In this weeks ‘Remembering The…‘, we’ll be briefly transitioning from the world of home consoles to the world of handheld consoles. From family vacations to long car rides, the Game Boy Advance (heretofore GBA) was always a treasured ally by my side.
So, let’s jump into my analysis of the GBA!
The Console
While the OG Game Boy was obviously a heavy-hitter in terms of sales and cultural success, it was the Game Boy Advance (hereafter GBA) that truly showed how good handheld games could be, instead of people just thinking of handheld gaming as an inferior (if convenient) alternative.
In essence, the GBA is the SNES, but on-the-go. I do mean that quite literally, the two systems are roughly equivalent in power, with the edge going to the GBA. That’s why so many SNES games got GBA re-releases/ports. Just about the only thing the GBA couldn’t do in terms of this comparison is match the sound quality of a home television. GBA music and sounds could be quite crunchy. Definitely filled with their own charm, of course.
Also, I did say ‘roughly‘ the same with power. The GBA was capable of things the SNES could only dream of. There are games that take advantage of rudimentary but neat motion controls and rumble features, and the GBA could even play kids shows and movies with special cartridges (who doesn’t want to watch SpongeBob or Shrek on-the-go?). And at the end of the day, it’s just hard to resist the allure of taking gaming out-and-about with you during your day, and in such a nice pocket-size too!
The Controller
Okay, so, obviously, this is a little silly. For a handheld console, the console and the controller are the same thing. That being said, there’s still some fun things to talk about here!
The topmost picture on this article is what the GBA originally looked like, and this picture right above here is the re-released version (known as the GBA SP). The SP is what I had as a kid, and I cherished it’s simplistic but functional design greatly. A, B, START, SELECT, and D-PAD on the front, L and R on the shoulders…and that’s it. What you see is what you get with this device. I mean, alongside the brightness button up by the screen, power switch on the side, and volume slider on the other side (better not get those mixed-up!).
It all just comes together in a very neat package. It’s instantly understandable in design, and the benefits of its form are readily-apparent, especially the SP’s ability to close with a clam-shell design and fit into your pocket. Closing the device also pauses your games, which is a nice bonus. The GBA just feels really nice to hold and play with, and is the first console in this article series of ours that I’d be okay with recommending you to get a hold of one yourself, and not solely rely on modern-era emulation and the like.
Cultural Impact
Like I alluded to above, the GBA did wonders for convincing the general public that handheld gaming was worth more than just an inferior console gaming experience, or a silly little afterthought.
Firstly, it sold really, really well. People ate this thing up, not the least of which because of its massively heightened capabilities in comparison to the OG Game Boy. Finally, handheld gaming was able to strut its stuff, and the over-1500 GBA games that were released really show the ways in which this little square machine of fun could be pushed to its limits. The extremely convenient portable of the system also ensured that there were periods of time in the early 2000s where you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting someone’s GBA in their pocket!
But while there’s a lot of games I could talk about here, if we’re really going for big cultural impact, there’s nothing more noteworthy I could mention than the Pokémon series. Obviously, the original games were a big hit on the OG Game Boy, but it was the games that released on the GBA that skyrocketed the series to the high-heights it still coasts on today. Bigger games, better graphics, easier and more expansive multiplayer options…these installments (Fire Red, Leaf Green, Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald) had it all. And the gaming world hasn’t been the same since.
Favorite Games
It can’t be understated just how much of my time spent playing GBA games as a child was consumed exclusively by the four games I’ll talk about below. I really didn’t have that extensive of a GBA collection, but these four games were more than enough for me!
Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs
This little gem is, essentially, just like the big-boy console versions of Spyro the dragon’s adventures, only tucked away into a tiny handheld form! You roam the lands burning up baddies, endlessly chasing sheep to replenish your health, and collecting a mind-boggling number of gems. It’s extremely simplistic, but that simplicity kinda adds to the charm of the whole experience, and makes it pretty easy to replay the game. It’s also not challenging in the slightest, which adds to the breezy feel.
Charm is probably the game’s strongest point, whether it’s the colorful visuals or the upbeat music for each new region. There’s also a bit of ‘Metroidvania‘ going on here, as you revisit old areas with new abilities to find new treasure. Above all, it’s just really addicting to hear the pleasing tinkling sound every time you pick up a hoard of gems. Fun stuff!
