What GBA games to be sure to see?

[DarkSoul]

Welp, I finally decided to go pick up a GBA (SP, Platium) this evening (ignoring a paper I rather need to write). What are some "must see" games that anyone is sure to love? I'm mostly interested in RPGs and Adventure type games, with a touch of shoot 'em ups and classic arcade action thrown in.

I'm lookin' forward to hearing from you all!

[Mayhem]

Golden Sun
Advance Wars
Mario Kart Circuit
Castlevania (both titles)
Phalanx
Zelda: LttP/4 swords

[Sylentwulf]

I thought mario kart circuit was the most disappointing, sad attmept at creating a game that I've seen nintendo release in a long time (Tied with mario sunshine)

I like the mario kart series, but to me, that one flopped hard.
In order:

Metroid Fusion
Castlevania (both, soon to be 3)
Golden Sun
Advance Wars
F-Zero (if you want a racer)

[Gamereviewgod]

If you love RPG's, then you'll love Car Battler Joe. Highly underrated game that few know of. Get it ASAP!!!

[Kid Fenris]

My suggestions:

Metroid Fusion is easily the best GBA title out there, and it might just be my favorite of the series.

Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis is an excellent addition to the Tactics Ogre/Final Fantasy Tactics school, and it’s easy enough for neophytes to enjoy without frustration.

While we're on the subject of strategy/RPGs, Advance Wars is also a great choice.

And if you liked Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the PSX, you’ve gotta try Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon.

Phantasy Star Collection is also a good buy for RPG fans, though it might not interest those who’ve already finished the first three PS games.

[DarkSoul]

Can a US GBA SP play Jap games?

[Bratwurst]

Yes it can! There are no territory lockouts with any of the gameboys whatsoever.

And where is the love for Sonic Advance 1 and 2?

[DarkSoul]

Excellent!

By the way, I picked up my new Gameboy and Castlevania: Circle of The Moon ($14.99, used) this afternoon, and I've had a blast with it! I can't wait to go try and pick up a few more games at reasonable prices tomorrow.

I'm thinking Zelda, followed by maybe Metriod, Golden Sun, and maybe Eye of the Beholder- Especially if anyone out there has any feedback on it (I'm a longtime D&D fan, and the idea of playing a gold box era D&D PC game on this little puppy sounds awfully nice, if they did a good job with it at least).

[NE146]

It's not out in the U.S. just yet (soon). But I HIGHLY recommend Made in Wario which will be called Wario Ware in the U.S.

Imagine 3 second minigames (there are 200 of them) thrown at you at lightning pace and you have to figure out what to do or lose one of your 4 lives. One of the best stages is one which looks like it takes place on an old black and white Gameboy, where it throws various NES, Virtual Boy, and even Game & Watch minigames at you.

Yeah Yeah... this is the third time I've pushed this game on the board, so it'll be the last (for those of you tired of it). :P There are a lot of good GBA games, but this one is pretty much UNIQUE. It's almost the perfect game for a the handheld market since it's fast and easy to pick up.

[Sylentwulf]

mmmmmmmmmm Made in Wario. I heard about this and am VERY MUCH looking forward to it. This is gonna be a hit or the sleeper of the YEAR.

[davidbrit2]

I was just going to recommend Wario Ware myself. I've gotten a chance to demo it a bit, and it's incredibly awesome, and totally insane. I'll be pre-ordering this one.

[josekortez]

@ Darksoul - I too am trying to ignore a paper...

My picks:

Sega Smash Pack ($10 at TRU)
Planet Monsters (old-school style)
Super Street Fighter 2: Turbo Revival
King of the Fighters EX
Urban Yeti
Pinball of the Dead

If you like puzzlers, try Denki Blocks. Different than a Tetris clone, but still challenging...

@Gamereviewgod - I need to open this Car Battler Joe on my desk tonight (also $10 at your local TRU)!

[zektor]

If you have never played Chu Chu Rocket on the DC (or maybe even if you HAVE) it is a great game for the GBA. NIce time consuming game while you are on the train for work, waiting at the dentist office..whatever. I also liked Monkey Ball and Sonic 2.

