A few questions about the soon-to-be-extinct GBA library

[Blademaster]

OK, guys, we live in an age where technology is made and remade at light-speed. Progress is great, but at the rate it moves, it can easily leave people in the dust. Case in point, I'd like to point out to you Exhibit A: The Nintendo DSi. A sweet little machine that comes complete with enough useless bells and whistles to even make the PSP's head spin. However... We all know the fatal flaw of the machine: The axing of its GBA game slot.

So, gamers of TPM, my original DS is nearing the end of its life. And until Nintendo decides to make a DS Virtual Console, so is my ability to play GBA games, which I've shamefully played very, very few of. That's what I've come to ask you: What GBA games are must-buys/must-tries?

I asked /v/ and got a very useful copypasta'd list of games; between games I already own/owned, games I'm not interested in, and games I could barely even pronounce, I trimmed the list down to these titles/franchises:


-Advance Wars
-Alien Hominid
-Bomberman Max
-Bomberman Tournament
-Breath of Fire
-Capcom Classics Mini Mix
-Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/Harmony of Dissonance
-Chu Chu Rocket!
-Crash Bandicoot GBA
-Dr. Mario & Puzzle League
-Duke Nukem Advance
-F-Zero Climax/Legend/Maximum Velocity
-Final Fantasy I/II: Dawn of Souls
-Final Fantasy Advance
-Fire Emblem
-Golden Sun
-Gradius Galaxies
-Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
-Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land/Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
-Klonoa GBA
-LOZ: The Minish Cap
-Mario Kart Super Circuit
-Mario vs. Donkey Kong
-MegaMan Battle Network
-Mega Man Zero
-Metroid Fusion/Zero Mission
-Mr. Driller 2
-Pokemon Emerald
-Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
-Sonic Advance 1
-WarioWare, Inc.


What is missing from that list, and what can be axed off of it?

[Andrew]

-Advance Wars - I sucked terribly at this.
-Alien Hominid - No idea.
-Bomberman Max - NI
-Bomberman Tournament - NI
-Breath of Fire - Incredibly boring.
-Capcom Classics Mini Mix - NI
-Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/Harmony of Dissonance - Heard they're great.
-Chu Chu Rocket! - NI
-Crash Bandicoot GBA - Would assume it sucks.
-Dr. Mario & Puzzle League - Go for the Wii.
-Duke Nukem Advance -REALLY?
-F-Zero Climax/Legend/Maximum Velocity - NI
-Final Fantasy I/II: Dawn of Souls - It's still a very boring RPG... its good if you like level grinding. Not much else.
-Final Fantasy Advance - I'm over it.
-Fire Emblem - GET THIS GET THIS GET THIS. BEST GAME. Sucked so much of my life away. LOVE IT.
-Golden Sun - Played it and went "Eh" feels like a cheaper "tales"
-Gradius Galaxies - NI
-Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town - Oh GOD NO. BORING AS SHIT.
-Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land/Kirby and the Amazing Mirror - Been there, finished that. Kirby games are always easy. The mirror one you need other people to help you play with the cellphone gimmick to get you past certain things. It sucks cause the AI is so stupid.
-Klonoa GBA - WTF.
-LOZ: The Minish Cap - I wasn't enthralled. But, I don't enjoy LOZ games.
-Mario Kart Super Circuit - Go the DS version.
-Mario vs. Donkey Kong - FUCK NO NO NO. SO BORING.
-MegaMan Battle Network - No. Just no.
-Mega Man Zero - It's a bitch of a game. Okay though.
-Metroid Fusion/Zero Mission - Wasn't fussed.
-Mr. Driller 2 - Eh....
-Pokemon Emerald - Oh, jump on the new bandwagon./
-Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - GROSS.
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - NI.
-Sonic Advance 1 - I suck at Sonic.
-WarioWare, Inc. - You played one WW you've played it all.

[classy_cat18]

I don't think the DS will be becoming extinct anytime soon. But just in case, I'm keeping my original DS and my GBA (still got Kirby's Dream Land 2 and Super Mario Land 2).

