GBA | Advance Guardian Heroes | Treasure | Sequel to Guardian Heroes, with similar beat-em-up gameplay but more platforming and characters |
GBA | Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django | KCEJ | They done did it again, but now the sunlight also works as a form of currency! |
GBA | Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand | KCEJ | That crazy Kojima made an ARPG where you have to use actual UV rays to power your weapons! |
GBA | Bomberman Tournament | Amble | A Bomberman ARPG where you level Pokemon-like creatures that give you abilities |
GBA | Breath of Fire | Capcom | It's Ryu, but on a tinier screen! |
GBA | Breath of Fire II | Capcom | More polished than the SNES version, but gives up graphically in the process |
GBA | Car Battler Joe | Ancient | Exactly as the title implies - you level up your car in demolition derby-style matches |
GBA | Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow | KCET | Metroidvania with the addition of collecting enemy souls to augment abilities |
GBA | Castlevania: Circle of the Moon | KCEK | Metroidvania with a dual card system to customize abilities |
GBA | Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance | KCET | Metroidvania with room decorating and traveling between dimensions to progress |
GBA | CIMA: The Enemy | Neverland | ARPG of sorts- can level up weapons and armor while controlling Lemmings-like civilians |
GBA | DemiKids: Light/Dark | Multimedia Intelligence Transfer | Pokemon-like demon collecting and fusion, but each version has a separate plot/protagonist! |
GBA | Dokapon: Monster Hunter | Tycoon/Asmik Ace Entertainment | Battle system is literally rock-paper-scissors, also contains monster collecting elements |
JP GBA | Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart | Tose | Stars a young Prince Keifer from DQVII, where you recruit humans and monsters for your growing caravan |
GBA | Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls | Square Enix/Tose | Adds dungeons and tweaks the translation of the originals |
GBA | Final Fantasy IV Advance | Square Enix/Tose | Revised translation and plot polish of the original, as well as graphical improvements |
GBA | Final Fantasy Tactics Advance | Square Enix | Far lighter tone than the original FFT, many battles have tricky restrictions due to judges |
GBA | Final Fantasy V Advance | Square Enix/Tose | Updated graphics, new jobs, and a new boss battle compared to the original |
GBA | Final Fantasy VI Advance | Square Enix/Tose | Added bonus dungeons, Espers, and some graphical polish |
GBA | Fire Emblem | Intelligent Systems | Technically Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, the 7th game in the series (but first brought to the west) |
JP GBA | Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade | Intelligent Systems | AKA FE6 - Roy's our boy, and here's where you play as him! |
GBA | Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones | Intelligent Systems | Actually FE8, set in a separate continuity to the previous games |
GBA | Golden Sun | Camelot | Lots of exploration puzzles, character/class customization using creature allocation |
GBA | Golden Sun: The Lost Age | Camelot | Plays similar to the first, but from the villain's perspective |
JP GBA | Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Meisou no Rinbukyoku | Tom Create | Based on the anime, no real levels to gain, but turn-based combat utilizing alchemy combinations |
JP GBA | Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Omoide no Sonata | Tom Create | Original story, sequel to Stray Rondo, adds a leveling system but otherwise similar mechanics |
GBA | Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town | Marvelous | Level up your tools and grow your farm (and find a nice girl to settle down with) |
GBA | Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town | Marvelous | Female protagonist version of Friends of Mineral town with a few added QoL changes |
JP GBA | Keitai Denjuu Telefang 2: Power | Smilesoft | One version of a Pokemon-like clone that features sharing your phone number with monsters to befriend them |
GBA | Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories | Jupiter | The first of many, many side stories- takes place between KH I and II, uses a card battling system |
JP GBA | Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal | Namco | Top-down ARPG gameplay, and cute to boot! |
GBA | Lufia: The Ruins of Lore | Atelier Double/Taito | Side story to the main series, has a basic job system, characters can fuse with monsters in battle |
GBA | Lunar Legend | Japan Art Media | Translation closer to the intended Japanese than the previous versions, but lacks cinematic feel |
JP GBA | Magical Vacation | Brownie Brown | Turn-based combat, gorgeous sprites; love/heart isn't just an element in Captain Planet anymore! |
GBA | Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga | AlphaDream | Comedic RPG with exploration puzzles and a timing-based combat system |
GBA | Mario Golf: Advance Tour | Camelot | Story mode and leveling, now with even more strange human characters to beat Mario's crew in golf! |
GBA | Mario Tennis: Power Tour | Camelot | Another jaunt through tennis school with Mario and friends, with EXP to gain and stats to improve! |
GBA | Medabots AX: Metabee/Rokusho | Natsume | Much more of a fighting game, but you do level your robots to fight them in real-time |
GBA | Mega Man Battle Network | Capcom | Tactical real-time combat, learning skills from enemies, and memeable spritework |