Mega Man Battle Network 3
One of my very first introductions to the world of RPGs and the like, although the battle system in this Mega Man spinoff series is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Seriously, you owe it to yourself to try this game just to bask in the novel splendor of the grid-based combat system. There’s not much like it outside of this series, and it’s a really fun fusion of both strategy and skill that you don’t often see pulled off in games, as it’s usually one or the other. Building your deck of attack moves is super engaging!
Of course, I was a goofy little kid when I played this primarily, so I was exceptionally bad at this game (though I still protest that giving you a Fire Mode right before the Water area was just plain cruel). Still, I enjoyed it immensely, even if I was never skilled enough to beat it. The combat was fun, running around town was fun, finding seemingly endless secrets in the internet world was fun, and the music is really catchy too. It’s a good game for sure, and it even got re-released on modern consoles not too long ago!
Sonic Advance
Again, I feel the compulsion to reiterate something here: Sonic was a pretty massive part of my childhood. It’s honestly something I think I’m only noticing right now doing these articles, and it strikes me as ironic given my many, many grievances against the Sonic series. Still, I played and enjoyed this game a lot as a kid, and even recently re-visited in and had a good deal of fun. It’s your classic, Genesis-styled Sonic experience, complete with fast loops, ring collecting (and ring losing) and frustrating spikes/enemies no human can react to. You either love it or hate it!
The zones in this game always felt pretty neat to me, especially the secret base you have to zipline into, and the weird gravity one near the end. A good soundtrack too. I like having so many playable characters too, including Amy! There’s also an extremely simplistic but shockingly addicting mini Chao Garden mode where you feed your little guy food and play easy minigames with him. It’s effectively an afterthought, but I spent an inordinate amount of time in that mode whenever my patience wore out with the main game’s Sonic-typical issues!
Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Alongside Sonic, Mario was also a huge part of my childhood, and in terms of handheld adventures, no game consumed more of my time than this one. It might actually be the first Mario game I ever officially beat (I can’t remember if I conquered this one or Super Mario 64 first). Which is a little funny, since Yoshi’s Island is a far cry from your typical installment in the Mario franchise. Still, I had so much fun with this game, racing through levels as Yoshi and trying to get a new high-score on each run.
I really like the slower-paced, exploratory nature of the stages in this game, and also the fun and skill-oriented egg shooting combat. Yoshi’s Island is a really creative game, and the level design really emphasizes this, as do the boss fights. You never exactly know what’s going to be around each new corner in this game, and that’s a huge part of the charm. Add in a friendly and pleasing visual style and some great music tracks, and it’s no wonder many people still rank Yoshi’s Island high on their lists of best platformers! Also, this GBA port came with the OG Mario Bros arcade game, which was a good distraction from time-to-time!
Gaming Memories
Okay, so, I really wasn’t lying when I said that almost all of my time spent utilizing the GBA was with the above four games. I honestly, truly, didn’t have many more games than this, and certainly not ones that left much of a lasting impression on me.
There were a few, of course. I played a good deal of Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, even though I was really bad at it. At some point or other, I played the majority of the Super Mario GBA ports, as, again, I was a huge Mario fan as a kid. In more modern years, I’ve messed around with Pokémon Fire Red, some Yi-Gi-Oh entries on the system, and the absolutely phenomenal Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon (a full-scale remake of the Genesis classic). Also, of course, a lot of Fire Emblem games released for this system too!
But I have a lot of real-life-related memories with the GBA. Like waking up at 6:00 in the morning and playing the GBA under my blanket covers instead of trying to go back to sleep. Or turning the system off for an hour or so when it’s battery ran out, because for some reason doing that would replenish about five-to-ten minutes worth of playtime. Or the one time I accidentally drained the battery of an entire van during a weekend church trip by leaving my GBA plugged in while we were away from the vehicle. Or passing the time on my first ever airplane rides down to visit my grandparents with my trusty GBA by my side.
Conclusion
Despite, in the grand scheme of things, my relative inexperience with GBA, it’s actually a system I have a lot of fondness and respect for. The stuff that this little machine was able to accomplish is nothing short of extraordinary, whether it was miniature versions of console games, adaptations of multi-platform releases, system-exclusive experiences, or random things you’d never expect a gaming console to do. The GBA felt like it could do it all, and it accomplished this with its own unique style and charm. A very fun, memorable system, with games that are still genuinely fun to play to this day.
The Contrarian Corner 