Who loves their GBA?

[bargora]

I've got one, and I mostly play Advance Wars, The Pinball of the Dead, Gradius Galaxies, Konami Arcade Classics, and Doom on it. The handhelds don't get much love on this board, but I wanna hear it. Who loves your GBA, and what are your top five?

[Eternal Champion]

Boo-Yah!! I LOVE the GBA. I HATE that it isn't backlit, and can't wait for the SP. But I'm a bit worried about the redesigned shape...I love the way the original feels in my hands. And no stereo headphone jack!! Holy merciful crap!
METROID FUSION!! Love it. I want to marry Samus. Zelda is a great update of the SNES classic. Also play the GBC Zelda, and getting Bionic Commando Elite Forces. And TETRIS!! That's it for now! I have several of the games on SNES, so my incentive to get the GBA is low, although going to Europe for 2 years....hmmm....Very tempted to get Contra, Final Fight, and Street Fighter Alpha 3 for GBA--any opinions?
GBA ROCKS!!! 16-Bit-style 2-D gaming--I'm in heaven.

[Alex Kidd]

Well, I don't know if I'd say I LOVE mine, in fact I kinda scorned it when I seen the new backlit one. But apparently the new one is kinda small to handle... I haven't used one yet, so I can't judge for myself. But backlit... the one thing that kept me rooting for the Game Gear all these years.
Can't imagine buying a new GBA just to have one backlit...

But anyway, Top 5 'eh?
well I've played very few games for the GBA, and I'll list the ones I HAVE played and my thoughts on 'em.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon: FIRST game I ever played on the GBA. Kinda got me worried, because the lack of backlit screen and the over all darkness of the game made me question if it was the game itself that was dark or just that I wasn't 'standing in the light quite right', the syndrome that completely turned me off the GameBoy, even to this day. BUT it is a VERY fun and engrossing game. Metroid, gone medeival. I Love it! some people don't like the Metroid aspects, but I love it.

Super Mario Advance: Very good. A port of my second Favorite Mario Bros. Game. BUT I liked the original best (i like the original over the AllStars version too). I just found that the new additions just feel tacked on and don't help the game any. and the ABUNDANCE of health hearts and free lives and such makes it too easy. The one Bonus I DO like (which was also implemented in AllStars) is the ability to change characters when you die. as opposed to having to stick it out with your choice untill you get GameOver or beat the level. Helps you figure out who best suited for what level MUCH easier.

Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World: A port of my FAVORITE Mario Bros. game. and a good port, some subtle changes, but nothing that mkes me wish they HADN'T made the changes. I remember when SMA3 was released and I was like "Yoshi's Island? WTF?" I was SURE the next SMA title would be Super Mario Bros. 3. In fact I'm surprised they din't port that one first. It's the highest selling Mario game isn't it? and SMB2 was one of the least liked ones and they ported it first... oh well...

X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse: Good Beat Em Up... lack of unique enemies is annoying to look at, but it IS a fun game. Too bad all the "unlockables" are for 2 Player Mode... I don't know anyone else with a GBA let alone this cart...

Doom: Fun game, doom will never die, but this is NOT the same Doom that was on PC. but you know what? that's a good thing. I got to play some new levels and had to take new strategies at levels I "thought" I already knew!

Game & Watch Gallery 4: Good games, VERY accurate emulations as opposed to the SHITTY job on G&WG1 and the half assed attempts on 2 & 3. and the re-makes are fun too. BUT one MAJOR gripe. Unlocking all those secrets will turn from "Cool I got 617 points on DK3 and now I have unlocked some secrets" to "FUCK, 967 points and FUCKING game over on a game I've played for the last week STRAIGHT" You'll find yourself beating your head against a wall trying to get the score needed to unlock some things.
If you just play it as "fun little time killers" it's great, but forget about unlocking everything unless you are a phenomenally good player, or have a LOT of time and patience.

Alex Kidd

[Kid Fenris]

I love my GBA, and I'm really looking forward to Lufia: Ruins of Lore, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Tales of Phantasia, and the new Fire Emblem, which I really wish would get an American release. Heck, I'd settle for a translation of the first FE title on the GBA. What's the problem, Nintendo?

My Top Five:

1. Metroid Fusion
2. Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis
3. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
4. Phantasy Star Collection
5. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

[samuraiX]

The new one feels a little odd to hold because of it's square design and Land R trigger positioning. Otherwise they seem to be pretty cool.

As far as the regular GBA goes I haven't played mine in over a year. I keep buying games for it but never opening or playing them. Got Lunar, KoF, GGX, and Urban Yeti to mention a few.

Yetis rock!

[Bratwurst]

I love the GBA alright- it's one sweet platform. I happen to be working on a project for it, in fact.

