Let's Rank - Top 50 Gameboy Advance Exclusives
Without further ado, here are the Top 20 Gameboy Advance Games.
50. Boulder Dash EX
49. The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood
48. Pocky and Rocky with Becky
47. Advance Guardian Heroes
46. Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis
45. Ninja Five-O
44. Bomberman Tournament
43. Sonic Battle
42. Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament
41. F-Zero: GP Legend
40. Kuru Kuru Kururin
39. Klonoa: Empire of Dreams
38. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
37. Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon
36. Sonic Advance
35. CT Special Forces
34. Metal Slug Advance
33. Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
32. Elevator Action Old and New
31. Max Payne
30. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
29. Fire Emblem
28. Konami Krazy Racers
27. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
26. Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand
25. Metalgun Slinger
Metal Gun Slinger" is a run-n'-gun platformer released only in Japan for the system. You can acquire it with a copy, as the game is English-friendly and does not require translation, and Nintendo's handhelds do not have any region lock.The game features a Bounty Hunter named Billy MacDoleane, who is hunting a mutant alien known as the Peru Nogura.
This parasite has mutated many of Billy's friends and appears as a recurring boss across the games. The game mixes cowboy gunslinger aesthetics with futuristic and alien environments. In between mutant boss fights are bounty hunting missions where the player navigates the semi-open levels looking for a runaway bounty to apprehend.
A scoring system assigns you a rank from A to D for each mission. While many expressive cutscenes are present in between levels, reading them requires knowledge of Japanese, as the game has not yet been fan-translated. Where the game falls short is in providing many enemy types and thematic level variety, often reusing the same seven enemies and background environments.
24. Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Assault
Gundam Battle Assault is a unique fighting game exclusively for the Gameboy Advance. Gameplay modes include solo campaigns and two-player mode using the Gameboy Advance Link Cable. The game is a flashy combo-based fighting game a la Marvel vs. Capcom where attacks link quite easily, allowing players to boast impressive combos with little practice. While the game isn't suited to be competitive, being a portable game, it is nonetheless an impressive and satisfying fighting game experience for a handheld. Battle Assault also lets players adjust the handicaps of each mecha, including their health bar, armor, energy gauge, there is a lot of customization in addition to the multiple difficulty levels, allowing players to challenge themselves for a long time before wearing out.
23. Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
Kirby and the Amazing Mirror is an open-world maze-like Kirby game - similar to "Metroid" - that experiments with its "Four-Swords" multiplayability using the Game Boy Advance link cable, up to four players can join your adventure in this quest to defeat the nefarious Dark Mind. This time up to 20 enemies can be gobbled up by our pink gumball and his tricolored friends, which Kirby calls to arms using his handy walkie-talkie. Each boss can be defeated in any order, the goal is to collect the mirror shards. Kirby's copycat ability is used to solve puzzles enabling players to progress through its maze, albeit quite simple, the game has the charm that makes it a fun casual walk through its open environment.
22. Chu Chu Rocket!
ChuChu Rocket! is an action-puzzle game developed by SEGA's famous Yuji Naka, programmer of the original Sonic the Hedgehog games and lead of Sonic Team. The object of the game is to guide one or more mice called Chu Chus around a board into one or more goals, while avoiding cats (Kapu Kapus) roaming the board. The mice and cats all move in predictable paths by always turning right when hitting a wall head-on, by following corners, or by turning around when in a dead end. This game is addictive and featured all the modes and 100 levels of the Dreamcast version, including a four-player mode through its Link Cables to connect up to four systems together to play using only one cartridge, its multiplayer mode is a frenetic head-to-head map where each player must send mice to their base while redirecting cats to their adverse player.
21. Turok Evolution
Turok adapts the first-person shooter classic to the Gameboy Advance with a side-scrolling shooter very alike to the NeoGeo's iconic "Metal Slug" series. Despite being multiplatform, the game was carefully designed by European developers RFX Interactive, with over 20 levels and 16 different weapons to blast your foes, dinosaurs, and grunts. The fourth level of each 5 zone changes to pace with its shooting gallery reminiscent of "Wild Guns" or "Cabal", where the player shoots enemies from a front-to-back two-plane stationary screen, making its boss battles more enticing than its usual run-and-gun levels. The game is a one-hour-long arcade experience that never slows down, always bringing more action and throwing enemies on screen. Its sound design is highly satisfying with its satisfying digitized screams racking up when clearing waves. Graphics are also crisp with its many parallax backgrounds and many animated enemies. This port of Turok Evolution is an obscure game earning its place above many iconic titles of the Gameboy Advance.
