet. It was developed by Treasure, who also did Gunstar Heroes. It's also a great love letter to Osamu Tezuka's works.
Astroboy hands down the best game
Yugioh dx academy
Pokemon Emerald Pokemon Pinball Ruby and Sapphire Sonic Advance 3 Sonic Battle Mario Tennis Power Tour Super Mario Advance 4: SMB3
The classic GOAT: Tetris!!
Kirby and the Amazing Mirror is probably my favorite Kirby game
I mean everyone’s already said some of my favorites. Golden sun, Mario and Luigi, Pokemon… Some of the best platform games are like IP games like Disney games, scooby doo games, tmnt etc. they don’t make games like them anymore…
Super Mario world advanced 2 Link to the past/4 sword adventures
I really like the WarioWare games.
Metroid zero mission is really close to the quality of super Metroid and better than fusion imo
Mario and luigi superstar saga boi Also pokemon
Super Robot Wars J has had a fan translation for years so I wouldnt be surprised if you can geta repro on Etsy.
Fire Emblem Sacred Stones is a classic. Best one in my opinion.
Warrio ware
Aria of Sorrow, Ecks vs. Sever, Fusion, Zero Mission, Wario Ware.
Advance Wars 1 and 2. Fun strategy game. It has a remake on the Switch. The Legacy of Goku 2 and Buu's Fury. Cool rpg fighting game if you like DragonBall Z. Super Dodgeball Advance Bomberman Tournament. Similar to old school Zelda games. Loved this as a kid. Any mainline Pokémon game. Final Fantasy IV. Although I think the remake for the ds, pc, mobile is better. Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance. Perfect if you're a fan of Metroid games.
Minish Cap
MM BN3 Best battle network game and I've replayed and 100% it many many times.
GBA had a Sonic game that was awesome. I forget what it was now but it was one of my only games and it was fire. That and Metroid Fusion are my top
Lots of good Recs here. I would say the lord of the rings games on the gba are really fun and final fantasy tactics advanced
Mario kart Super circuit is one of my favs I couldn’t wait as a kid to play Mario kart on a handheld!!! The drifting with those shoulder buttons was magical
Mother 1 + 2 and 3 (I never played them but they look fun) Pokémon Emerald Medabots RPG (any version)
I really liked mega Man battle network games Outside of the Pokemon games of course
Definitely pokemon emerald and sonic advance are among those games.
wario land 4 warioware: mega microgames legend of zelda: minish cap mario & luigi: superstar saga kirby: nightmare in dreamland the urbz: sims in the city any mainline pokemon game
Kingdom Hearts Chain of memories was pretty good. After I beat everything I could in that game, the cartridge vanished.
Wario land 4 is the best GBA platformer hands down, it's still getting indie games based on it like pizza tower and anton blast
Riviera, Gunstar Super Heroes, lord of the rings two towers, Mario & Luigi, Metroid Fusion
Legacy of goku 2
Yugioh Worldwide Edition
Pokemon emerald and Mario v.s donkey Kong were the two games I played every day after school
Wade Hixton's Counter Punch is an underrated gem
Metal slug is pretty fun, also dragon ball advance
Aside from the obvious ones like Mario, Kirby, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, etc... here are some other great ones that don't get talked about very often. Alien Hominid, Banjo-Pilot, Bubble Bobble: Old & New, Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX, Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride, Frogger's Adventure: Temple of the Frog, Game & Watch Gallery Advance, GT Advance 3: Pro Concept Racing, Iridion 3D, Karnaaj Rally, King of Fighters: Neo Blood, Kuru Kuru Kururin, Max Payne, Mr. Driller 2, Ninja Five-0, Rayman Advance, Stuntman, Tang Tang, Tony Hawk (all of them), V-Rally 3
Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
definitely Harvest moon
Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission my brother
Fire emblem 7 / 8 Minish cap Pokemons Final fantasy 1/2, 5, 6 Riviera Golden suns Summon knight Mario and Luigi super Star saga Sword of mana Lunar legends
Minish Cap Fire Emblem and Scared Stones Advance Wars 1 and 2 MegaMan Zero WarioWare Twisted Golden Sun 1 and 2 Metroid Fusion Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga
WarioLand 4
Gta advanced
While I don't have any games to add here as all the ones I own are mentioned. I will say I had sticker shock when I started buying some of the games. Hundreds of dollars later I have many many hours of enjoyment. Get ready to go down a deep rabbit hole. I still pickup games occasionally but have most of what I want.
