The Game Boy Advance is a fantastic little handheld, and thankfully, can be enjoyed like
a traditional console thanks to the Game Boy Player.
Released in 2001, the Game Boy Advance might be the last mainstream console with hardware
focused on sprites, rather than pushing polygons.
With the 15 year anniversary fast approaching, and games still reasonably priced, on today’s
episode of 5 Games we take a look at 5 Great Game Boy Advance games.
I am a huge fan of Metal Slug, from the responsive controls, terrific soundtrack, great animation,
subtle humor, and gorgeous hand drawn graphics, it is hard not to fall in love with the series.
2004’s Metal Slug Advance for the GBA somehow manages to capture all of these things, despite
the smaller screen and ram limitations of the hardware.
This is also a brand new adventure, rather than a dumbed down version of the iconic arcade
titles, making it a must own for fans of the series.
Per usual, you pilot one of the heroes through 5 missions, running, jumping, and gunning
down endless waves of baddies, taking down tough bosses, and of course, cruising along
in the tank affectionately known as the Metal Slug.
Metal Slug Advance is arguably tougher than it’s predecessors.
The lower resolution makes everything a bit more cramped than usual, leaving less room
for error, and enemies respawn.
The most punishing aspect is the life bar.
Rather than having infinite lives, and the ability to spawn in place, you now have a
life bar.
When it runs out, you continue back to a checkpoint.
I’m not a huge fan of this change, but Metal Slug Advance is still a terrific run and gun.
It manages to capture just about everything great about the Metal Slug series, and is
a must own for the Game Boy Advance.
Despite being released in 2001, Mario Kart: Super Circuit is just the third installment
of the immensely popular racing series.
If you’ve grown tired of the 3D installments, Super Circuit just might be for you.
Returning to its roots, Mario Kart: Super Circuit is a sprite based affair, with a rotating
plane simulating a three dimensional circuit, parallax scrolling giving depth to the backgrounds,
and plenty of sprite scaling cementing the illusion of depth.
Since pretty much everyone knows what Mario Kart is all about, I’m just going to talk
about why I like this game so much.
First and foremost, Super Circuit feels like a racing game first, and a party game second,
unlike the most recent games.
Therefore, track memorization, driving skill, and coin collecting are required for success.
For a Mode-7 styled game, the controls are exceptional.
Usually with these kinds of games, I feel like you are rotating the ground, rather than
controlling the kart, but Super Circuit does a great job fine tuning the formula.
Also improved compared to the SNES original are the tracks.
They are much bigger, and the layouts are far more satisfying, with one turn flowing
effortlessly into the next.
It makes for a extremely fun racing experience.
On top of the great controls and superior tracks, is a terrific visual presentation.
The color count is considerably higher, backgrounds have far more detail, and the sprite scaling
really takes advantage of the GBA hardware.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit is another, no-brainer.
While Sonic’s console releases received all the attention during the early 2000’s,
Sega was quietly releasing some fantastic 2D titles on the Game Boy Advance.
Sonic Advance 2 was released in 2003 and is probably my favorite of the trilogy.
What makes these games so great are how they feel, capturing the energy found in the original
Genesis games.
The controls are super responsive, from changing directions to jumping, and everything moves
at the super brisk pace you would expect from a Sonic game.
The graphics are fantastic, capturing the pseudo-3D look of Sonic 2, with the semi-realism
from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and takes up a notch thanks to the significantly greater color
capabilities of the Game Boy Advance.
The level designs are also terrific, again combining the blinding speed of Sonic 2, and
the sheer scope of Sonic 3 & Knuckles and again kicking it up a notch with some truly
massive areas to blast through.
Being a Sonic game, the music is absolutely awesome.
The soundtrack is the perfect mix of high energy chiptunes with a little dubstep thrown
in for good measure, and it is pretty outstanding from start to finish.
If you’ve been longing for some 2D Sonic, or just some solid 2D platforming in general,
you really can’t go wrong with any of the Sonic Advance games and I can’t recommend
them enough.
Gunstar Super Heroes was a late Game Boy Advance release, hitting store shelves in 2005.
Billed as a sequel to the Genesis game, fans of Gunstar Heroes will notice more than a
few similarities, and in some ways you might consider this a remix or update, rather than
an all new adventure.
This isn’t a bad thing however, as Gunstar Heroes was a phenomenal game.
Returning to Super Heroes are super smooth controls, awesome run and gun gameplay, melee
attacks, a slide kick, massive bosses, and a desire to push the hardware to the limits.
The graphics are awesome, with line scrolling effects, transparencies, scaling and rotation
found all over the place, sometimes all on the screen at once.
Gunstar Super Heroes is an awesome send off for the GBA hardware.
Still, it is the core gameplay making Gunstar Super Heroes so fun to play.
You have three selectable weapons available at all times, and can fire all of them in
eight different directions.
Everything on the screen explodes in a blaze of glory, and it is relentless, with few moments
to ever stop and catch your breath.
The assault on all of the senses is intoxicating.
The unlimited continues and three difficulty levels assures gamers of all skill levels
will be able to see this through to the end.
And you should, because it is one of the best games available on the system.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002.
If you’re a fan of Symphony of the Night, you should feel right at home with Harmony
of Dissonance.
You take control of Juste Belmont, and must navigate your way, yet again, through Dracula’s
castle.
This time to rescue your friend Lydia.
Controlling the Belmont feels like a mix between Symphony of the Night, and Super Castlevania
IV.
You can dash forwards, and backwards, and have full control over your mid air movements.
However, you can only whip in one direction, but retain the ability to use the whip like
a shield, which is incredibly useful against many of the game’s flying enemies.
As expected, you slowly level up and become more powerful, just in time to defeat increasingly
more difficult enemies and bosses.
At the same time, you gain more abilities, allowing you to access new areas of the massive
castle complex.
It is impeccably designed and extremely enjoyable.
I also enjoy the RPG elements, like the ability to upgrade your whip, add magic to the secondary
items, and manage an inventory.
Playing around with different items, equipment, and spells is a ton of fun, without ever feeling
cumbersome.
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is often overlooked, but I find the game to be incredibly
underrated.
The soundtrack and graphics are terrific, but the wonderful game play put this one,
over the top.
So there you have it, 5 great games released for the Game Boy Advance.
Now, this is not a definitive list, nor is it intended to be a best-of, and the GBA has
far more than 5 great games, so be sure to leave a comment and let me know which Game
Boy Advance games, you enjoy.