3DS: Virtual Console Nominations (GBA)
With the bombshell announcement that GBA games will (finally) be heading for the 3DS, it's time to do another one of these for one of the greatest handhelds of all time.
List items
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The greatest Sonic game nobody seems to remember, or, if they do, it "doesn't count". Bullshit. This is up there with the Genesis games in terms of quality and, if anything, the character-swapping feature makes this entry MORE interesting. Fusing gameplay and aesthetics from both the Genesis days and the Sonic Adventure games, the first Sonic game exclusive to Nintendo hardware is one of the series' very, very best. I have been dying to play this through on superior hardware forever. Long live Sonic Advance.
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A tentpole Nintendo franchise that I'm stunned hasn't seen more respect. Just the "Advance" subseries of Nintendo Wars has given us a sequel that increases complexity, a DS iteration that adds two screens and Go-like touch controls and...An unnecessarily darker, edgier and simplified DS retcon. The less said about that one the better. Anyway, despite that, the original is still hailed as most likely the best game in the series and the 3DS is the console to bring it back to life for a new generation.
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This is more than a remake. This is a massive leap forward for the Pokémon series and a key example of how to do a remake RIGHT: The extent to which FireRed and LeafGreen trounces its source material is quite frankly embarrassing: Let's face it-As influential and beloved as they were, Red and Green were buggy, clumsily programmed affairs with a seriously broken battle system and sprite art so murky it was impossible to tell what anything was. Despite all that, however, there was a deep, challenging and addictive RPG system beneath it all wrapped up in a revolutionary core concept that was so unique and engaging it took the world by storm, which just goes to show you a game can get away with a lot if there's a strong imagination at its heart. These excellent remakes fixed all the problems of the original, including the much-appreciated addition of a female playable character, and rebuilt the game taking into account lessons learned from Gold and Silver. So important did GameFreak consider this effort, FireRed and LeafGreen were actually made BEFORE Ruby and Sapphire, but released after. A masterpiece of a remake and a much-needed entry on our list.
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Much like FireRed and LeafGreen, and as I've reiterated elsewhere, this is the definitive version of one of the greatest games of all time. I'll gladly take the minor graphical hit going from the Super Nintendo to the GBA to play through Super Mario World again with dozens of more secret rooms, hidden treasures, new levels and, crucially, perfectly-handled gameplay differences between Mario and Luigi that make choosing which brother to play as a strategic decision.
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Quite simply put, Super Mario Advance 4 does for Super Mario Bros. 3 what Super Mario Advance 2 did for Super Mario World. It's the definitive version of the game with scores of new levels and features, even more if you had an e-Reader and wanted to spring for those booster packs. Luigi's gameplay differences return, and, unlike the previous game, SMB3 actually BENEFITS from the GBA's graphics technology, receiving a gorgeous 16-bit upgrade. I always felt the NES original looked rather drab, but here the colours are bright and vibrant and the new sprite art is extremely evocative. The one thing that makes this a lesser investment than Super Mario Advance 2 is that on-the-fly character swithcing has been replaced by a lame hotseat multiplayer mode. I don't see why Nintendo couldn't have at least accommodated both. Perhaps a 3DS port would rectify that. Either way, for many fans Super Mario Bros. 3 is the definitive Mario game and Nintendo surely knows that given the incalculable number of times it's been ripped off in recent years, so they might as well give us the definite article.
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My preference would be a full 3D remake of the console version, but as that's highly unlikely, I'd settle for the slightly-less unlikely chance we'll see a port of the Game Boy Advance version.
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One of the GBA's most beloved titles gave Nintendo an exclusive, and rather excellent, RPG series in an age when it really didn't have one. The Djinn concept was a really interesting take on the core JRPG style, and, combine this with a great story, fun characters and a great art style and soundtrack and you have the trappings of a classic!
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An oft-overlooked launch window game neglected for reasons that constantly elude me. Lady Sia is a fantastic little Castlevania-style action platformer in the old-school style of the NES trilogy, not the Metrodvania hybrids popularized post-Symphony of the Night. It also stars a badass warrior princess fighting to save her kingdom from shapeshifting animal demons. Plus, it has a really evocative Anime art style. I'll never know why this game is so forgotten, but it deserves another look so here's hoping it'll happen someday soon.
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Created by the same team that gave us Pokémon, Drill Dozer is another overlooked GBA game that's just as memorable and creative as you'd expect given its pedigree, Released well into the lifespan of the DS, I suppose it was inevitable a weird little game about a girl with a drilling machine who dug tunnels to find secret passages and treasures would fly under the radar with New Super Mario Bros. and (weirdly) Pokémon Diamond and Pearl out, but Drill Dozer deserves some love, and I think the 3DS could provide that.
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Yet ANOTHER definitive version of an all-time classic! A Link to the Past had an immeasurable effect on the storylines of Zelda games to come in its wake with the addition of the dual worlds conceit. However, it was also such a masterful reconceptulization of the original NES classic that it, and Super Metroid, rightfully deserve their status as standalone trailblazers. The GBA remake may not be as massive as the ones for Pokémon and Super Mario World, but the addition of a intriguing multiplayer mode (new for Zelda and, as of this writing, unique to this game) mixes things up a bit, but the ability to take it with you everywhere is priceless. We already have Fur Swords thanks to DSiWare making a port of this game a little unlikely, but here's hoping.
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And we close with yet another pair of, say it with me "definitive versions of all-time classics!" Released on everything that has a screen, the NES and Super Nintendo Final Fantasies are still groundbreaking for their advances in narrative scope and style and the genre-defining changes they made to the JRPG formula. While Final Fantasy III and IV got big-budget DS remakes, their successors haven't seen much action (at least on Nintendo hardware) since this pair of stellar GBA transfers. perhaps it's because these versions are just so damn definitive that SquareEnix didn't feel the need to go any further! Either way, while Final Fantasy V and VI are antiquated by today's standards, they're still brilliant, moving games and these Game Boy transfers are unarguably their best form (although VI does have an excellent PSN version).
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