GBA Any good GBA games I should get?

[SpcDaicon]

The GBA has a lot of interesting games outside the Nintendo staples.

- Drill Dozer
- Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hands
- Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
- The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap

i played a LOT of battle network as a kid is there like a specific one that i should be looking at though ive got them all

Battle Network is kinda split into 2 trilogies (1 to 3 and 4 to 6). 1 suffers from "first game syndrome", 2 is a improvement, 3 is the best of the entire franchise, 4 is kinda bad, 5 has a very interesting game mechanic (Command Missions) and 6 is one of the best (along with 3) and a great sendoff.

I think you def should play 1 to 3. 4 is kinda messy but 5 and 6 are great games.

 

[jesterodoll]

The GBA has a lot of interesting games outside the Nintendo staples.

- Drill Dozer
- Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hands
- Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
- The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap


Battle Network is kinda split into 2 trilogies (1 to 3 and 4 to 6). 1 suffers from "first game syndrome", 2 is a improvement, 3 is the best of the entire franchise, 4 is kinda bad, 5 has a very interesting game mechanic (Command Missions) and 6 is one of the best (along with 3) and a great sendoff.

I think you def should play 1 to 3. 4 is kinda messy but 5 and 6 are great games.

is there a boktai hack that removes the need for the solar panel? this is probably a dumb question i just know that one has stuff like that

 

[SpcDaicon]

is there a boktai hack that removes the need for the solar panel? this is probably a dumb question i just know that one has stuff like that

Yes, actually. For both games.

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/boktai-the-sun-is-in-your-hand-solar-sensor-patched-usa-europe/

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/boktai-2-solar-sensor-patched/

 

[jesterodoll]

Yes, actually. For both games.

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/boktai-the-sun-is-in-your-hand-solar-sensor-patched-usa-europe/

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/boktai-2-solar-sensor-patched/

oh damn! i didnt know there were two!! thank you!!

 

[ShadowsofCreationAga]

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for sure. Not as good as tactics original but definitely a fun time

I think you mean, "Itis better than the original Tactics, but the original is fun too!'

....I Simp for FFTA

also Sigma Star is a super creative RPG/Shmup hybrid.

Post automatically merged: Dec 1, 2025

Yes, actually. For both games.

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/boktai-the-sun-is-in-your-hand-solar-sensor-patched-usa-europe/

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/boktai-2-solar-sensor-patched/

Adding to this, part 3 has also been fan translated and solar patched. Is fully playable all the way through.

 

[Netra]

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/tales-of-phantasia-usa/

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/summon-night-swordcraft-story-usa/

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/summon-night-swordcraft-story-2-usa/

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/final-fantasy-tactics-advance-usa/

 

[JoystickV2]

~getting summoned~ GBA!
Well, I do know about a lot of great GBA titles that I can recommend to someone :V

• Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand: this game is basically "Hideo Kojima's The Legend of Zelda", and it is GLORIOUS! You need to download the hackrom with "Solar Control" because of this game's Solar Sensor, but please, give it a shot! It's one of my favorite GBA games of all time \o\
• Golden Sun: a pretty simple and fun RPG, I love the graphics, the mechanics, the gameplay, it also has some interesting ideas (like using magic spells outside of combat to solve light puzzles). It also has a sequel in the GBA.
• Super Dodge Ball Advance: a really fun Dodgeball game with anime powers! The matches can get really freaking crazy with the characters throwing Power Moves every moment. It is a simple game, quite short too, but I highly recommend it xD
• Advance Guardian Heroes: the controversial sequel to Guardian Heroes, if you like beat 'em ups with RPG elements, this game is a amazing time! It may be a little on the hard side, and the framerate sometimes isn't the best (Treasure really pushes the GBA to overdrive in some levels), but this game is still fantastic.
• Gunstar Super Heroes: yet another sequel to another Treasure game! Gunstar Super Heroes is a really fun Run 'n Gun game with amazing levels, crazy setpieces and high challenge.
• Mega Man Zero 3: probably my favorite Mega Man game of all time. The level design is amazing, the gameplay is Mega Man Zero perfected, the story is great, the soundtrack is FANTASTIC, I love it, I love this game, man. Highly recommend it.
• Sonic Advance 3: I have a massive bias towards this game, it was the first 2D Sonic game I played and 100% completed, but man, this game really is great! The soundtrack, the graphics, the gameplay, even when the level design can be quite annoying in some levels, I can't stay mad at this game too long.
• Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting!: do you like Punch-Out? This game is basically a Punch-Out clone made by Treasure! It is really fun once you understand the controls and gameplay, but it can take a little bit to get used to this game.