-Advance Wars - Okay if you like strategy (also kicked my butt and there's no way I'm using a guide for this)
-Alien Hominid - I didn't know there was a GBA version. But I heard it's good on the GC.
-Bomberman Max - Uhhh
-Bomberman Tournament - Uhhh
-Breath of Fire
-Capcom Classics Mini Mix
-Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow/Harmony of Dissonance
-Chu Chu Rocket!
-Crash Bandicoot GBA
-Dr. Mario & Puzzle League
-Duke Nukem Advance
-F-Zero Climax/Legend/Maximum Velocity
-Final Fantasy I/II: Dawn of Souls - It was boring to me too but I'm not a big fan of FF.
-Final Fantasy Advance - But I looooooved FFTA. Get this one and enjoy.
-Fire Emblem - Can you believe that I've never played FE?
-Golden Sun
-Gradius Galaxies
-Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town - Blade's right. It's boring.
-Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land/Kirby and the Amazing Mirror - I agree, it's easy. But NiDL is a remake of the NES version and is good for the nostalgia. Amazing Mirror is passable, though.
-Klonoa GBA
-LOZ: The Minish Cap - I liked it. Vaati's a good change from Ganon/Ganondorf. But I like the LoZ series.
-Mario Kart Super Circuit - DS is better.
-Mario vs. Donkey Kong
-MegaMan Battle Network - Don't like Mega Man.
-Mega Man Zero
-Metroid Fusion/Zero Mission
-Mr. Driller 2
-Pokemon Emerald - Only get this if you need to transfer third generation legendaries to DP.
-Pokémon Mystery Dungeon - Skip it. Not worth your time.
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
-Sonic Advance 1 - Very good for those who miss the 2D Sonic (just about everyone).
-WarioWare, Inc. - Good...for about thirty minutes.

[Heald]

Most of the games you've listed have sequels on the DS or remakes on the DS that are vastly better in every way. The ones that don't aren't worth playing, simple fact.

[Pokemaster Ash]

Mega Man Battle Network and Mega Man Zero were both pretty good series. Admittedly the earlier titles of those series are the best, but there was some fun to all of them.

Personal opinion, Mega Man Battle Network 2 was the best one of that series, BN4 was the...well, not the worst, but they certainly could have done a lot better. Great bosses, though. 5 was okay; 1, 3, and 6 were pretty good. Kinda got annoying when Capcom tried copying Pokémon with multiple versions and event items, though. As far as the Zero series goes, again 4 is a bit of a weak link, but it's the finalé to the series. 1 is pretty damn hard, 2 and 3 are perfect.

[Drago]

Most of the games you've listed have sequels on the DS or remakes on the DS that are vastly better in every way. The ones that don't aren't worth playing, simple fact.

LFT.

Looking at the list, most of the recommendations indeed have been bettered by their DS equivalent. At its time of release, I would have recommended Mario Kart Super Circuit; it's a solid edition that offers some pretty good tracks, plus the entire SNES Mario Kart collection of courses; it's by and large very reminiscent of the SNES game. However, after playing Mario Kart DS it's absolutely insane trying to adjust to the scrolling of the GBA tracks; it's neither smooth nor pretty, and the Karts control fairly wildly in comparison. It's not impossible to get past, but I'd say give it a miss as far as purchase goes; definitely worth a try though, but don't fret too much if you miss it.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is an incredibly flawed, repetitive game that offers a very charming story that, though lackluster by RPG standards, is rather rich by Pokemon standards. I found myself tolerating the gameplay simply because of my enjoyment of the story and its characters. The original DS equivalent offers nothing new (except a map on the other screen), and the DS sequel(s) are basically more of the same. Anyhow, it's pretty much a bargain bin game, but I don't regret owning it in the slightest. If you're considering going down that path however, you'd probably be better suited looking into the DS sequel(s).

I've never played the GBA Advance Wars, but Advance Wars: Dual Strike was a robust, fulfilling adventure that I feel would have offered everything the original did, plus more. The more recent Days of Ruin is also pretty good (so far), but the inclusion of Neotanks in the first DS edition makes it the favourite for me.

Sonic Advance 1 is pretty much the same as 2 and 3. It's alright, but it's got nothing on the oldschool Sonic. I'm not even saying that as a Genesis purist, it's good gaming, but it's got nothing on the games of old. Besides, it's likely the least of the GBA trilogy. I haven't played any of them in a while, but at the time I concluded that they got better with each sequel.

Other games that could be on that list...
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - the first GBA Castlevania. I haven't played the others, and I realise that this is contradicting my earlier statements that there are sequels that are better (I'm assured that the later ones are indeed better), but I can still say that this is a rock solid game; my first foray into the Castlevania series was definitely a positive one. Its primary issue at release of being (literally, not plot-wise) too dark is a moot point now that it's playable on a backlit system. Its exclusion from your list I would believe is either because the sequels make it obsolete, or you indeed already have it.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - I won't go into depth here, because I'm almost certain you already own it. It's immensely superior to Partners in Time. IMMENSELY. Kinda short, though.

