I started writing this in August of 2009, and never finished it. I still spent quite a bit of time thinking about this particular topic, and have decided to finish it. I wanted to write about my five favorite Super Nintendo games. These are the games I played the most, and the games that I’ve always felt were the best. And if I’m being honest, they are also the games that I played the most, which means I’ve probably played them a ton. I’ve always said I’m not a big Super Nintendo fan, but I have a bit of one. I’m wondering how many people would agree with me – if any at all – and what are your top 5 Super Nintendo games?
Last week, I held a reader poll to decide which GBA game was the best, and almost 20% of you voted for the game that won. As I’m sure you know, I’m only allowed to have one game on this list, so I decided to go with Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, which took top honors last week. It’s a well-known fact that I’m a huge fan of this game, and I think it’s the best entry in the series.
It’s been awhile since I posted on MacWha’s Top 5 GBA Games of All Time, but it’s time to put my money where my mouth is and look back at my favourite games made for the Game Boy Advance. The GBA era will always have a special place in my heart because I had the good fortune to be able to play some of the best games of all time. With that in mind, here are my Top 5 GBA Games of All Time:
The best GBA games
Hello, everyone! I invite everyone in the Non-Fiction Gaming Nation and beyond to keep reading my excessively opinionated, devastatingly lovely, and potentially nail-biting list of my favorite games, broken down by console.
Now, let me remind you that this list is for me alone; you should not be reading it. But, unfortunately, you’re here, and we’re here to stay. The following are the guidelines for my lists:
1. Why, you may wonder, would it include as many games on the list as I feel inclined? Suck it, it’s my list.
2. This is a collection of games that signify anything to me, not the greatest games ever made.
3. In many instances, I’ll mention a franchise before moving on to the beast of the group.
4. Every now and then, I’ll mention a game that I hated, thought was overhyped, or just despise.
5. If you disagree, please explain your reasons in the comments section. If you make a compelling case, I may even add your name to the list.
That’s all there is to it; there’s nothing more to be concerned about. Today we’ll be talking about the always entertaining GBA, or Game Boy Advanced. The GBA was our first major advance to handheld gaming, with a considerably wider color palette and significant improvements in visuals and acoustics.
Another notable aspect of the GBA was that it was one of the first consoles to provide backwards compatibility, allowing you to play any Gameboy or Gameboy Color game on your new GBA, which was incredible! Now, I never owned the original GBA; instead, I had the much sleeker SP variant.
I can’t recall what SP stood for, and I’m not interested enough to look it up on the internet. Okay, enough with the handshakes; let’s get this dog and pony show started. First and foremost…
Mario Golf: Advanced Tour is the fifth game in the Mario Golf series.
Ahhh, the Mario sports franchises, which, by all rights, should be utterly ridiculous and terrible, but wind up being a collection of rather well-balanced sports games. Advanced Tour was my first excursion into Mario Sports and golf games in general, and I was pleasantly surprised.
You get to choose a character from Mario’s ever-growing cast of pals and ne’er do wells; for me, it’s always Luigi; really, if I don’t get to be Luigi, I’ll flip the board… Surprisingly, the remainder of the game includes golf!
You play a golf game in which you putt, drive, and chip your way through different Mario-inspired courses. Moving on… If you don’t know what golf is, then video games are the least of your worries.
Final Fantasy IV is number four in the series.
Yes, another Final Fantasy has made its way into my to-do list. While I am aware that this game was not designed for this system, my experience with it was. In the late 2000s, a re-released version of the game appeared.
Cecil, a dark knight, is tasked with preventing the sorcerer Golbez from capturing magical crystals and destroying the world in the game’s narrative. He then gathers a posse of buddies and SPOILERS kicks Golbez in the shins. The game mechanics established in Final Fantasy IV became standard in subsequent games in the series, as well as in the RPG genre as a whole.
The introduction of “Active Time Battles,” or ATBs, was the most significant and important development. This was a significant departure from earlier games, which relied heavily on turn-based combat. ATB’s ignored the prior “Pausing” of time as you weighed your choices, forcing you to think swiftly and act on the spot. It’s a fantastic game and a fantastic series, and you can be sure you’ll see it on my lists again.
