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Recommend me your favourite Game Boy Advance hidden gem
- Thread starter DrHercouet
- Start date
Agh, I TOTALLY forgot - one of the finest games few people have played...again because it's an import:
THE MF'in LEGENDARY STARFY - aka Densetsu no Starfy
The Legendary Starfy 1-3 are all on the GBA. If you haven't played any of the GBA series, you are in for a treat.
These games are sooo full of excellent gameplay. There's a fan translation out for at least one of them.
They're not particularly challenging, but they are a blast to play!
Do yourself a favor and go find and play through one of these gems.
THE MF'in LEGENDARY STARFY - aka Densetsu no Starfy
The Legendary Starfy 1-3 are all on the GBA. If you haven't played any of the GBA series, you are in for a treat.
These games are sooo full of excellent gameplay. There's a fan translation out for at least one of them.
They're not particularly challenging, but they are a blast to play!
Do yourself a favor and go find and play through one of these gems.
Anyway, as Seven Force mentioned, my pick would be Double Dragon Advance. I mentioned it in another thread, but it's secretly the best DD title out there -- a remake that very much kept true to the original DD1, both in aesthetics and gameplay, while finessing and borrowing elements from later titles, and doubling the core game with all-new stages. This is the one I'll continue to revisit whenever I need my DD beat 'em up fix.
Great pick. It's such an awesome game. Truly one of the greatest beat 'em ups ever.
I wish Double Dragon 4 looked (and played) like this, instead of like a NES game.
Yep, surprisingly an excellent game. Played a lot of that back in the day.
Rave Master: Special Attack Force is a decent push healthbar fighting game. It even has a English Dub for some reason.
This was a pretty great game for the GBA, unfortunately it never made it to the US, however the sequel did make it to the DS but it wasn't as good (Still Enjoyed it though)
Lady Sia is my absolute favorite GBA game.
This game was amazing and the sprite animations were top notch great game over all.
Drill Dozer is the best non-Pokemon game that Game Freak has made.
I would say that Aggressive Inline and Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3 are the games that probably not get much attention because how awesome THPS series for GBA was back then. These 2 games pretty much the same like THPS2, even graphics look a like, but they are awesome Xtreme games that you can play on GBA with somewhat decent control and real vocal soundtracks.
Oho, another excuse for me to bring up Game & Watch Gallery 4.
It includes 20 Game & Watch games, including gems like Donkey Kong Jr., and even has Zelda as an unlockable. It's got tons of replay value and loose carts are dirt cheap. Even as a Nintendo produced title, it's rare to see it mentioned.
It includes 20 Game & Watch games, including gems like Donkey Kong Jr., and even has Zelda as an unlockable. It's got tons of replay value and loose carts are dirt cheap. Even as a Nintendo produced title, it's rare to see it mentioned.
Still find it absolutely baffling these game never got localised.Agh, I TOTALLY forgot - one of the finest games few people have played...again because it's an import:
THE MF'in LEGENDARY STARFY - aka Densetsu no Starfy
The Legendary Starfy 1-3 are all on the GBA. If you haven't played any of the GBA series, you are in for a treat.
These games are sooo full of excellent gameplay. There's a fan translation out for at least one of them.
They're not particularly challenging, but they are a blast to play!
Do yourself a favor and go find and play through one of these gems.
I guess a cute, colourful platformer on a Nintendo handheld would have no real sales potential. /s
I have to shout out Tomato Adventure in here too. It's an RPG by Alphadream, made prior to Superstar Saga, but feels incredibly similar. It's got a fun art style, great music, and fantastic gameplay too. Not sure if it ever got a western release, but it's fantastic nonetheless.
The original Kuru Kuru Kururin didn't come out for the GBA in the US either (Japan and Europe only), so is also worth looking into. Apparently it is available digitally on the Wii U though.
I replayed them all last year and I still love them all, some more some less but I think they are all still great. It was a bit easy to get lost in MMBN2 and 3 but MMBN4-6 streamlined the internet. I can see however how people might not like the fifth entry, the story and the SRPG battles are really a bit meh. Okay and I skipped the first game because that aged far more roughly than the rest though with the DS remaster having a English patch now I might have to grab a copy if it's cheap and play that instead.
One thing I noticed, the themes and events seem a bit more disturbing to adult-me than than they felt as a kid, realizing what the WWW really does and the end of MMBN2 in the final parts where the real and the digital worlds merge.
I plan to tackle Starforce this year! :D
I agree, but even then the combat is sadly a bit too sparse in all aspects, like a SRPG lite. Still the moment where Pharsti goes Orbital Frame is amazing and gives me chills to this day! :D
Agh, I TOTALLY forgot - one of the finest games few people have played...again because it's an import:
THE MF'in LEGENDARY STARFY - aka Densetsu no Starfy
The Legendary Starfy 1-3 are all on the GBA. If you haven't played any of the GBA series, you are in for a treat.
