Retro Video Gamer

No dedicated GBA thread yet either?

Cannot believe i'm doing this, creating a thread praising Nintendo, lol, but i do love my GBA.

Right i'm going to start the ball rolling with a game that never was....


Mike Ebert (designer/programer of SNES/MD 'Zombies Ate My Neighbors' had planned to do a true follow up to the game (Ghoul Patrol was never meant as a sequel, it was just a result of development tools used in Zombies being given to another team at Lucas who were developing a game of their own, but project stalled, so Lucas decided to 'save it' by turning it into Ghoul Patrol) on GBA (and possibly DS).

So, he+his team approached Lucas about accuring the rights to do a GBA version/true sequel, but the current management team at that time had no idea LucasArts had even made Zombies!, so they had zero interest in giving Mike the time needed to set a deal up, so nothing ever came of it.


Mikes vision for a Zombies Ate My Nieghbours 2 on GBA would have involved networked MP, more kids to choose from and a lot more levels.

But 'thanks' to the damn suits at LucasArts, we never saw the project even get a green light.

[align=center:28uy7uyo][/align:28uy7uyo]

No, no GBA thread had been started before.  About time!    Looks like LucasArts didn't want to see neighbors eaten on the GBA! 

Quote from: "TrekMD"No, no GBA thread had been started before.  About time!    Looks like LucasArts didn't want to see neighbors eaten on the GBA!

Got a few more titbits of triva over GBA stuff i could throw in here at some point...

Games wise:

My personal collection is small, but worthy i feel, lol

Reaxion (Cosine), Thrust (Grumpy Cat), Medal Of Honour Infiltrator, Special Forces CT, Racing Gears Advance, Spiderman:Mysterio's Menace, Yoshi's Island/Mario Advance 3, Metal Slug Advance, Bubble Bobble, Wings, Rebelstar:Tactial Command, Warioware Inc, Sega Arcade Gallery, Gunstar Future Heroes,Qwak, Ninja Cop (bootleg cart sadly), bruce Lee, Astro Boy, Pinball Of The dead, Chu Chu Rocket, SPF2T...might be few more titles boxed away somewhere....

My GBA game collection is not big either.  I actually have a mix of GBA, GBC, and GB games that I play on it.  Just for discussion's sake, here's a video with 20 games that "defined" the GBA. 

[align=center:3mhc9azn]20 Games That Defined The Game Boy Advance (//http)[/align:3mhc9azn]

Nice video!.I had F-Zero and Advance wars at 1 point, never took to either so they soon went.Had a dig through my boxes this afternoon, forgot i also owned Castlevania double pack+I.K Advance.

That's why I have made every effort to have an inventory of all my games, books, etc.  In fact, I just finished the book inventory (I have over 400) and the video game inventory was also updated with all the new Genesis stuff. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7fmAPfHxbk# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7fmAPfHxbk#)

I used to play this all the time.. Great example of the game.

Quote from: "zapiy"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7fmAPfHxbk# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7fmAPfHxbk#)

I used to play this all the time.. Great example of the game.

That'll be thank's to Crawfish Interactive, who produced some stunning GBA games, sadly late payments and declining interest in GBA games from punters saw them go under, pity as they had a lot of unfinished games on the go inc:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akqXd0fLz9o# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akqXd0fLz9o#)

The GBA community has produced a lot of different games for the system, even games based on existing franchises.  Here is an example:  Super Mario: The Last GBA Quest.  Has anyone played it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoPEdDZ6VCw# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoPEdDZ6VCw#)

I just won one of these on ebay for £7 and its in its box, looking forward to getting it, its backward compat with both Gameboys right?

The GBA is indeed compatible with GBC and original GB games as long as you got either the original model or the GBA-sp. 

This is the one I'm getting, that exact colour



can't wait... £7 is frickin awesome!! Hopefully the screen will be better too

Quote from: "dcultrapro"This is the one I'm getting, that exact colour

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/gameboy-glacier.jpg (//http)

can't wait... £7 is frickin awesome!! Hopefully the screen will be better too

He has a couple of GBAs in the shop down the road including a nice clear blue one. He has a load of GBA and GBC games too, some of them still sealed.

sweet... wish we had a store like that still in Watford

Cool, that's the original design.  I have that same one and an SP.

Quote from: "dcultrapro"This is the one I'm getting, that exact colour



can't wait... £7 is frickin awesome!! Hopefully the screen will be better too

Cool, that' the exact one I have. The only downside to that model compared to the SP is it doesn't have a backlit screen making it very hard to play in low light situations. They did make a light attachment for it that does help a lot.

