GBA Recommendations

[CavZee]

Mario & Luigi is pretty great.

Wanna try this series so bad. Love Paper Mario and SMRPG so I'm sure these will be great. I should probably start with the Superstar saga first right?

[MrEco]

Thanks for the help everybody. I'll definitely be checking out the Fire Emblem and Advance Wars series as well. I've got a few more questions that you can hopefully help me with.

Most important one first. Is there a place I can find pictures of all (Or at least most) GBA game carts in order to compare when looking out for bootleg copies? I honestly didn't know that was so common, and now it has me a little worried. Though I never buy from Ebay if I can help it anyway, and so far haven't bought any GBA games from there yet at all. Also, if I open up the cart to look inside for those yellow batteries and such, is it relatively easy to put them back together? And how much risk is there in breaking the cart when trying to open it?


Next, I'm a little curious about the Mega Man, Pokemon, and Sonic games on GBA.

I've never played a Maga Man game, so how do those play out? Are they fairly linear, or more like a metroidvania title? Is there true leveling up, or only power up collecting?

Also never played Pokemon, but I know how those play. So what's the best one over all? Or more specifically, what's the best one for somebody just getting into the series? Also I've heard that each handheld Pokemon game is essentially the same experience, just more Pokemon in each title, better graphics and better stories. So maybe playing the GBA ones would be redundant and I should skip ahead to the DS titles?

Lastly, Sonic. I saw some gameplay of Sonic Colors and I liked what I saw. It was really fast and, well, colorful. Is the Sonic Advance series on GBA worth trying out, or like with Pokemon maybe I should just skip ahead to the DS title's? And in general, what would you say is the best one?

[jinx]

Mega Man

I absolutely LOVED the Zero series. I never did finish all of them, but what I played was great. I'd have to say that this series only falls second to Mega Man X

Edit:
Sorry, I didn't see that you've never played Mega Man games before. I'm not sure how this would stand as a starter game, as I played the Mega Man X series first. The gameplay is similar to Metroid, but I wouldn't put it in the same category as other "Metroidvania" games. It's a bit more linear than that. Power up collecting is kind of like your "leveling up" system.

Pokemon

I'm a Kanto region kinda guy. I absolutely loved Red/Blue, and I would have said they were the best in the series if it wasn't for FireRed/LeafGreen. Those two games take the Red/Blue games and improve upon them. Adding things like "running shoes" to help you get places faster, adding some of the newer Pokemon in on a special island, and polishing all the rough edges from the original Red/Blue games.

Granted, I've only played up to Gen III and only played a couple of the DS games, but I'd say these are my favorite two games in the series. There's a lot of nostalgia for me, with enough new content to keep me interested.

Even if you weren't into the original games, this is a great place to start. You won't be overwhelmed by the 600+ new Pokemon with all those different moves and abilities. Instead, you get your original 151, plus a few new ones from Gen III. I'm playing LeafGreen right now and LOVING it.

Sonic

The Sonic Advance games are all really good. They are a nice throw-back to the classic games. There's some new moves and crazy level designs that make it really fun and a fresh experience. I can't really pick my favorite out of the three, and I would say they are all equally good. If you like classic sonic, I'd say go for these.

[ninjainspandex]

Well the megaman network games are nothing like the old megaman games they are grid based strategy games. The zero games are much like the x series, if you want a traditional megaman game get mega man and bass it was a super famicom game that never made it to the states but was released in the us on the gba.
As for the pokemon games if you never played start with fire red or leaf green they are remakes of the original. Also try to get pokemon emerald i believe it has a few more features than ruby or sapphire.

[jinx]

Mario & Luigi is pretty great.

Wanna try this series so bad. Love Paper Mario and SMRPG so I'm sure these will be great. I should probably start with the Superstar saga first right?

Yeah, if you love those games then Mario & Luigi is right up your ally. I like playing the games in order, so I would start with Superstar Saga.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Mario & Luigi is pretty great.

Wanna try this series so bad. Love Paper Mario and SMRPG so I'm sure these will be great. I should probably start with the Superstar saga first right?

The Mario & Luigi games are superior to both SMRPG and the Paper Mario games. You will love them. It is probably best to start with Superstar Saga, buit there is no need to do so.

Most important one first. Is there a place I can find pictures of all (Or at least most) GBA game carts in order to compare when looking out for bootleg copies? I honestly didn't know that was so common, and now it has me a little worried. Though I never buy from Ebay if I can help it anyway, and so far haven't bought any GBA games from there yet at all. Also, if I open up the cart to look inside for those yellow batteries and such, is it relatively easy to put them back together? And how much risk is there in breaking the cart when trying to open it?

Avoid obviously sketchy labels, avoid puchasing popular carts on eBay, and look for the "Nintendo" mark directly above the pins on the board when you buy games. You don't have to open the cart to see the mark, and while I have seen some pretty good bootlegs, I have never seen one with the "Nintendo" mark above the pins. (I am sure they exist, but this simple step will ensure that the vast majority of your collection are not bootlegs.)