20. Tekken Advance
Tekken Advance is one of the only fighting games to transition to the Gameboy Advance system without sacrificing much of its button inputs, as the original games only featured 4 attack buttons. Thus, King of Fighter and King of Fighters had the luxury of converting to the handheld without sacrificing much if any gameplay elements, unlike Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. The game plays much like Tekken 3, this time with digitized graphics of its 3D models, retaining an illusion of low-polygonal 3D models and smooth animation. The game features most of the mode present in its home console counterpart, albeit the only unlockable character being Heihachi himself. Despite occasional frame drops, Tekken Advance is a fully-fledged Tekken game, downgraded masterfully to fit into the pockets of its generation.
19. Wario Land 4
Wario Land is a set of games we would best describe as an adventure-platforming game, the game takes point and click adventure game elements and goofiness with the platforming elements of the Mario games, Wario Land 4 seems to perfect this formula, improving on its graphics and soundtrack over the Gameboy classics. Wario Land is essentially about solving puzzles in abstract level design, using every tool at your disposal to proceed to the next location, while some enemies damage Wario, some will transform him, allowing him to gain new abilities, such as swelling up like a balloon to fly; it is a jigsaw puzzle of goofy platforming, with its solutions often improvised, needing you to think outside the box. Everything about Wario Land 4 is psychedelic, from the soundtrack to the character design and environment being completely arbitrary and Flanderized over its previous entries.
18. Metroid Fusion
While providing mission support on planet SR388, interstellar bounty hunter Samus Aran is attacked by an X parasite, an organism with the ability to mimic the abilities of any creature it infects. Near death, Samus is saved by a vaccine made from the DNA of the last Metroid—the X parasite's only natural predator. When the X parasite spreads to a research station in orbit around SR388, a weakened Samus is forced to exterminate them all or die trying. Metroid Fusion is an excellent game, featuring some of the tensest moments in the series. The game could have easily surpassed Metroid Zero Mission if it weren't for one of its main flaws: the "Adam" computer. Its most common criticism is its constant interruption of gameplay, sending you to different sectors and telling you exactly what to look for, effectively ruining the pace of the gameplay and exploration aspect of the game. We much prefer when the Federation lets Samus act on her own terms. Nonetheless, Metroid Fusion remains a Metroid game in all of its glory, with some of the best boss battles and environments yet to appear in the 2D games so far.
17. Golden Sun series
"Golden Sun" is the spiritual successor to SEGA's Shining Force series. This time, Camelot was commissioned by Nintendo themselves to create their own "Shining" experience. In this role-playing game, you play as a young "Psynergy" adept (a neologism for Chi meditation), preventing the return of Alchemy, a powerful but consuming power, to the world of Weyard. This quest unfolds during a conflict between Sol Sanctum and the adepts of Mars: the Proxians. The game features some of the most impressive graphics and soundtracks on the system, one of the main elements of the game was collecting the 28 Djinns, creatures with abilities similar to Final Fantasy VI's espers, shifting your magical abilities and attributes. Environments in Golden Sun are lively and dynamics, beautifully crafted dungeons feature many puzzles which can be solved with the many psynergic spells are your disposal, adding depth to the world which itself already has a charm of its own. Golden Sun doesn't tell its story from its shallow storyline but its journey throughout many towns and their side-quests, with the main quest being a driving force for its exploration.
16. The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
15. Gunstar Super Heroes
Gunstar Super Heroes is a run and gun video game for the Game Boy Advance developed by Treasure, known for their Genesis library. This game, in particular, is the sequel to the popular Gunstar Heroes contra-like on Sega Genesis. The game is very fast-paced, probably more than its prequel, with the removal of the iconic Throw and Combine weaponry came many new abilities such as fast melee combat and a dash ability; the player can alternate between three weapons without worrying about pick-up or learning the combination of the first game. Gunstar Super Heroes has many shoot-'em-up sections, where the rest of the game feels like the typical Treasure formula of boss rush with short intermissions. It is a content-packed, short game with plenty of replayability, the only thing missing was a two-player mode using the Gameboy Link.
14. Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure
Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure is a beat-'em-up platforming video game based on the Classic series of Dragon Ball, the game follows the events of Season one through eight, ending with the defeat of the first Piccolo - King Piccolo. The game mixes many beat-'em-up elements with platforming sections and a combo system allowing you to juggle one to many enemies, execute special moves by charging your Ki meter, by parrying or chaining normal attacks, and compensates with its 2D side-scrolling perspective by adding tricky platforming sections with stage hazards complimenting the wave of enemies. Lasting up to three hours, the game is rich in variety, with many boss battles including Yamcha, Krillin, Jackie Chun, each stage having multiple unique backgrounds and clearing the game unlocked Krillin as a playable character, as well as the Extra Mode, a New Game + featuring secrets and additional content.
13. Astro Boy: Omega Factor
It
is what it is, Super Monkey Ball Jr. takes the series to the mobile
game device in its entirety, showcasing 3D environments rarely seen on
the system. Its four titular characters are present: AiAi, MeeMee, Baby,
or GonGon; over 74 available floors are present, some taken directly
from the first Super Monkey Ball game on console, the others made for
the exclusive. The player can compensate for the lack of an analog stick
by using the B and A button to speed up or brake, a small touch that
saved the port from being a frustrating experience.
The
game included the mini-games found on their Gamecube and Playstation 2
counterparts, notably Monkey Bowling, Monkey Golf, Monkey Fight, and
Monkey Duel. Most games can be played either multiplayer or
singleplayer, with the exception of the Monkey Duel mini-game requiring a
link cable to unlock. This is an unlikely port that not only bargained
with the 3D capabilities of the Game Boy Advance but also its lack of an
analog stick, coming out rich in features and levels. Monkey Ball Jr.
was an addictive game and its port to the Gameboy Advance is a little
different from the Gamecube experience.
11. Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors
Supersonic Warriors is an excellent Dragon Ball Z game released exclusively for the Game Boy Advance by Banpresto. The game not only covers every storyline arc of Dragon Ball Z but does so from the multiple perspectives of all 13 available characters. Each character has up to 3 levels, each with its own sprite and moves.
The game features beautiful parallax environments and huge sprites. Players can fly far beyond the screen border, going as far as splitting the screen after zooming out too much. Each special attack has a nice cutout animation, and the cutscenes in between fights have tons of highly detailed illustrations and portraits, featuring many facial expressions. These cutscenes explain the plot of Dragon Ball Z, making it easy for a person who has never played the game to understand what is going on.
In addition to its Story Mode, Supersonic Warriors features a Free Battle Mode that allows fans to create their own battles using all 13 characters. Similarly, the Remote VS. Mode lets players link up with another Game Boy Advance and battle a friend. As if the multiple difficulty modes weren't enough, Banpresto added a Challenge Mode that allows players to fight impossible odds. The gameplay requires little knowledge of fighting games; it plays more like a wrestling or beat-'em-up game. Players use two buttons for light and heavy attacks, block by pressing both simultaneously, and combine the shoulder and other buttons to execute special moves and Ki attacks. Players can charge their Ki by holding the shoulder button, regenerating their special meter but leaving them vulnerable to attack. We loved the game for being one of the most technically impressive fighting games on the system and for offering a ton of content.
10. Medabots RPG: Metabee & Rokusho
Medabots was a short-lived series created amid the "Pokemon craze" of the late '90s, with many of its games on Nintendo's Game Boy exclusive to Japan under the name "Medarot." Unlike the more Pokémon knockoff, Digimon, Medabots put aside the "creature" aspect of the series in favor of collecting "medaparts" and "Tinpet" to build robotic fighters and become a "medafighter": "a human who fights through a Medawatch, engaging in Robattles."
"Medabots RPG" features some of the most polished graphics, gameplay, and soundtrack we had seen on the Game Boy Advance, only a year past its release. You can instantly see the Pokémon influence, from its graphics to its musical score. "Medabots RPG" is definitely worthy of its Game Freak heritage, from a technical standpoint. Fans of "Mega Man Battle Network" will enjoy this entry for its wholesome slice-of-life elements featuring robots, while Pokémon fans might feel at home with the "Medaparts" collecting and "Robattling" in this overlooked Game Boy Advance classic.
9. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames
WarioWare, Inc. is a game within a game, starring our favorite Mario anti-hero, Wario, as he sets off to create his very own video game company, "WarioWare, Inc.," featuring "Mega Microgames." While inspired by his many friends' lifestyles, Wario transcribes the many goofy experiences into "Microgames," short-lived mini-games that take the players by surprise with their duration, usually ranging from 5 seconds or less. Each cleared mini-game will increase the BPM, raising the speed of the mini-games. Each character's encounters end with a boss stage lasting anywhere between one to two minutes before moving on to see a new character. The game is beautifully made, with inspired original characters, its non-stop frenetic gameplay, as well as catchy tunes reminiscent of the Wario Land series.