This is the one I have and it works good but there are quite a few other kinds too.

awesome whats that ones name? I haven't seen that one before. I have one of the wire ones but they literally do jack

I'm not sure what the name is but it's made by Intec if that helps. They probably pop up on ebay sometimes.

Got a nice one by pelican which works well, similar to yours! The worm light doesnt work for shit really.

Can anyone tell me about the gba mains adapters? I've seen an official one which replaces the battery and cover but then I've seen ones which plug in the ext ports. So, 2 questions; 1) do the ones with the ext Jack work? 2) can you use it to power the gbc as well?  As it has an ext port too?

No idea mate sorry, not my area of expertise.

I have no idea either.  I only have a GBA (I don't  have a GBC), so I don't know if the adapter is interchangeable.

Am i right in thinking a Sonic game came out on the GBA?

I currently only have Pokemon Red mine, any tips of what i should get are welcome! (Pokemons actually for my other half))

I have a Sonic game for the GBA and it's really good. I'm not at home to check but I think it's called Sonic Advance and I think they made a sequel too. As far as other suggestions you can't go wrong with any of the Castlevania  games for it, they are all excellent!

Yeah, it seems that there are a few of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sbklg4e5LA# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sbklg4e5LA#)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtrXnQh38ZA# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtrXnQh38ZA#)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_LLAEcumjk# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_LLAEcumjk#)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpiD4NnOFbc# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpiD4NnOFbc#)

Ah i thought Sonic Advance was just a flash game because of the different style of sprites. I have to get them because i collect Sonic things but wasn't impressed with them at first glance.

Prehaps playing them will make the difference

Ok no biggie, so what kind of charger/power supply do you use for the GBA?? Does it go in the ext port or does it plug in instead of the batteries? I don't wanna waste tonnes of money on a rare official power supply if a 3rd party one will do the job fine

Quote from: "TrekMD"I have no idea either.  I only have a GBA (I don't  have a GBC), so I don't know if the adapter is interchangeable.

Quote from: "dcultrapro"Ok no biggie, so what kind of charger/power supply do you use for the GBA?? Does it go in the ext port or does it plug in instead of the batteries? I don't wanna waste tonnes of money on a rare official power supply if a 3rd party one will do the job fine

I have two different chargers: one for the GBA SP and one for my DS.  The original GBA runs on batteries and the charger doesn't have a place where I can plug it into the system.  Here are pictures of my charger for the SP attached.

I picked this up last week, modded with an SP screen:



Looks amazing to play and my main reason for picking it over the SP was to stop the crippling hand pain after a couple of hours play    Bought a few games so far and I'm thinking of going for a PAL collection.  Real long term goal as I've already hit 45 titles on the Lynx.

One game I did pick up was Pokemon Trading Card Game, mainly because I heard some good things an it reminded me of Cardfighters Clash on the NGPC. 

Any GB/GBC/GBA recommendations?  The first two are my main interest but I don't mind picking up the odd GBA game along the way, I've only got Warioland 4 and Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 so far.

Very cool.  This is a nice design for the GBA.  That is a great mod for it too! 

OK, since somebody posted about them, and since this is kind of my thing, let me give you the rundown on the Sonic Advance games:

Advance 1 is great. Probably the closest thing we'll ever get to an actual Sonic 4. "But Bobinator, didn't th--" NO THEY DIDN'T SHUT UP.

Anyway. It's pretty short, probably even more than Sonic 2. That probably has to do with the fact that you can start a new game from any level you unlock, but still. It's still a really good game, though. Four different characters, including Amy, who's got her own slower, unique playstyle. The physics are pretty much perfect, the level design's pretty good, and there's some good music. Play it. Just be warned that the special stages are pretty awful, if you're going for the best ending.

And then there's Sonic Advance 2. This one... eh, it's really not that good. Apparently, some reviewers said that Advance 1 was too slow. So Sega went like some kind of literal genie and made the game about going fast. All the time. And you might think that'd be a good thing, but 90% of the game is just holding down right and waiting. I mean, I could be exagerrating, but so much of the levels are nothing but straight lines forward with a few pits that there's pretty much no control. The game pretty much plays itself. Skip it.

Advance 3 is a little somewhere between 1 and 2, so it's at least a lot better than 2. There's a lot more speed, but there's more level-specific gimmicks and such that mean there's still a decent enough amount of platforming. There's also a cool gimmick where you get a partner character that gives you different moves, which is a pretty nice idea. The only real issue I have with this game is that it's REALLY easy to die, either from pits, or parts where you suddenly run into a wall... just as a moving platform is coming down onto your head.

Never touch Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis. Never. Ever. Ever. Ever. EVER. Touch Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis. If you haven't run screaming from the room in horror from the video that was posted earlier, I can't help you.