Irrelevant post-script: I would have made this post while on the train, but I've apparently spent nearly $60 on the Internet in a little over a week. I got burnt by my iPhone hardcore.

[Heald]

I was a bit tired last night so I might post some more constructive comments. I'll only comment on any games I have any knowledge of though.

-Advance Wars
The DS sequels include exactly the same, plus a lot more.
-Alien Hominid
Err...isn't this on Newgrounds? Like, for free?
-Bomberman Max
-Bomberman Tournament
I've got Bomberman 2 on the DS and it includes more or less everything a Bomberman game could really.
-Breath of Fire
I've heard this is good, not sure whether it is on the DS though.
-F-Zero Climax/Legend/Maximum Velocity
AFAIK, there is no F-Zero game on the DS (why?!!!) so I guess this is your only avenue for a handheld F-Zero game. It is quite good.
-Fire Emblem
Re-made for the DS, it is really good. It is like a cross between an RPG and Advance Wars, set in a fantasy age.
-LOZ: The Minish Cap
There is a LOZ game for the DS, although I kinda got bored with it as it began really slowly and I didn't have the patience. It does feature stupid cel-shaded Toon Link though, which everyone hates for his overwhelming levels of faggotry.
-Mario Kart Super Circuit
Mario Kart DS is much, much better in every way, and include tracks from every Mario Kart title preceding this game (so every one except MK: Wii).
-MegaMan Battle Network
An okay RPG-esque game, not sure if they made any for the DS. I imagine the mechanics would be much the same any-road, but I'd imagine if they did make one for the DS, the dual-screen feature would be immensely helpful.
-Pokemon Emerald
All the main Pokemon games are exactly the same. If you have any of the D/P/Pt series, then skip this, unless you really care about transferring your Mudkipz to your DS.
-Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
I hated this game with a passion, plus they are bringing them out on the DS.
-Sonic Advance 1
Hmm...this is probably more true to the original games than the DS Sonic games, which included loads of really stupid features.
-WarioWare, Inc.
Re-made for the DS with touch features, and IMHO much more fun on the DS.

[PNT510]

Wario Ware wasn't remade on the DS it was a sequel. Also the best Wario Ware game is Wario Ware Twisted for the GBA. It's got a built in motion tracker which makes for a lot of fun.

[Blademaster]

OK, Alien Hominid, Bomberman Max, Bomberman Tournament, Crash GBA, Dr. Mario, Duke Nukem, FF, Harvest Moon, Klonoa GBA, Battle Network, Mystery Dungeon, and WarioWare are off.

Harmony of Dissonance, Fire Emblem, F-Zero, NiDL, Megaman Zero, Metroid GBA, and Sonic Advance have all gone on the list.


Thanks guys. Any advice on the rest? I'm down to stuff nobody touched:

-Capcom Classics Mini Mix
-Chu Chu Rocket!
-Golden Sun
-Gradius Galaxies
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time


...And stuff with mixed reviews:

-Advance Wars
-Breath of Fire
-Mario Kart Super Circuit
-Mr. Driller 2


I know, the DS has expanded on a lot of these games, but I'm a sucker for sequels and rehashes. Besides, I still need some questions answered.

Like, Shonta, you said Advance Wars is good "if you like strategy." Did you mean RPG strategy or puzzle strategy? 'Cuz I love one and hate the other. >>'

[Heald]

On Advance Wars: It is like a turn-based strategy game. Basically, every turn, you move your troops, tanks and planes about and you have to move them bearing in mind what your opponent is doing. If your opponent has a lot of anti-infantry weapons, keep your infantry behind your armour. Also, there is a degree of deciding what to sacrifice, for example, in order to attack an enemy blockade, you may risk losing units to his nearby bombers and aircraft, so you have to think what would be the best way to minimise losses. It is neither puzzle nor RPG really, just pure strategy.

[The Blue Avenger]

Golden Sun is one of my favorite GBA games, with only Mother 3 beating it out; I definitely say go for it. But make sure you pick up the sequel too.

Both games have a fantastic soundtrack and an engaging plot, tied together with a solid battle system.

[Blademaster]

OK, Advance Wars and Golden Sun are both yes-worthy. Capcom Classics and Gradius I doubt need touching between the Virtual Console, PSN, and this computer...

That chops the list down to these last few:


-Breath of Fire
-Chu Chu Rocket!
-Mr. Driller 2
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time


...Wait.

Isn't Sands of Time the name of the Gamecube game, too?