Problem gameboy games on Advance?

[teh_L0ki]

I would be interested in creating and maintaining a list, but I'm not sure where I would be able to cull enough data to make a worthwhile list. Also I wouldn't include unlicensed carts because you can't really expect them to be compatible.

[SparTonberry]

I have heard there's an obscure Japanese RPG called Legend of Xerd that doesn't work on a GBC.
Though the only source I've heard that is some emulator documentation stating the game is supposed to crash under forced-GBC mode.

[SparTonberry]

I think there's another issue I just remembered: games that exploited the original GB screen's low refresh rate to create fake transparency effects.
I know Link's Awakening (original) has this issue (unsure of the DX version). In an emulator, you'll individual letters flickering during the credits scene. On my GBA SP, the whole text flickers uniformly.
From an emulator, I can guess Taz-Mania (NA-exclusive) is doing this with the tide in the first level.
I've heard there's another Japanese shmup, but I forget the name.

[Jorpho]

What is this, no one's mentioned Bionic Commando: Elite Forces yet? It is famously capable of hanging when played on a GBA.
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9748

There was also a blurb in Nintendo Power long, long ago regarding the sound effects in some of the old GB arcade classics (such as Galaxian). Apparently they would actually glitch on a Game Boy Pocket, but not the original GB. (Recall that the GBP used a very slightly different Z80 processor.)

[gaff]

I have a rather extensive collection of game boy games, and have never had any incompatibility issues on the advance. I do however appreciate the heads up though, and think it would be a great idea to compile a list of incompatible games. This would certainly be helpful to a lot of people I think. I am looking to buy a new gaming system, anyone have any suggestions? Would hhgregg be a good place to look?

[Brianvgplayer]

There was also a blurb in Nintendo Power long, long ago regarding the sound effects in some of the old GB arcade classics (such as Galaxian). Apparently they would actually glitch on a Game Boy Pocket, but not the original GB. (Recall that the GBP used a very slightly different Z80 processor.)

I'm not sure about the GBP, but Galaga/Galaxian and Pac-Man b/w (not the color one) had sound issues on early GBCs. The issue was fixed on later models, though. I have two GBCs. On the earlier purple one, I had issues with both carts, but on the later green one I had no sound issues.

Edit: Tried the b/w Pac-Man and Galaga/Galaxian on the GBP and had no issues with sound.

[Callin]

What is this, no one's mentioned Bionic Commando: Elite Forces yet? It is famously capable of hanging when played on a GBA.
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9748

Interesting. Any idea why it only freezes on a GBA?

(I've been studying how the original GB operates, and the idea that some code can malfunction only on a GBA intrigues me.)

[BetaWolf47]

Isn't Bionic Commando: Elite Forces already pretty glitchy in itself though?

[Jorpho]

(I've been studying how the original GB operates, and the idea that some code can malfunction only on a GBA intrigues me.)

Elite Forces is the GBC-only game, not to be confused with the earlier B&W GB game.

And I'm kind of interested about the technical details too, but I can't quite recall reading about the specifics. Maybe it had something to do with the cart's save RAM?

EDIT: http://www.gamefaqs.com/gbc/196763-b...ces/faqs/30432 says that the glitch can also occur on a GBC, and at http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=10631.0 there's someone who can't even get the game to start on an AGS-101. Maybe it was just defective hardware rather than some kind of GBA incompatibility.

[goldenband]

Old thread, but I can say that several Game Boy games have weird audio issues on a Game Boy Advance, including:

Ren & Stimpy: Veediots!
Top Rank Tennis

What's the other licensed monochrome GB game that simply doesn't work (i.e. besides Road Rash)?

[Tanooki]

Tarzan for GBC isn't happy with the GBA either, don't remember the specifics as I haven't owned it in like a decade.

[goldenband]

Tarzan for GBC isn't happy with the GBA either, don't remember the specifics as I haven't owned it in like a decade.