GBA | Mega Man Battle Network 2 | Capcom | More or less the same as the first, but a bit more customizable, and no auto-healing after every battle |
GBA | Mega Man Battle Network 3: Blue/White | Capcom | More customizable than its predecessors, each version has different chips available |
GBA | Mega Man Battle Network 4: Blue Moon/Red Sun | Capcom | Now emotions must be controlled during battle, and fusion (like traditional MM) is available |
GBA | Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team Colonel/Team Protoman | Capcom | You've seen it before, but now there are powerful Dark Chips! |
GBA | Mega Man Battle Network 6: Cybeast Falzar/Cybeast Gregar | Capcom | Final game in the series, a bit more limitations on chip arrangement, stronger fusions |
GBA | Monster Rancher Advance | Tecmo | Similar to the PSX games, but using words to summon monsters rather than CDs |
GBA | Monster Rancher Advance 2 | Tecmo/Graphic Research | See above! |
JP GBA | Mother 1 + 2 | Ape/HAL Laboratory/Nintendo | Ports of Mother 1 and 2, with an extended ending for the former |
JP GBA | Mother 3 | Brownie Brown/HAL Laboratory | (LOCALIZE IT NINTENDO) Musical combo system in combat, still as offbeat as ever |
JP GBA | Napoleon | Genki | RTSRPG starring Napoleon Bonaparte doing some very not-historically-accurate things |
GBA | Onimusha Tactics | Capcom | Technically an SRPG side story to the main series, but has a similar plot |
JP GBA | Oriental Blue: Ao no Tengai | Hudson Soft/RED Entertainment | A gaiden of the Tengai Makyo series, has a free scenario system influenced by real-time passage |
GBA | Phantasy Star Collection | Digital Eclipse/Sega | Ports of the first 3 Phantasy Star games |
GBA | Pokemon Emerald | Game Freak | Superior third version of Pokemon Gen 3 |
GBA | Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen | Game Freak | Remakes of Red/Green versions |
GBA | Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team | Chunsoft | Third-person randomized dungeon crawler with Pokemon, sister Blue version was a DS game |
GBA | Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire | Game Freak | 7/10, too much water; not possible to collect all Pokemon in these versions |
GBA | River City Ransom EX | Million | Removes co-op and replaces it with an AI partner and more game customizability |
GBA | Riviera: The Promised Land | Sting | First in the Dept. Heaven series, with nonconventional dungeon exploration and item-based battles |
GBA | Robopon 2: Cross/Ring Version | RED Entertainment | Introduces 4-on-4 battles, but otherwise is more of the same robot collecting and customizing |
JP GBA | Rockman EXE 4.5: Real Operation | Capcom | Not part of the MMBN story, gives you the ability to control multiple Navis |
GBA | Shaman King: Legacy of the Spirits Soaring Hawk/Sprinting Wolf | KCEJ | Based on the manga, basically Pokemon-type battles with spirits |
GBA | Shaman King: Master of Spirits | KCEJ | Metroidvania based on the anime |
GBA | Shaman King: Master of Spirits II | KCEJ | Another Metroidvania based on the anime but with more attacks and abilities |
GBA | Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon | Amusement Vision | Remake of the first Shining Force with new plot and characters |
GBA | Shining Soul | Nextech/Grasshopper Manufacture | Isometric ARPG that serves as a reboot of sorts to the Shining series |
GBA | Shining Soul II | Nextech/Grasshopper Manufacture | Similar to the first, with more classes to choose from |
JP GBA | Shin Megami Tensei | Atlus | Keeps the visuals from the Playstation version, makes a few balance changes and adds some unlockable story scenes |
GBA | Summon Night: Swordcraft Story | Flight-Plan | Combat reminiscent of earlier Tales games, but with weapon swapping available |
GBA | Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2 | Flight-Plan | Like the first, but with more crafting |
GBA | Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation | Banpresto | Contains only original characters (no licensed mechs), gameplay is otherwise SRPG as always |
GBA | Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2 | Banpresto | Differs from the first game by featuring a branching storyline |
JP GBA | Super Robot Taisen J | Banpresto | Contains licensed mechs, which is why localization didn't otherwise occur |
GBA | Sword of Mana | Brownie Brown | Incorporates elements from later games and 2 story paths |
GBA | Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis | Quest | Plays like Tactics Ogre- SRPG format, set before both Ogre Battle games |
GBA | Tales of Phantasia | Namco Tales Studio | First time released in English, with lots of slowdown and heavily compressed voice clips |
JP GBA | Tomato Adventure | AlphaDream | You say "tomato," I say "a silly RPG with toy-based gimmicks in combat, humor throughout, and lots of lycopene!" |
GBA | Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone | Sting | Second Dept. Heaven game, an SRPG with card-based movement and skills as well as some real-time elements |
GBA | Yu-Gi-Oh!: Reshef of Destruction | Konami | You will be judged by many for playing this game and even more for enjoying it- be warned |
GBA | Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Sacred Cards | Konami | Surprisingly, there's a story surrounding the gameplay of a children's card game. You level by dueling. Shrug. |
GBA | Zelda II: The Adventure of Link | Nintendo | See NES |
GBA | Zoids: Legacy | Amedio | In Japan, known as Zoids Saga II; standard turn-based combat, based on the anime |
GBA | Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars | Winkysoft | Mecha SRPG with some first-person elements in targeting enemies and attack dodging |