Ruby is the third Pokemon.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes Is there going to be another Pokemon game? You’re implying that something that was fantastic on an older system might be as fantastic on a newer console, you liar! All kidding aside, Pokemon is clearly fantastic; if you read my previous Gameboy post, you’ll see my fairly blatant declaration of love for the franchise.
So why isn’t the game’s flagship version on the GBA on my list? Why is Ruby on the list when this generation of Pokemon gave us Ruby and Sapphire? It’s the one where I made a fool of myself… As a result, we’re seeing a fresh set of gaming dynamics with this new generation of Pokemon. The ability to employ not one, but two, count ’em two Pokemon was the most noteworthy feature.
This addition enabled some abilities to impact several Pokemon and provided new strategic importance to the battle gameplay. There isn’t much to say about this game to distinguish it from previous generations in the series; it’s just great and deserves to be on our list.
2. Harvest Moon: Mineral Town’s Friends
What can I say, Harvest Moon is a guilty passion of mine. The Harvest Moon games, including the GBA version, are among the most fun agricultural simulation games available. Let me define “farm simulation”: it is a simulation of working on a farm… Dummy…
All kidding aside, you’ve inherited a tiny farm and need to get it up and running again; you weed your garden, milk your cows, and do a variety of other agricultural tasks and drudgery. All of this is done to improve your farm, strengthen relationships with neighbors and other local residents, participate in festivals, and just be a farmer.
If you do enough wooing, you may even be able to marry one of the local ladies. This was not my first time playing the series; I initially played the PS1 version, which is still extremely popular today. Overall, I found this game to be a fun way to pass the time with adorable characters and locations.
1. The Sun of Gold
Golden Sun was and continues to be a great RPG; I doubt there are many people who disagree, but it still has to be stated. Golden Sun was a typical RPG series in many respects, adopting numerous tropes from the genre but avoiding over-emphasizing the fundamental mechanics that made RPGs what they are. That being said, every detail of those mainstays was executed flawlessly.
You have a fantastic, well-balanced narrative, well-designed UI, lovely music, excellent visuals, and excellent gameplay. The narrative of Golden Sun follows a group of magically-tuned “Adepts” whose only mission, as revealed early on, is to defend Weyard from alchemy bum bum bum!!!! Alchemy is a dangerous force that has been hidden for a long time.
The Adepts acquire new talents and powers (known as Psynergy) while on their journey, help others, and learn more about why alchemy was forbidden. The narrative then continues in The Lost Age, which follows the original title’s villains, but we’re not talking about that game right now.
That’s all I’ve got for this week. To be honest, I never played a lot of handheld games, therefore the number of titles I did play was quite restricted. If you have anything to contribute or just disagree with me, please express yourself in the comments section below.
If you’re very enthusiastic, I’ll even go back and play a ROM of one of the games you recommended. That would be surprising; I’ve spent all this time urging you to play games, and now you’ve enlightened me to something that completely shakes my world. It makes you wonder…
With Super Nintendo and, of course, the faithful Sega Genesis, the MacWha keeps his Top Lists coming. Comment below whether you agree with MacWha or want to tell him how incorrect his lists are.
The GBA was one of Nintendo’s most successful handheld consoles, and with over 140 games released for the platform during its lifespan, there was a ton of gaming to be had. Here, I will reveal my top 5 series for the GBA, and why I think they are some of the best games to ever grace the handheld.. Read more about best gba roms and let us know what you think.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best game in GBA?
The best game in the GBA is Super Mario Bros. 3.
What is the rarest GBA?
The rarest GBA is the Game Boy Advance SP in gold.
What is the longest GBA game?
The longest GBA game is Pokemon Ruby Version.
Related Tags
This article broadly covered the following related topics:
- top gba games ever
- best gameboy advance games
- top 100 gba games
- gba games list
- top 10 gba games of all time
Indiana - based graphic designer for more than 6 years. Creator of multiple awesome print and web designs. Interested in blogging as a second addiction since 2019. 100% animal lover.