It's a sound problem. I just found an interesting list of problem games here:

Densha de Go
Densha de Go 2
Hamster Paradise 3
Hamster Paradise 2
Disney's Tarzan
Sakura Taisen GB
Koro Koro Kirby
Doreamon - Study Fighter 99 Games
Japanese Chess
Battle Athletic
Game of Go
World Soccer GB2
Tokimeki Memorial Pocket: Chapter of Culture
Tokimeki Memorial Pocket: Chapter of Sports

And they note:

"The gameplay on the games is unaffected and there have been no graphical faults found. The problem lies in sound compatibility. The GBA’s new sound processor just will not run some of these games and no one knows why."

However I can vouch for the incompleteness of that list, as Veediots and Top Rank Tennis definitely have sound issues, and folks have already mentioned the audio issue in Rampart and the crashing problem with Road Rash.

[Tanooki]

I remember that list. The good of it though it appears that much of what failed on the GBA somewhat if not completely stayed in Japan and those that didn't, enough of it wasn't high enough profile for most to care.

[SparTonberry]

Koro Koro Kirby? Isn't that the tilt game?
I suppose it's not too surprising if something might mess up (especially with GBA SP, with the cart facing the opposite direction. And thus why the GBA tilt games needed a menu for the user to tell it which system they were playing on)

[Tanooki]

Yes that's Tilt n Tumble, and the reason it fails is that the sensor is too dumb to realize it's upsidedown when it's in various GBA systems so it renders the game useless.

[MetalFRO]

Elite Forces is the GBC-only game, not to be confused with the earlier B&W GB game.

And I'm kind of interested about the technical details too, but I can't quite recall reading about the specifics. Maybe it had something to do with the cart's save RAM?

EDIT: http://www.gamefaqs.com/gbc/196763-b...ces/faqs/30432 says that the glitch can also occur on a GBC, and at http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=10631.0 there's someone who can't even get the game to start on an AGS-101. Maybe it was just defective hardware rather than some kind of GBA incompatibility.

I bought Elite Forces as a new release, but never got very far in it before getting distracted by other games. I'll be interested to go back and see if I can uncover that glitch when I do play through it.

Old thread, but I can say that several Game Boy games have weird audio issues on a Game Boy Advance, including:

Ren & Stimpy: Veediots!
Top Rank Tennis

What's the other licensed monochrome GB game that simply doesn't work (i.e. besides Road Rash)?

I just picked up Veediots a week or so ago, but it wouldn't boot up in my GBA SP, presumably because the pins are corroded and need to be cleaned, which is the case with about half of the GB games I buy these days. I'll have to open that up and give it a good cleaning and try it out. I don't have an original, non-backlit GBA, but I have an original Game Boy, GB Pocket, the atomic purple GBC, and the GBA SP, so I'll be able to test it out and see what differences there are.

I love discussions like this

[Rickstilwell1]

Yes that's Tilt n Tumble, and the reason it fails is that the sensor is too dumb to realize it's upsidedown when it's in various GBA systems so it renders the game useless.

Not quite useless though. You can set the game back upright in the SP by plugging it into a Gameshark.

[davidbrit2]

Burai Fighter (the original monochrome one) doesn't work right on the GBA, and possibly the GBC. You die almost instantly as soon as the first boss appears.

Also, Turrican has a really minor issue that doesn't affect gameplay at all. Unless you play it on an original GB or GBP, you'll miss out on an amusing little startup animation involving the Nintendo logo.

[SparTonberry]

I thought I read someone say Wisdom Tree carts are incompatible. (supposedly used some trick to get around the Nintendo TM logo thing on an original Game Boy. Maybe the legality of the Genesis TMSS stuff hadn't been decided yet, as it was pretty much the same idea?)

[Tanooki]

So what's the animation on Turrican that only works on the pre-GBA Gameboy systems? I know where to pick that game up locally for I think $10 (or less.) I never did get into it back in the day, but I never was exposed to it well, just went in on the PC version or something blind and got shot to hell totally lost in the open world having no idea what was going on.