GBA Hidden Gems

[Eric Dude]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112362

Doh! Yeah, I tried to find a similar thread first, but didn't think to put in "hidden gem". DUH!

Funny that Medabots was mentioned... that's the exact game that inspired me to make this thread. I saw it at Half Price books for 6 bucks, but since I knew nothing of it, couldn't really take the chance. Now, I at least have something to go off of if I see it again.

Time to start reading that other thread, making a list, and then hitting the Gametops/crazies in hopes of getting loads of cheap GBA games. I did this same thing with Game Boy games, worked out pretty well.

[BetaWolf47]

There's two Medabots games for GBA. One is just called "Medabots" and the other is called "Medabots AX". Each has both a Metabee version and a Rokusho version.

The one simply titled "Medabots" is an RPG, which is a turn-based RPG. Turns are done similar to the Final Fantasy titles, though it's quite customizable. Rather than learning moves and spells, you equip parts, and each part has its own attributes. The parts are destructible during battle. Though I personally don't like this game, it's a bit of a cult hit, and is by all means worth checking out. Think Pokemon, but for mechanima fans.

Note: The game has a huge flaw, however. When a Medabot's head is destroyed, the whole Medabot gets destroyed. When you attack, the targeted appendage is chosen randomly. Even if you're winning by a long shot, you can lose in an instant if the opponent scores a Critical against your head. This is the main reason I don't like the game: the game is based on luck, not skill.

Medabots AX is the fighting one.

[Ryaan1234]

There's two Medabots games for GBA. One is just called "Medabots" and the other is called "Medabots AX". Each has both a Metabee version and a Rokusho version.

The one simply titled "Medabots" is an RPG, which is a turn-based RPG. Turns are done similar to the Final Fantasy titles, though it's quite customizable. Rather than learning moves and spells, you equip parts, and each part has its own attributes. The parts are destructible during battle. Though I personally don't like this game, it's a bit of a cult hit, and is by all means worth checking out. Think Pokemon, but for mechanima fans.

Note: The game has a huge flaw, however. When a Medabot's head is destroyed, the whole Medabot gets destroyed. When you attack, the targeted appendage is chosen randomly. Even if you're winning by a long shot, you can lose in an instant if the opponent scores a Critical against your head. This is the main reason I don't like the game: the game is based on luck, not skill.

Medabots AX is the fighting one.

Lol, did you see that I just mentioned Medabots AX? (Yeah, you probably did.)

I've played both "Medabots" and "Medabots AX" and while they're both good, Medabots AX is far superior. Medabots AX takes all of the customization of Medabots and instead of it being turn based, it's fighting a-la Super Smash Bros. (minus the items). It plays more like Custom Robo than SSB now than I think about it. Just like Medabots, you choose 4 parts for your robot (head, legs, right arm, and left arm) and a medal. You also get to have a "helper" medabot, which has mostly stat up/down or healing parts. The medal decides your medaforce powers and it also decides how good your helper is in battle. To win you need to destroy the opponent's main medabot's head part. When you win you receive a random part from one of your opponent's medabots. If you lose you lose a random part from one of your medabots, which sucks extremely if you're just starting the game and your just trying to get the hang of gameplay. The game is a lot more enjoyable and deeper than I just described, as I think it's a hard to describe game and it deserves to be known as more than just a game based off of an anime.

Medabots AX also has the "flaw" of which you speak, only you can use certain parts that have powerups that up your chance of hitting certain body parts. This can be unfair to the computer, because if you know how to exploit the game's mechanics you can 1 hit KO the opponent.

[PresidentLeever]

Lilo & Stitch - Surprisingly (being a licensed Disney game post PS1) fun and challenging run 'n gun game.

Riviera: Promised Land - A jRPG in a faux-norse mythology setting with some innovative mechanics that set it apart from more traditional fare like Golden Sun.

Kuru Kuru Kururin & Kururin Paradise - Excellent maze/puzzle games that start out simple but steadily become more complex and challenging, much like the 80s arcade games.

[GrandAmChandler]

I have merged these threads together so we have all the information in one spot!

-GAC-

[Push Upstairs]

I've always wanted to ask about the "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger" games for the GBA. Are they pretty solid 2D platformers? I've got the 3 games on Xbox and wondered if a 2D version of them would be any good.

[NCN]

I'm a GBA fan, so this thread is awesome for me. Thanks to everyone for some of the suggestions. I'll be looking out for some certain titles because of the overwhelming mention of them in the thread. Here are a few of my humble choices.

-Tak & The Power of Juju: It's a Nickelodeon title, and it's a short game. That aside, I had an absolute BLAST playing through it.

-Drill Dozer: I agree 100% with the others who have suggested this one. It's in my top five GBA titles, and anyone who has played it knows why. It's an incredibly fun game.

-Boktai The Sun Is In Your Hand: Love it or hate it, the use of a solar sensor to strengthen or weaken your game is creative. Beyond it, the game is pretty fun.

-Car Battler Joe: If you haven't tried it, I strongly urge you to do so. Half driving, half sRPG. This game is pretty unique, and it's a HELL of a lot of fun.