The NES emulator takes the cake, with Sonic Advance and Megaman Zero serving as personal favorites as well. Then there's Metroid Fusion. I have to pick one more?! Maybe Sonic Advance 2, when I get it later today. =)

[WiseSalesman]

Glad you started this thread, I'm getting my GBA SP on Sunday and I need to decide on a game to buy for it.....I'll use these lists as a guide, but if anyone wants to tell me what game they'd buy if they could have only one, I'd appreciate that too.

[NE146]

Yeah you gotta give those NES emulators some love. You need the flashcart to play them of course. But if you do have one, it's great taking classic NES games on the go. (There are 14 distributed "packs" that I know of so far.. each with a hundred or so NES games) Currently I'm playing umm.. well... Adventures of Lolo 2

[Bratwurst]

Never knew about the packs, just compiled my own selections. Mostly the Mega Man series- it's almost as if the emu were tailored for platform games.

As for a game that I'd pick above all the rest, Metroid Fusion's worth the money, but there's the danger of beating it quickly. I got 100% after a few days of focused playing. As for Sonic Advance, it's great for short bursts or five minute breaks.

[bargora]

WiseSalesman: I've said it before, but if you like pure (i.e., not RPG) turn-based strategy, then the one title to get is Advance Wars. There is NO danger of running through it too quickly, as there are over 100 unlockable maps you can play (just playing normally gives you credits to buy the maps at the store). I've been playing it for months.

[Eternal Champion]

Has anyone tried the Afterburner? Did you do it yourself, or have someone else do it? Are you happy with it?

[NE146]

Personally, at this point I'd rather just get the Gameboy SP w/ it's rechargeable battery action rather than go through the hassle of installing an Afterburner on my existing unit.

[IGotTheDot]

A few guys here have installed the afterburner and say it isn't that hard, but I am going to wait for the SP and then retire my GBA to it's box on the shelf near the GBC, GBP and GB.

Oh and I love my GBA. Advanced Wars, Pinball of the Dead, Dig Dug (on the Namco cart) and the Castlevanias.

[toddst]

I had the old gameboy, but wasn't a huge fan. I picked up a GBA and a Flashlinker and I've been really into it. Right now on my flashlinker, I've loaded:

-NES emu with 50 games
-Midway Classics
-Namco Museum
-Monkeyball Jr.
-Phantasy Star

And, with a cheap $10 light, I've had no problems with the lack of backlight...


-Todd

[portnoyd]

Yes, I love my GBA. What a great upgrade to the most popular system ever.

I'm up to almost 30 games, and if it wasn't for my egregious Genesis habit, that'd be a good 10-15 more. Starting to travel, I've found my GBA really nice to have for flights.

I have an Afterburner, but I let the guy at Afterburner.net install it. When it first came in, it had a noticable smudge UNDER the screen, so I sent it back, and got it opened and cleaned for free. It works great! I literally can't play my GBA without it. I got it right when the AB came out.

The best games? CV: HOD, easily the best game on the system. I like Golden Sun, but that has fallen by the wayside, so I'm not even very far into it. Metroid Fusion was good, but not great. The naviagtion system took away from the Super Metroidness of it, and the boss fight every 5 seconds also hurt it a bit.

I also like Pinball of the Dead, all 3 Mario adapts, DODGEBALL!, and Circle of the Moon.

It bothers me a bit that they just adapt instead of new games, but the constant stream of new CV is great, and Golden Sun 2 coming out makes me want to finish the first one next, so it's not all that bad.

I want a flashlinker bad

dave

[DDCecil]

I love mine. Right now, I'm using it for Dragon Warrior 3 (GBC). Here are my top 5:

1. Castlevania: HOD
2. Gradius Galaxies
3. Castlevania: COTM
4. Super Mario Advance
5. " 3

[Raedon]

Golden Sun alone makes a GBA worth buying.

[Eternal Champion]

afterburner.net--I'll have to check it out. How much does it cost to get that done?

[bargora]

Yeah, the afterburner is calling out to me. I stopped in to tritonlabs.com and saw that there is a "stealth dimmer" chip (changes brightness through pressing buttons on the GBA--no dial) that can be added to the basic afterburner install. I can send it out to yourhappyplace.com and have it installed, but it'd be about $70-$75 after shipping. I guess I could install it myself for about half of that. I've got tri-wing screwdrivers, a dremel, and a soldering iron already.

Does anybody know if the stealth dimmer makes the installation a lot harder?

EDIT: Well, I guess I'll find out. I just ordered a kit with stealth dimmer chip and extra A/R film (in case I fuXx0r up the first one) for $38.50. That $70-75, by the way, includes the kit, dimmer, installation, and return shipping, but not the shipping to the installer's location.

I have a portable air filter and a tiny bathroom with a shower, so I'm hoping I can knock the dust out of the air...

[Starcade]

I love mine, and I am about to love it 10x more in about 2 hours...POKEMON SAPPHIRE!!!