These games are sooo full of excellent gameplay. There's a fan translation out for at least one of them.
They're not particularly challenging, but they are a blast to play!
Do yourself a favor and go find and play through one of these gems.
I've been meaning to play them eventually actually, are they cheap to import?
Oh, yes! You should be able to get them under 15 usd for sure - I think i got mine for around 7-10 dollars.
The only caveat of these games is that you should have a guide pulled up for the few times when the objectives aren't clear, if you're not playing a fan translation.
Beyond that, the games are pretty straightforward!
Bomberman Tournament's single player mode is slept on because it's Bomberman (and you buy it for the multiplayer), but it's a full "zelda-like" with Bomberman combat.
It has lovely crisp spritework:
And a soundtrack that absolutely slaps and I've never seen anyone discussing, ever:
It has lovely crisp spritework:
And a soundtrack that absolutely slaps and I've never seen anyone discussing, ever:
A pretty solid action platformer that looks absolutely stunning, IMO. It won't rock your world or anything but I think it's worth a look if you're at all interested in overlooked GBA games.
Edit:
just noticed your post and I'm still surprised that there's someone else who remembers this game.Lady Sia is my absolute favorite GBA game.
I was playing some random GBA games a few months ago and came across a game called GEKIDO: Kintaro's Revenge and it blew me away. I recommend you try it out!
www.youtube.com
Game Boy Advance Longplay [016] Gekido Advance
http://www.recordedamigagames.org Played By: ScHlAuChi
www.youtube.com
Alright thanks! I would eventually use any translation-patches so that's fine :)
Bomberman Tournament's single player mode is slept on because it's Bomberman (and you buy it for the multiplayer), but it's a full "zelda-like" with Bomberman combat.
It has lovely crisp spritework:
And a soundtrack that absolutely slaps and I've never seen anyone discussing, ever:
Why did I never heard of this before, it looks and sounds stunning o.o
Some more screenshots! Unfortunately most of the screenshots online are from the first areas but the game has your classic zelda spread of environments, with snow, swamp and desert biomes.
Oh, and it has a whole Pokemon style monster collecting side-quest.
Their mascot monster (which I don't think actually debuted in this game) is a perfectly unsubtle blend of Pikachu and Kirby:
And here's my personal favourite track in the game:
I was playing some random GBA games a few months ago and came across a game called GEKIDO: Kintaro's Revenge and it blew me away. I recommend you try it out!
Game Boy Advance Longplay [016] Gekido Advance
http://www.recordedamigagames.org Played By: ScHlAuChi
It has a switch port with a few extras like coop
Weirdest "deluxe port" of the system since the graphics are almost the same xD
This gets my vote as well. Fun, charming and brisk is an excellent description.
Some more screenshots! Unfortunately most of the screenshots online are from the first areas but the game has your classic zelda spread of environments, with snow, swamp and desert biomes.
Oh, and it has a whole Pokemon style monster collecting side-quest.
Their mascot monster (which I don't think actually debuted in this game) is a perfectly unsubtle blend of Pikachu and Kirby:
And here's my personal favourite track in the game:
Thanks for the heads-up, I guess I'll put it on my list of games to eBay! :D And that track is great, thanks for sharing that too.
Sadly I had to push my modded GBA SP project even further seeing that the PS5 releases this year, a Switch revision could be worth buying too and the fate of my PC hardware is uncertain still too but one day I'll have a GBA SP with a great screen and play all the GBA gems I missed!
I love Battle Network but I fully recognize that that's not a hidden gem. Also no love for Mega Man Zero, guys?
I came here to say this because I didn't think anyone else actually would!
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Konami Krazy Racers is a better kart racer than Mario Kart Super Circuit in pretty much every regard, it is wacky, fast, has a really fun roster (Vic Viper! Bear Tank! Dracula! Goemon!) and top notch music.
Looks like absolute shovelware and reviewed poorly (due to the console versions) - but the GBA version of Super Bubble Pop is actually a really addictive puzzle game with a soundtrack that sounds almost like early 90s CD audio from a Mega CD, something which you just don't think the hardware is capable of.
A few choice songs:
Kuru Kuru Kururin
Wish there was more, or something like it. Pretty sure I struggled to play through a JP only sequel.
Wish there was more, or something like it. Pretty sure I struggled to play through a JP only sequel.
Drill Dozer and Astro Boy have been stated already but they really are essentially gaming for GBA.
A hidden gem I really enjoyed was Hamtaro: Ham Ham Games. Lots of fun minigames, especially if you like the Hamtaro series (which I did).
EDIT: I just discovered that the Mario & Luigi people made that Hamtaro game...and they're bankrupt as of last year. :(
A hidden gem I really enjoyed was Hamtaro: Ham Ham Games. Lots of fun minigames, especially if you like the Hamtaro series (which I did).
EDIT: I just discovered that the Mario & Luigi people made that Hamtaro game...and they're bankrupt as of last year. :(
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