And that's it I guess! I tried to not pick super obvious choices like Metroid, Kirby, Mario or F-Zero because y'know, those games are great, but I wanted to stand out with my recommendations. I hope you like this mini-list! o/

 

[Swagmata]

megaman zero 3 is the shit, probably the peak of the megaman formula in terms of pure gameplay. combat feels super fun and free flowing.

 

[JoystickV2]

megaman zero 3 is the shit, probably the peak of the megaman formula in terms of pure gameplay. combat feels super fun and free flowing.

RIGHT?! THIS GAME IS SO GOOD, MAN! SWEET CHRIST! The remastered soundtrack is so great, I wish I could play that during a day of my life just to really make me feel like Batman a badass xD

 

[JellyjamLu]

DrillDozer is also unique, and this one graphics aged really well. Real Sharp and clean pixel art, and very well animated.

Drill Dozer (USA) GBA ROM - CDRomance

Drill Dozer (USA) GBA ROM Languages: English. For the GameBoy Advance.

cdromance.org

This caught my eye, thankyou for sharing. downloading this right away.

 

[Godhand1999]

Sonic Advance 1,2, and 3
Golden Sun
Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure
Final Fantasy V
The Breath of Fire games
Final Fight One
Sonic Battle
Mega Man Zero 1-4

 

[Cu-Neo]

Summon Night Swordcraft Story 1 and 2

 

[Lee__Kanker]

One of those cases where the Handheld game is better than the Console one.
In this case, only the handheld one was made by treasure

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/omega-factor-usa/

Did you know Japan has its own tetris game on the gba and it's way way better? Isnt that odd

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/tetris-advance-japan/

Post automatically merged: Dec 1, 2025

And one obvious recommendation: the best 2d platformer nintendo ever made

https://cdromance.org/gba-roms/wario-land-4-usa/

 

[MrYesterday]

Advance Wars 1 and 2. And if you ever find an opportunity for some DS gaming then try AW Dual Strike and Days of Ruin as well.

Post automatically merged: Dec 1, 2025

Kirby And The Amazing Mirror is also worthy of a mention

 

[LastValsion]

-Zone of the Enders: Fist of Mars

-Zoids Legacy

-Any Mega Man Battle Network game past 2

-Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

-Mother 3

-Advance Wars 1 & 2

-Dragon Ball Z Legacy of Goku II and Buu's Fury

-Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis

-Sword of Mana

-Golden Sun & Golden Sun: The Lost Age

-Super Robot Taisen Original Generation 1 & 2

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

 

[jesterodoll]

i decided to start with drill dozer because it has a really interesting looking gameplay loop and im SO excited to see where it goes in between harmony of dissonance

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

-Ninja Five-O
-Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament, Empire of Dreams, Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal [patched]
-Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar Byuu to Deru! Megane-Kun
-Bubble Bobble: Old & New
-Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Battle Assault

 

[JoystickV2]

Sonic Advance 1,2, and 3
Golden Sun
Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure
Final Fantasy V
The Breath of Fire games
Final Fight One
Sonic Battle
Mega Man Zero 1-4

Ah, I see you're a person of culture as well! The Final Fantasy V pick was the biggest indicator, but the rest of the list is also peak games xD

 

[Graw]

I didn't read the whole thread to see which ones were already mentioned or not but the ones I remember enjoying the most without looking anything up were:

- the Megaman Zero Games
- the Megaman Battle network games
- Megaman and Bass (but the snes version's better)
- The two metroid games
- Advance wars, not sure which ones, all of them I guess.
- Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy tactics
- the Castlevania games but especially Aria of Sorrow
- Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
- Zelda Minish Cap and Link to the Past
- Tales of Phantasia but I prefer the snes version with the DeJap patch
- Oriental Blue (fan translation I've never played it on an actual GBA)

I also remember playing some of the top down Dragonball games and some of the Sonic advance games but being kind of disappointed by them.

 

[Bomberman]

Its a port of a wonderswan game but Digimon Battle Spirit 2 is the best fighter on the system imo and you don't even need to be a Digimon fan to enjoy. As Frontier the Digimon are humanoid but there are fan service digimon in the background etc.