The GBA arrived at a pretty much perfect time for me. I'd always been a fan of games like Zelda, Metroid, and RPGs - games which require a bigger investment of time.
Around the time the GBA showed up, I had just gotten a new job and was spending a lot of time on public transport. As a result, RPGs and similar games were a perfect fit, and the list below is the result.
I never played this on the SNES as a kid, as the game never got a PAL release. Having said that, it was a good 5+ years ago when I did play it. I recall it being interesting enough, but nothing amazing. Thankfully it was good enough in the day to bring us another 4 games, all of which I really enjoyed.
First played this on the SNES back in the day, and I enjoyed the character design and the music. The game was a bit challenging as I recall, back then compared to the GBA version I bought and played a few years ago, but I don't know how much of that was due to the SNES version giving less money and exp, or simply because I was a kid back then.
This compilation cartridge was my first chance to play FF and FF2. These games were apparently changed in a few non-trivial ways to make them different to the real FF and FF2, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.
FF5 is in my top five, and the GBA version is the best version. The gameplay is still king, and it has new features (not many, but it has some). Unfortunately, the music, while artistically still brilliant, isn't so technically good in the GBA port (they saved cartridge space by using poor quality samples).
However, since I also have an EZ Flash 4, I was able to dump my GBA game and save, patch it with the music fix (an 8mb or so patch that replaces the samples with better ones), and enjoy it in its best possible state.
When I first played this game I was disappointed at the fact that it wasn't FFT. However, once I learned to accept that, I quickly grew to enjoy it. I never even really had a gripe with the laws system. Many hours spent on this guy.
Wow. I picked this up in a sale as it looked tactics-y, and am so glad I did. One of my favourite series of games. The only criticism I'd have is the way the stat-ups work.
Bought this after loving the prior game. Seemed a bit easier by comparison (partly my own fault for playing the tower to grind levels, I suppose).
This was a highly praised game back when it was released. I enjoyed it but didn't think it was amazing as some claimed it to be. I also recall it ending rather suddenly...
A solid sequel but very little in the way of new tricks, the game was good but not great. Walk speed is still too slow, and the inventory limit of 15 items per character is still annoying.
As per Rechain comments, I love the universe. Unfortunately, KH is one of the very few games/series where graphics are important to me, and I feel that the GBA's capabilities, combined with a battle system and room generation system I wasn't much of a fan of, left me disappointed with this game.
I love the Zelda series, however I was never a big fan of this first entry - even when I was a kid. The 'NES Classics' re-release for GBA didn't do much to change my mind, either.
It'll no doubt upset many fans, but I found the second game much more enjoyable than the first. More action, more challenge, more fun. And the final dungeon music is great.
Link to the Past is the best Zelda game. It's also in my top 5. This port is nothing super-amazing, but it doesn't need to be in order to remain a great game. The fact that I can play it on the bus makes it a winner.
Minish Cap is a nice little Zelda game, too. The world its set in is charming, and you gotta love his talking duck/hat. Too bad my cart is the Euro version with the glitched kinstone fusion bug. One of these days I should try and find an AR code to fix that little glitch...
This game, was a little disappointing. The game restricts you so much. Exploration isn't really something you do much of in this game. What disappointed me most in the game, however, was that you can't sequence break.
When these games came out I wasn't sure if I'd like them. Big changes were made to the game mechanics, and while I liked the idea of them (natures, EV limits, etc.) it also widened the gap when it came to competitive play, and gave a big advantage to those who had access to cheat devices.
The game itself was good fun, like all Pokemons.
The usual refinements you expect from a third-game in the Pokemon series. Like Yellow and Crystal, it added a bunch of stuff to make Pokemon fans splash out for a game that is 95% identical to the one they already have.
A remake of the game that started it all. Loved the original Red/Blue, and this remake kept true to the feel of the original but gave us the conveniences that we'd appreciated in the second and third generation.
I have the Red (GBA) and Blue (DS) versions of this game, and learned quickly that there was very little point to getting them both - though the DS-GBA connectivity was great for this spin-off.
Mystery Dungeon with a pokemon "skin", I loved this game. In many ways I prefer it over the Darkness/Time sequel.
One of the few GBA games I still play regularly. When I first got this game I had some real issues with it - the slow, unskippable text being the biggest one. To this day it's still the most irritating part of the game. However, depsite its simple concept, basic dungeon crawling gameplay, and some rather unfortunate glitches (like Brawler's evade and Warrior's counter skills not working at all), I still fire it up for a quick run from time to time.
I didn't dislike this game, but it was nothing special. The combat was very basic and repetitive, magic was a chore to use - so much so that I quickly abandoned it - and the storyline completely failed to keep my interest. No hesitation in putting this into the pile of games to trade/give away.