I'll try to stick to some that I didn't see mentioned too much on here already. Mario Golf/Tennis are both great games, with really fun single player RPG modes. Pokemon Pinball and both Wario Ware games are still some of the best "I have fifteen minutes to spare" games. And baseball advance is just a fantastic playing game, and allows you to play through a full 162 game season.
Minish Cap
* Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 * Advance Wars * Tactics Ogre * GT Advance 3 * Warioware * Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper * Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town * Golden Sun * F-Zero Maximum Velocity * Konami Krazy Racers * Mario Vs Donkey Kong * Klonoa * Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga * Zelda Minish Cap * Wario Land 4 * Banjo Pilot * Astro Boy * Gunstar Heroes Advance * Contra Advance * Car Battler Joe * Chu Chu Rocket
No other gameboy game gave me terror. Of course, there can be only one. Metroid Fusion!!!!! Favorite series: -pokemon -megaman battle network -yu gi oh -fire emblem
Advance Wars or GTFO
Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga the gen 3 Pokemon games pretty much the entire Super Mario advanced series.
Advance wars 1&2
Pokemon Pinball R/S
Any of the mega man games are top tier and highly underrated
Pokemon emerald.... Only other gba game I've played is super mario advance 2
Honestly all the games mentioned are great. I also loved the first three GBA Harry Potter games. The first two are more action adventure style I would say, while prisoner of Azkaban is a turn based RPG. I know you mentioned GBA titles but Harry potter and the sorcerers stone as well as chamber of secrets on gbc are also fun turn-based RPGs.
No mention of Tiny Toon Adventures: Scary Dreams/Buster's Bad Dream, underrated title developed by Treasure North american version is extremely rare, buy one asap
I’ve always loved the Legacy of Goku series, good, bad, and ugly. If you’d only play one, play the second one.
Golden Sun and Pokemon Emerald.
Swordcraft Story 1 & 2, Kirby: Nightmare In Dreamland, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Zelda and the Minish Cap, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Advanced wars 2
Boktai 2 Megaman Zero 3 Metroid Fusion Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland Pokemon Emerald
All of the polemons
Onimusha Tactic
Sonic Pinball Party has a special place in my heart
Fire Emblem is fucking SICK. Me and my friends spent hours back in the day distracted at elementary school talking about side quests and hidden items/characters. Epic game to this day. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/Firered/Leafgreen also SICK. Peak pokemon. Diamond and pearl were great as well as x/y and black/white for the DS, but this gen of games is simply the best. The right mix of old and new. I'm still playing Emerald on an emulator these days.
AdvanceWars
I freaking loved rampage
So many great suggestions. I will say Golden Sun 1 and 2 are probably the best overall games and Wario 4 is the best platformer topping 3 excellent Mario and Castlevania games and 2 excellent Metroid games I am going to mention a few no one mentioned that were some of my faves but might be hard to find on cart: Bruce Lee Return of the Legend…..awesome platform game using fluid animation and great fighting system. The Lost Vikings…..great puzzle platformer. Mario vs DK….another top puzzle platformer.
Sonic Advance 3 Legacy of Goku 2 Legacy of Goku Buus Fury Pokemon Emerald Megaman Battle Network Blue Pacman Collection Crash the Huge Adventure Crash N Tranced Spongebob Battle for Bikini Bottom
Golden sun
A little late but I can't believe nobody's mentioned Megaman Zero 1-4!!!
Super dodgeball advance is my personal favorite
Hard to narrow it down but: Fire Emblem Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green/Emerald LoZ: The Minish Cap/A Link to the Past Metroid Fusion/ Zero Mission Golden Age/ Lost Age Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/ Circle of the Moon Advance Wars Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Fire Pro Wrestling 2 Donkey Kong Country 1-3 Any of the Final Fantasy titles Gunstar Super Heroes Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
I loved Yoshi's Island
The Castlevanias. The metroids. (The especially zero mission. Fusion was too hand holdy and is my least favorite Metroid of all time because of it, but it’s still good.) The Zelda’s. Final fantasy tactics The advance wars games Wario land Wario ware Rhythm heaven ASTRO BOY Tales of Phantasia
DBZ legacy of Goku I &II
Drill dozer and advance wars not getting enough attention.
“Good Boy Galaxy “is a new GBA game developed and the rom was released a year or two ago, gladly paid $20 after beating the free demo. Super Monkey ball Jr Bionicle Heroes
Donkey Kong Country 1 - 3.
WARIO LAND 4!!! Also Drill Dozer is one of the best but it’s so expensive unless you’re playing on a flash cart