Sonic Battle is kind of odd, but it's not terrible. It's a Power Stone-y sort of arena fighter, although you don't get any of the interesting levels or random items of PS or Super Smash Brothers. The fighting generally works pretty well, although it's not super deep. There's also a cool story mode where you can upgrade a robot named Emerel, who starts out as the dumpiest, slowest piece of crap ever to an unstoppable death machine by the end of the mode. Also, Shadow is super broken.

To post something original, check out Ninja Five-O, or Ninja Cop, in Europe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKU4upMDxjY# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKU4upMDxjY#)

It's a game very much in the style and spirit of the Genesis Shinobi games, and it's a DAMN sight better than the Shinobi game that came out on the GBA. For being one of the earlier GBA games, it's honeslty probably one of the best. Also, you get a grappling hook that lets you swing around, and I LOVE games that let you do that. Sadly, it's a pretty rare game, these days...

Ninja Five-O looks really cool! Just did a quick search on ebay and you aint kidding about it being rare! Completed listings show loose carts going for $70 and up and complete boxed copies going for $200 plus! I was going to add this game to my want list but not now 

Yeah those new GBA's look great, but looking at the site that sells them I see they are going for $249.00  They're cool for sure, but not that cool!

Quote from: "Shadowrunner"Yeah those new GBA's look great, but looking at the site that sells them I see they are going for $249.00  :21:

Quote from: "TrekMD"

Quote from: "Shadowrunner"Yeah those new GBA's look great, but looking at the site that sells them I see they are going for $249.00  :21:

Right, which is priceless 

Just saw this, which may be of interest...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCWdTx2JwXw#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCWdTx2JwXw#ws)

[align=center:xmmssjlm][size=140]BigBoy Advance - Bacteria's GBA portable with 8" screen[/size] (//http)[/align:xmmssjlm]

I've got a Blue SP with a few Gameboy, Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance games...was playing Donkey Kong Land 3 on the train up to London a couple of weeks back, the female guard then went "Oh! I haven't seen one of those in ages"

 8)

I almost bought a backlit modded original GBA this weekend until I remembered I already have a GP2x handheld.  Thank goodness for that bit of memory I still have left.. keeps me from over-collecting.

Now thats what i call a handheld lol.. Thats bloody huge.

Quote from: "zapiy"Now thats what i call a handheld lol.. Thats bloody huge.

Yes!  I thought I'd look like quite the boffin with this big, computerized gadget sticking out of my shirt.  Sadly, I remained a buffoon! :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fdeOd6j3f8#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fdeOd6j3f8#ws)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejDkY0HOsoM# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejDkY0HOsoM#)

I thought this kid was obnoxious and rude. But he has a lot of passion for the GBA and its games. By the end, he starts talking Pokémon and saves the whole video.   :113:

Here is a video comparing the original GBA and the GBA SP, for anyone who is looking to get one of these handhelds...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HSkZmp4VP4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HSkZmp4VP4)

No love for the GBA?  Here is another video that may spark some interest.  This time from Metal Jesus...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0fopNGSBMY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0fopNGSBMY)

OK, so we had the hidden gems from Metal Jesus.  How about the top 10 titles for the GBA?  Let's have a look...

The guys from GameSack have a look at the GameBoy Advance.  Nice video to check out...

Bought a clutch of GBA games this week. I have an SP but I don't use it that much. I've used the GBA Player in Gamecube more often. The SP is a nice handheld but it's frontlit so while it's usable it isn't as good as a backlit. The SP backlit revision is very hard to find.

I'm not a massive fan of handheld gaming anyhow. I only got the SP to play Pacman Vs in the first place.

The stars of the batch of games I picked up are Kuru Kuru Kururin and Kururin Paradise. These are delightfully weird and Japanese but are super tough. I have the GC version of this game which is JP only but the GBA games are far tougher. Anyone play these? You navigate a rotating stick through 2D mazes and it is extremely tricky.

Next is Pinball of the Dead which looks to be an absolute gem of a game. Has 3 tables and a great soundtrack and the pinball genre has been really well implemented on this relatively limited platform.

Also got Game & Watch Gallery which is a clutch of the old school LCD handhelds with features I like such as highscore tracking etc. You can play a recreation of the LCD display or with enhanced graphics. Looking forward to diving deep into this to see all the fan service.

Finally - also got Columns Crown which is tailor made for handheld gaming. A very nice implementation of this old puzzler with a selection of pleasing modes and a campaign mode.

I already have a Castlevania game and Mario Kart. Getting these has prompted me to get into those games too.

Never played any of the games you mentioned but all seem interesting.

Pinball of the Dead is a fab game, one of the best on the GBA for me.