8. Blender Bros.
Blender Bros is a really obscure Hudson platform game in the vein of Hudson's Klonoa series and Pinobee. The game takes place in a fictional futuristic world where human-created "Animalmen" live alongside humans in an ecological bid to coexist with animals and prevent their extinction. Blender, an anthropomorphic "Animalman" super-dog and leader of the "Cosmo Keepers," is chosen by humanity to fight an anti-human gang known as the Zooligans, a race of "Cross-Animalmen" supremacists. His allies, robots known as the Mini Bros, help him by boosting his powers with special abilities, such as dashing or walking on water; there are over 20 collectible Mini Bros hidden in its seven levels, each with their own special powers. The game is quite short, at one hour long, and features six boss battles. Many mini-games are present to cool down from the constant action happening on screen, with the main one being a short 3D racing mini-game implemented into the game. Blender Bros has a lot of unexpected content filling the one-hour experience and digitized 3D graphics à la Donkey Kong Country, embellishing the game with smooth and detailed animations. Hudson put a lot of work into the "Blender Bros" experience, perhaps in an effort to kickstart the franchise; unfortunately, the game had gone unnoticed and eventually faded into total obscurity.
7. Advance Wars series
"Advance Wars" is a turn-based strategy video game developed for the Game Boy Advance by Intelligent Systems. In the game, four color-coded nations enter an all-out war when our main protagonist and commanding officer, Andy, is accused of having launched an attack on the two neighboring nations. "Advance Wars" was made simpler to understand compared to most strategy role-playing games (SRPGs) at the time, primarily for its release in the West. However, the game still retains the depth of the prior Japan-only "Advance Wars" titles, with over 20 different units and many terrain conditions, including fog of war and weather conditions. There are various ways to defeat an opponent, such as capturing their headquarters or subjugating their entire enemy forces. The story mode adds elements like survival maps or map control in the missions. Each army is led by a commanding officer, each with their own "CO Power."
Graphically, the game starts as a board game with small sprites representing the many units or buildings, with each covering no more than one space on the 10x13 grid on the screen at a given time. The game shines with its many units displayed in close-up battle cinematics during each attack. The music changes depending on the mission and your commanding officer, each having their own battle theme, but these themes are unfortunately one-minute loops that play throughout each thirty-minute fight. The success of the Wars series outside Japan is notably known for bringing the more popular Fire Emblem games to the West.
6. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Fire Emblem is a series of turn-based games, similar to Advance Wars, featuring a cast of heroes and villains duking it out in a war between Renais and the Grado Empire. With many recruitable characters in the midst of battle, building an army has never been more fun. You need to carefully plan your actions to avoid a permanent character death against overwhelming enemy forces. There is a strong emphasis on storytelling. In Fire Emblem fashion, the main story is divided into chapters, starting as a War of the Roses conflict before evolving into a more fantasy-like main plot. The story takes place in between enemy encounters as well as on the battlefield. Each of the thirty characters recruited in battle can engage in up to 83 support conversations, resulting in statistical bonuses. To activate supports, two characters must stand next to each other for a set number of turns until an option appears. A lot of attention was put into the presentation of the game. The game features 76 unique portraits for each of its characters, including villains and minor bosses. It also includes fifty classes and twenty monsters, each with their own battle sprites. Needless to say, the game had plenty of content for fans of RPG and strategy games alike to enjoy.
5. Metroid Zero Mission
Metroid Zero Mission is a remake of the original "Metroid" game, with all-new graphics, gameplay, bosses, and locations to explore, as well as added story elements and cutscenes. It is the best way to experience the original "Metroid". To top it off, the game has a surprise at the end that will leave you shocked.
Zero Mission takes place on Planet Zebes after Space Pirates attacked a Galactic Federation outpost, seizing a baby Metroid. They exposed it to beta rays to use it as a biological weapon, subjugating any lifeform. Samus Aran, the prime bounty hunter of the Federation, is chosen to defeat their leader, the bio-mech Mother Brain.
The game's graphics are the cleanest in the Metroid series, going with a much sharper look compared to its predecessor, "Super Metroid," which many fan games, such as AM2R, chose to emulate. The added content and graphical updates to this NES classic were masterfully done, making Metroid: Zero Mission a fan favorite after "Super Metroid" and the "Metroid Prime" spin-off. The end-game twist, in particular, is sure to make this game stand out above the rest of the Gameboy Advance library.
4. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
"Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow" is a side-scrolling platforming game similar to the popular "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night," with open map navigation like the "Metroid" series and multiple action role-playing game (ARPG) elements. The story revolves around - yet again - an emerging castle, this time waiting for the return of its Master; players control a high school student, Soma Cruz, trapped inside the walls of Dracula's castle by a twist of fate. Is Dracula dead? Soma Cruz sets off to investigate the castle, determined to free himself from its demonic influence.
The game features many weapons and armors, each with its own reach, power, and special abilities, such as healing or flying. These weapons, as well as items, can be found by defeating enemies or hidden within the castle's walls. As for the main course, it is the Souls collecting system, where souls containing magical abilities can be collected by defeating the hundreds of enemies lurking within the castle. As you can see, the game is centered around exploration. The castle of Dracula is once again gorgeous in its detail, and the non-linear gameplay will force you to remember locations to access or revisit later to unlock secret items or progress in the story. Aria of Sorrow is often debated against its predecessor, with many siding with the newer entry as the Best Castlevania Game of All Time.
3. Mega Man Battle Network series
The game features slice-of-life elements, following Lan Hikari and his friends through various scenarios such as school trips, camping, and carnivals, until havoc inevitably happens. The story unfolds in a similar fashion to an episodic anime series, culminating in the climax at the end of the game. Each of its characters has their own NetNavi with a unique personality and design, including the villains, whose NetNavis are counterparts to the original series' robot masters. The characters are rich in dialogue, which made us attached to many of them by the end of the series.
Mega Man can collect his own items called "Battle Chips" by battling viruses on the internet. Mega Man Battle Network had a lot of work put into its gameplay system to make it stand out as unique, featuring a 3 by 6 arena where each NetNavi uses a deck and an assortment of cards to fight in real-time. Its battle system inspired many more indie games to follow in its genre.
2. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is the Gameboy Advance's take on the popular PlayStation game, "Final Fantasy Tactics," this time in an isekai universe of Ivalice following the adventures of a middle-school kid named "Marche" and his comrades, each with troubled youth. Marche must break the spell trapping them in a dreamscape.
This SRPG may be similar to the earlier Tactics Ogre: Knights of Lodis game, also found on Gameboy. This is no mere coincidence, as the development team of Tactics Advance, Square's Product Development Division 4, was constructed from employees of Quest Corporation. Contrary to the human-centric "Final Fantasy Tactics" game, this adaptation of Ivalice is populated by four main intelligent races in addition to Humes: cutesy Moogles, reptilian Bangaas, wise Nu Mous, and leporine Vieras. Each race has its own distinct classes to level. Each class can be leveled to earn new abilities and skill sets, reminiscent of Final Fantasy III's job system. Mastered abilities can be equipped to another class, allowing the player to customize their clan members to their playstyle. A Law system also prevents players from using homogeneous strategies, with restrictions and harsh punishment for the offenders.
The graphics and story are more childlike than its predecessor and less convoluted, taking inspiration from children's fairy tales and fantasy books. The characters are memorable and can be emphasized easily, and their problems are that of childhood and early adolescence.
1. Mega Man Zero series
The game was one of the first of Inti Creates' lines of work, including the subsequent ZX series, as well as its imitator, Azure Striker Gunvolt. Mega Man Zero is a fast-paced action-platform game featuring elements of the Mega Man X series, now featuring the deuteragonist "Zero" as a sole playable character. It improves on storyboarding with four games loosely following the events of each other. There is a continuity not found in the Mega Man X series that serves as a breath of fresh air. The story is shonen-ish but enjoyable, with characters you grow accustomed to. In terms of art style, the franchise had a fresh coat of paint with the distinct art style from Toru Nakayama, featuring more cutesy characters that worked well with the Gameboy Advance's smaller screen and hardware.
While the player does not gain abilities upon defeating bosses, the game hands you a variety of weapons or armors using a level system, as well as collectible "Cyber-Elves" replacing sub-tanks and granting the users many handicaps in this difficult journey. A scoring system is present from the latter X series, allowing players to challenge their high score by completing missions faster, killing more enemies, as well as avoiding damage or death. The reward: players with a score below "A" will be underestimated during boss battles, resulting in easier boss fights. The games are known for being some of the hardest in the series, so do not fret over a lower score, as even the most hardened of players will have a hard time reaching anything above a B score.
