And like so many of the best games from that era, Advance Wars extended its reach by allowing players to fight against one another using link cables after the AI had long since been dispatched. Perhaps the best strategy game on a handheld ever, outside of a Chess port, Advance Wars introduced a generation of people to the joys and sorrows of tabulating enemy stats and positions in the hopes of finding the best, next move. Between its bright, cartoony look and the approachable but strategically deep turn-based combat system, it’s not hard to see why it in particular became synonymous with the GBA. The seventh game in the War series overall, Advance Wars was still the first to make it across the Pacific to the states. Below are ten games that exemplify everything that made the GBA special and worth remembering. With the GBA, anyone could have the near equivalent of an SNES in their pocket, while an improved link cable made it possible to play with friends in a more robust yet still intimate context. While some of its ports like Final Fantasy VI remain the best versions of those games currently released, others were true successors to beloved 16-bit games like Mario Kart and Sonic the Hedgehog. Even without backlighting or a rechargeable battery pack, it offered some of the first portable videogame experiences to have real parity with their console counterparts. Backwards compatibility with previous hardware and a 32-bit processor meant it was often saddled with ports from the SNES and PlayStation or games clinging to the 8-bit legacy of its predecessors.ĭespite the handheld’s short-lived relevance, its functional design and strong but limited library helped establish it as the first truly modern mobile gaming device. Wedged between the Game Boy Color and Nintendo DS, the GBA had a leg in both worlds making it something of a middle child when it came to Nintendo’s handhelds.

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