[Lady Jaye]

These days, the games that see a lot of play on my GBA (after a 6-month hiatus...) are Phantasy Star Collection (a great collection for whoever doesn't have PS 1-3, despite the occasional save bug in PS1), Metroid Fusion (a true sequel to Super Metroid... Gumpei Yokoi would have approved), Konami Arcade Classics (I'm hooked on Frogger, Scramble and Rush n Attack... I just wish that Konami would follow up on that great compilation by having a Konami NES classics cart out). Sonic Advance is classic-style Sonic (and from what I gather, so is SA2).

That Wario Ware/Made in Wario game sounds like a great, original follow-up to the Game and Watch galleries and to Mario Party combined!

If you're a fan of the original Bionic Commando, I recommand Bionic Commando: Elite Force for the GBC. The voices kinda suck but the action is classic Bionic Commando. Nintendo did a great job on that one! (yup, it was made by the Big N, not by Capcom!)

If you like puzzles. I recommend Puyo Pop (the latest in the Puyo Puyo series, which includes Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine).

And avoid at all costs Pitfall! The Mayan Adventure. It really, really sucks. And so do Mortal Kombat Advance and Midway Greatest hits (Midway should get some advice from Konami on how to adapt classic arcade games to a screen scale that's a lot smaller than arcade monitors! In particular, the tiny, tiny aliens in Defender makes the game nearly unplayable. Only way this cart can be salvaged: the upcoming Game Boy Player.).

[Daniel Thomas]

I thought mario kart circuit was the most disappointing, sad attmept at creating a game that I've seen nintendo release in a long time (Tied with mario sunshine)

I like the mario kart series, but to me, that one flopped hard.

What was it about GBA Mario Kart that you didn't like? I have to say I really dig this one, and the ability to play all the old Mario Kart tracks is the icing on the cake. Who wouldn't want to play 4-player Mario Kart?

For my favorites, I'm going to be unimaginative and name the same games as everyone else. Advance Wars should be at the top of your list, doubly so if you have friends with GBAs. Also, the two Castlevanias are great (Harmony is one of my personal favorites of the series), as are the SNES ports of Zelda 3, Super Mario World, and Yoshi's Island.

I thought Super Monkey Ball was a pleasant surprise. If the camera angle could have been fixed (is it too hard to ask for an over-the-shoulder view?!), it would be almost perfect. Chu Chu Rocket is fun, but again requires extra players. Pinball of the Dead was a nice surprise (if a little slow), and every Gameboy owner should have at least one Tony Hawk game in their collection.

Sadly, though, there is way too much shoverware on GBA. What will publishers do when they run out of SNES games to port over? There is far too few original games made for the platform, and most of the ones available just stink. There just aren't any surprises, any out-of-nowhere games that aren't just the latest version of some company's cash cow franchise. Where's the GBA Warbirds or Klax or Blue Lightning?

[Sylentwulf]

I honestly don't even remember mario kart, just that it's the only GBA game that I bought, and then sold. I DO remember it being VERY SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Other than that, I think it just didn't grab me, I lost interest within probably one hour, got home from vacation, and on ebay it went (I had brought it on vacation with great hopes, but alas)

[bargora]

In light of the Mario Kart kontroversy, I'd like to point out that I've had a lot of fun with Konami Krazy Racers, which was Konami's cart-racing release title. If you can find it, it should be dirt cheap by now.

[NE146]

I lost interest within probably one hour, got home from vacation, and on ebay it went

Hasn't this board taught you anything? Why are you getting rid of your games?

Keep em all!

[Eternal Champion]

If you're a fan of the original Bionic Commando, I recommand Bionic Commando: Elite Force for the GBC. The voices kinda suck but the action is classic Bionic Commando. Nintendo did a great job on that one! (yup, it was made by the Big N, not by Capcom!)

Bionic Commando Elite Forces has PROBLEMS when played on GBA. It freezes when you try to enter areas 3 or 4. It happened to me on my GBC as well, and Nintendo WILL REPAIR IT FOR FREE, as they made it. We'll see what happens. I'm guessing it just won't work on GBA (the Nintendo customer rep looked "in his computer"--did he find a secret note when he unscrewed the box?? --and said it won't work on GBA. Great minds at work.
VERY COOL game, though. Sure, the voices are grainy, but not bad, considering! Were there ever voices in NES games???
Awesome animation. A winner.

[udisi]

well if you're into rpg's don't forget

Breath of fire 1 & 2
Lunar legend
someone already mentioned Phantasy Star collection and Golden Sun

other games already mentioned, metriod fusion, the castlevanias, Advance wars, the mario remakes are good too.