Also, there are some pretty cool bootlegs out there; so, keep your eyes open for those too. (I once found one that contained NES Contra Force...It was like a lost NES Classics game, and I really wish I had purchased it.)

[Violent By Design]

I've never played a Maga Man game, so how do those play out? Are they fairly linear, or more like a metroidvania title? Is there true leveling up, or only power up collecting?

Very, very linear. They're run and gun games, think like Gunstar, Contra, Metal Slug etc. Compared to some of those games, your character is quite durable, and there is more emphasis on platforming (being able to make timely jumps and avoid pit falls and well placed enemies).

The navigation is left to right almost the entire game. You can't really get lost, and maybe every "modern" Megaman might have one part where you have to figure out how to get past an obstacle, as opposed to just blasting or jumping over it.

Now as for what Megaman games to get.

There are only 5 traditional Megaman games (run and gun games, not grid based RPGs like EXE and Battlenetwork which are spin offs)

Megaman and Bass - I actually love this game, it is currently my favorite SNES game (either that or FFV), however I do not recommend buying it for GBA. The game is very impressive, but incredibly difficult and at certain points even unfair. The game's unforgiving nature is amplified on the GBA version (it is originally a SNES import btw, I'd recommend playing it there) because of the resolution on the GBA screen, giving you less time to react to enemies due to not seeing what's up ahead. If someone has never played Megaman before, this might end up being a pretty bad experience.

Megaman Zero 1-4 - By process of elimination I'd play these. I actually wanted to get into this series, but for the most part Megaman Zero 1 and 2 were pretty well praised, and I'm sure the latter are decent. I do hear that the Megaman Zero games are challenging, but they should be relatively accessible. Regardless, a norm of most Megaman games are their difficulty (except for most of the X series).

Also never played Pokemon, but I know how those play. So what's the best one over all? Or more specifically, what's the best one for somebody just getting into the series? Also I've heard that each handheld Pokemon game is essentially the same experience, just more Pokemon in each title, better graphics and better stories. So maybe playing the GBA ones would be redundant and I should skip ahead to the DS titles?

Actually, because Pokemon games are so similar to each other, I find that there is really no difference in where you start. The only reason why newer Pokemon games could be favored over older ones is for the multiplayer aspect, in which case the newer Pokemon game will always be more relevant to the community.

There is nothing wrong with GBA, in fact you could make an argument it is better starting there than the GBC which birthed the series.

There are two generations of Pokemon games on the GBA

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald

Pokemon LeafGreen and Firered (remakes of the original Pokemon games, the game is updated and ran with a similar system to the Rubby/Sapphire/Emerald games)


LeafGreen and Firered are both great places to start, since they're the originals but better (both in graphic design, and balance).

With the newer gen, I would go with Emerald. Not sure if you know this, but Ruby and Sapphire are basically two sides of the same coins, not really sequels but the same game just with slightly different pokemon. Emerald is like a combination of both games, but also enhanced with more features (this is a common theme that has happened in the majority of Pokemon games, there is usually one definitive version that is released after the initial versions).


So getting either Pokemon Emerald, LeafGreen or FireRed are all viable options. If you're interested in multiplayer, then you should likely just buy Pokemon White v2 or Black v2, or wait for the new one to come out.

Lastly, Sonic. I saw some gameplay of Sonic Colors and I liked what I saw. It was really fast and, well, colorful.

I've never seen Sonic Colors for the Gameboy Advance, so I can't comment. If you're referring to the Wii version, then they're not similar in terms of mechanics.

Is the Sonic Advance series on GBA worth trying out, or like with Pokemon maybe I should just skip ahead to the DS title's? And in general, what would you say is the best one?

The Sonic Advance games are probably the most well received Sonic games in the handheld world.

They're relatively easy and very accessible platformers, that have some nice aesthetics and cool moments. There is a low chance you'll be blown away, but a high chance you'll atleast be mildly entertained. If you can find them for cheap, there's no reason not to buy them since they're perfectly fine games.

[ninjainspandex]

Can i suggest the two king of fighters on the gba? Best portable fighter imo, also tekken is a pretty decent port. Its 2d but it really feels like a tekken game.

[MrEco]

Well, good news so far. I got my first GBA game, the Castlevania Double Pack, in the mail today. And as far as I can tell it's 100% legitimate. Has the official seal of approval, the letter coding on the front, there were no load times, and I could see all the number coding along side the Nintendo logo when I looked up into the cart.

Still a tad annoying though that I had to delete the save games off of it from the guy I bought it from. More annoying still that he had beaten Aria of Sorrow already, and had unlocked the character Julius. Something which isn't tied to the save games and therefor didn't go away when I deleted them. :/

Lastly, Sonic. I saw some gameplay of Sonic Colors and I liked what I saw. It was really fast and, well, colorful.

I've never seen Sonic Colors for the Gameboy Advance, so I can't comment. If you're referring to the Wii version, then they're not similar in terms of mechanics.

Oh, actually, I was talking about the DS version. Sorry for the confusion.

[jinx]

This thread just made me realize how great of a library the GBA has, and how in love with it I actually am. I guess I always just took it for granted and feel ashamed for blowing off handhelds like they were nothing for the past few years.