New to the GameBoy Advanced: What are the "must-haves"?

[El Chuxter]

Hmmm, seems like I started a thread with a very similar title about two years ago. . . .

I've had my eye on a new GameBoy for a couple of years. At first, I was leaning toward the GameBoy Player add-on for the GameCube, but that stupid thing has never come down in price, and the GameBoy itself has. I was looking at some of the Black Friday specials, but these were all "in-stock only" deals that sold out within minutes.

Yesterday, though, I was able to take advantage of Target's President's Day Sale. (I guess fewer parents are looking for Christmas presents in February.) It came with Harry Potter IV and Chicken Little (not my two top choices, but they look like they could be some old-school style fun).

It's been about 15 years since I had a GameBoy, and this was the old POS where the screen didn't last for more than a month before it started burning out. I understand this new gizmo is fully backward-compatible, which was a major point in its favor (and why I didn't go with the Micro).

So, first of all, any known problems with compatibility?

Second, I'm obviously a SW fanatic. I know of three unique GBA games (Flight of the Falcon, The New Droid Army, and some sort of OT adaptation I can't recall the name of). Are these worthwhile?

Next, the ever-lovin' Mario Bros. I plan to find (or re-buy) the old old Mario games for the original GameBoy. I'd like the classic NES games as well, but have a couple of questions in that department. My niece has something that's supposedly Mario Bros 3, but the graphics and controls are all "updated" and I look like an idiot trying to play it exactly as I did the original. Plus the idea of "Princess Peach" is moronic. (Princess Toadstool would totally kick Princess Peach's stinky butt.)

I don't want versions of Mario 1 and 2 that are jacked up in the same fashion. Is the old Mario Bros Deluxe for the Game Boy Color the same as the original, only with the Japanese levels? And is there a version of 2 and 3 for the GameBoy that are true to the originals?

Metroid, never mind, I'm just grabbing all of those. Side-scrolling Metroid games rock.

So, anything else that's a definite must-get for any GameBoy system? (Bear in mind that I'll take a clunky-looking game from the original GameBoy over a snazzy game for the GBA that has poor gameplay any day.)

[Lord Malakite]

It's been about 15 years since I had a GameBoy, and this was the old POS where the screen didn't last for more than a month before it started burning out. I understand this new gizmo is fully backward-compatible, which was a major point in its favor (and why I didn't go with the Micro).
POS? My original GameBoy works as good as the day I bought it.:D


So, first of all, any known problems with compatibility?

For the most part no. I heard a few GameBoy Color games that used the IR technology had problems, but there are so few of them I don't think you'll have a problem.


Second, I'm obviously a SW fanatic. I know of three unique GBA games (Flight of the Falcon, The New Droid Army, and some sort of OT adaptation I can't recall the name of). Are these worthwhile?

Can't say as I haven't played them. I never heard much buzz on them during their release so I'd expect them to between so-so and average.


Next, the ever-lovin' Mario Bros. I plan to find (or re-buy) the old old Mario games for the original GameBoy. I'd like the classic NES games as well, but have a couple of questions in that department. My niece has something that's supposedly Mario Bros 3, but the graphics and controls are all "updated" and I look like an idiot trying to play it exactly as I did the original. Plus the idea of "Princess Peach" is moronic. (Princess Toadstool would totally kick Princess Peach's stinky butt.)

Huh? Peach and Princess Toadstool are the same character. :sad:


I don't want versions of Mario 1 and 2 that are jacked up in the same fashion. Is the old Mario Bros Deluxe for the Game Boy Color the same as the original, only with the Japanese levels? And is there a version of 2 and 3 for the GameBoy that are true to the originals?

If you want an accurate port/emulated version of Super Mario 1 over an updated Super Mario 1 I'd suggest you pick up "NES Classic Series: Super Mario Bros." for the Gameboy Advance over "Super Mario Bros. Deluxe" for the GameBoy Color. It is about as close as you can get.

Unfortunately all other NES Super Mario Bros. games only come in the updated versions, there are no direct emulated/ports of them.


Metroid, never mind, I'm just grabbing all of those. Side-scrolling Metroid games rock.

Don't get the Metroid 1 emulation/port "NES Classic Series: Metroid" for the GameBoy Advance Chux, it is a $20 rip-off. Instead pick up the updated Metroid 1 "Metroid: Zero Mission" for GameBoy Advance. In addition to the updated Metroid 1 the original emulated/port Metroid 1 is hidden in "Zero Mission." All you have to do is beat the updated Metroid 1 to unlock it.


So, anything else that's a definite must-get for any GameBoy system? (Bear in mind that I'll take a clunky-looking game from the original GameBoy over a snazzy game for the GBA that has poor gameplay any day.)

There are quite a few games for the original, Color, and Advance GameBoys. Too many to list actually. If you want specific here are two series you usually can't go wrong with: Zelda and Castlevania.:thumbsup:

[El Chuxter]

Huh? Peach and Princess Toadstool are the same character. :sad:

Well, yes and no. She's referred to as Toadstool in all the original versions, and the updates call her Peach. I actually argued with my niece about the real name of the character. Maybe it's like Bail Prestor Organa and her name is Princess Peach Toadstool, or Princess Toadstool Peach. :crazed:

Thanks for the warning on Metroid. I would totally have bought the "Classic NES" first. And I hears you on anything Castlevania or Zelda. (Castlevania was actually the last I bought for my old GB, and the system conked out before I could finish it. :( (If yours still works, you are the luckiest person I know of. Everyone that I knew had one with some kind of screen problems. My first actually had major problems right out of the box.)

Is the Classic NES Bomberman the same as, or at least similar to, the original? That game ruled.

I may end up passing on Mario for now, as it looks like the "Classic NES" cartridge is OOP and going for pretty steep prices for some reason. I'll just be happy with my old NES version for now, I suppose. Great game, but as many times as I've beaten it, I'm not paying $35 or more to beat it again. :)

[Lord Malakite]

Is the Classic NES Bomberman the same as, or at least similar to, the original? That game ruled.
All the GameBoy Advance games with "Classic NES Series" in the title are direct emulation/ports of their original NES counterpart games.

You might also want to pick up an e-Reader if your want to play the more simplistic classic NES games like Donkey Kong, Urban Fighting, (plain) Mario Bros., etc. The card packs for those games and the e-Reader itself are relatively cheap now since Nintendo stopped supporting it.

[James Boba Fettfield]

What about the Mega Man Zero series?

It's just like Mega Man, but with Zero as the main character.

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

The New Droid Army is fairly entertaining. I got it a few years ago and haven't played it in a while. It has the story of Anakin fighting and killing Dooku, which later EU changed to it being his clone doppelganger.

Another SW game for the GBA that I have is AOTC. It's okay, but I like NDA better. AOTC has a weird platformer feel to it and I don't particularly like the graphics. But it's still okay.

I have the "Classic NES" Super Mario Bros. game, and it's the exact same as the original version.

SMB3, as you stated, has a few updated graphics and backgrounds. For instance, the kings that implore Mario for help are all different than the original ones -- many of them are animals from different Mario games, particularly Super Mario World. Mario also says things like "Mama Mia!" when he dies or gets a power-up, which is occasionally annoying.