List: Best 30 GBA games (whats in your pocket?)

[ninjainspandex]

Mjmjr25 has been making some great top 30 lists, so lets make a list of the top 30 Gameboy Advance games. My favorite handheld system and one of my all time favorite systems. Such an underrated little system and is the last true 2D system, a swan song to 2D.


Top 30 in no particular order

1. Golden Sun/Lost Age (probably the best RPG on the system and one of my favorites, great story, a great traditional battle system with incredibly epic summons that would put Final Fantasy to shame, great dungeon puzzles like Zelda, and a monster collecting element like Pokemon)

2 Metroid Fusion (An absolute masterpiece, and probably my favorite metroid game)

3 Castlevania Circle of the Moon/Aria of Sorrow/Harmony of Dissonence (not sure if each game should get its own spot or all share the same spot since they are all so similar, but they are all pure Metroidvania bliss, Aria of Sorrow is probably the best though)

4. Fire Emblem/ FE Sacred Stones (My favorite game series of all time, beautiful sprites and challenging gameplay, a terrific Strategy RPG)

5. Wario Ware/ Wario Ware Twisted (An awesome collection of silly short minigames, incredibly addictive and great for when you only have a few minutes to burn)

6 Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (I sunk over a hundred hours into this game back when it came out, absolutely incredibly addictive, can you believe I have not played the PS1 FF tactics? I need to remedy this)

7

8.

9 Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald (how could it be a top GBA game list without Pokemon, and Gen 3 was the last great Pokemon generation imo)

10. Rythem Heaven Tengoku ( an excellent JP import, a collection of rhythm minigames much like Wario Ware)

11.

12.

13 Mario Golf Advance Tour (an excellent golf game on the little handheld made by Camelot, the makers of Golden Sun and Shining Force

14 Sonic Advance series (The last great 2D sonic games)

15. Advance Wars 1 and 2 (Another excellent Strategy game by the makers of Fire Emblem)

16.

17. Zelda Minish Cap (have not actually played this one yet but it comes with very high praise)

18

19. Drill Dozer (a great platformer made by the makers of Pokemon, Gamefreak)
20.Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga (a great simple RPG in the mario universe with a charming and humorous story)

21.

22.

23.

24. Mother 3 (an excellent RPG with a huge cult following)

25. Wario Land 4 (how could we not include this, an excellent platformer in the WL series and I think it was a launch game or very near launch)

26. Mario Kart Advance (do I really need to explain this?)

27. King of Fighters EX and EX2 (Surprisingly excellent SNK fighting game made just for the GBA)

28.

29. Tactics Ogre the Knights of Lodis (have not played it but had it recommended countless times)

30. Mario Vs Donkey Kong (a great little platformer, though I have only played a bit of it but its on everyones best of lists)

Honorable Mentions

Shining Soul 2
Pinball of the Dead
F-Zero games
Pokemon FR/LG
Mario Advance Series
Gunstar Super Heroes (an excellent sequel of the Gunstar Heroes made my Treasure, definitely a hidden gem)
Advance Guardian Heroes (another hidden gem by Treasure)
Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town (considered to be one of the best Harvest Moon games)
Legacy of Goku games/ Buus Fury (great Zelda like action RPGs, highly reccomend)
YuGiOh Eternal Duelist Soul/ Ultimate Masters (great games that follow the rules of the card game, put a few hundred hours into this one as a teenager, haven't played Ultimate Masters but I hear its even better)
Mega Man Zero games (I have actually only played the first one, not sure if I should include it on the list since there is a collection of all 4 on the DS with some added features)
Tekken Advance (a surprisingly good 2D adaptation of Tekken, I put hundreds of hours into this game in highschool via link play with my friends)
Dragon Ball Z Super Sonic Warriors (another hidden gem, a great little DBZ fighters were you can fly around and pull off insane super moves just like in the Anime)
Grand Theft Auto Advance (a classic style GTA game a la 1 and 2)
Metal Slug Advance (some people hate I love it, its not as frantic as the Neo Geo Slug games its more like the Neo Geo Pocket games)

So how does this list look? What should be replaced? and what should be honorable mentions?

[ninjainspandex]

Well I just realized I forgot Mother 3, that absolutely must be in there somewhere, what should go?

[Blu]

Ninja, you're doing it wrong! Remember, Mike asks us, then we give him our suggestions. Then you make the list, based on your tastes and a combination of some of the titles shared.

Seriously though, my top are:

Super Mario Advance
Super Mario Advance 2
Mario Kart Super Circuit
Castlevania Circle of the Moon
F-Zero Maximum Velocity
Advance Wars
Advance Wars 2
Pinball of the Dead
Legend of Zelda Minish Cap
Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire
Pokemon Fire Red & Leaf Green
Sonic Advance Series
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Metroid Fusion & Zero Mission

[ninjainspandex]

these are suggestions, feel free to say which should be taken down and what to replace it with. I just gave 30 suggestions at once haha.

I wanted to put the Mario Ports on there and the Fire Red and Leaf Green games on there but they are just ports and I felt there were other original games up there, also I feel that Sapphire and Ruby deserve the spot more. And I just can't stand all the Wa WA WAHOOO! in those GBA Mario Ports.

[noiseredux]

31 games. /Thread.

[ninjainspandex]

Dammit there are way too many excellent GBA games, maybe this should be a top 50

Put shining soul 2 in HM and put Mother 3 up there, please don't just tell me games tell me what game on the list it should replace and why.

Should Ninja 5-0 go up there somewhere or be in Honorable mentions?

[ExedExes]

Being a very avid collector of the GBA going on 3 years now, dare I enter the bloodshed that will be this thread? Since mjmjr25 didn't start it, is this officially sanctioned? I have a feeling I'll bring my picks into the GBADOME and few will actually survive the feeding frenzy. Not only is the list already compiled, you also relegated Pinball of The Dead to an honorable mention.

Not a good start. I think I'll stand back and watch the action unfold before I jump in.

[ninjainspandex]

Being a very avid collector of the GBA going on 3 years now, dare I enter the bloodshed that will be this thread? Since mjmjr25 didn't start it, is this officially sanctioned? I have a feeling I'll bring my picks into the GBADOME and few will actually survive the feeding frenzy. Not only is the list already compiled, you also relegated Pinball of The Dead to an honorable mention.

Not a good start. I think I'll stand back and watch the action unfold before I jump in.

Who says Pinball of the Dead can't be on the list? What should it replace? the top 30 isn't set in stone.

[TEKTORO]

Shining Force Resurrection of the Dark Dragon- Discovered this during TR one year here, played it through that month became one of my favorite games of all time. I like the Classic version to but this remake has better sprite work. If you like Golden Sun you will see some cross references in styles except this is more strategy than traditional RPG.

THPS2- Great Port, tight controls, good graphics, tons of fun of course.

Fire Pro Wrestling- Cult classic, solid wrestling game that's surprisingly pretty deep.

Super Dodge Ball Advance, Advance Wars, Castlevania's.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Mother 3 is my favorite game on the system by an absolute landslide.

I'm also partial to Drill Dozer, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Lufia: The Ruins of Lore, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mazes of Fate, Metroid Fusion, and Sword of Mana.

Yeah I am an RPG kinda guy.

How many of these threads are we gonna gonna have? Kinda tempted to start some dedicated to 2nd gen systems though participation may be low.