PixlBit

It's always fun to go down the list of Metacritic's top games for a system or year. Here goes for the GBA, which I'm trying to play alongside my PS2 games. It's all about the early 2000s. 

1. 16. Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past/Four Swords Adventures and Minish Cap - I've not even finished the first chapter of LttP in previous plays, but I should give it a go again. I actually own LttP physically, so I definitely will play it again soon. I think the puzzles usually frustrate me in Zelda games. They always seem so obscure to me. But another try is definitely worth it, I think. Minish Cap surprised me when I played it on the Switch service last week. I got the Earth Element and was heading to Mt. Crenel when I got a little tired of trying to find some secret path or whatever. I just got tired of that endless wandering about trying to find that one thing. But, I'll return to it 'cause it's great. 

2. 14. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and 3 - I used to own one of these, but I could never get into it. It feels like only a die hard skateboard fan would want this on a handheld. But what do I know. I was a biker not a skater in my youth. 

3. 6. 9. Super Mario Advance 4, 2, 3 - Why do they put both the original game's title and the remake title together, SMA4/SMB3, SMW/SMA2 YI/SMA3? These titles are way too long. Anyway, I played a few levels of these on Nintendo Classics for Switch last week. The remake of SMB3 is excellent but pure platforming has a enraging effect on me, and I never last long unless I can vent with shooting (Yoshi) or bashing (Wario). The Super Mario World remake has the same effect. However, I liked Yoshi's Island the best and stayed with that one a lot longer. Nothing like gobbling up enemies and pooping them out as throwable eggs. Oh yeah!

4. Mario Kart: Super Circuit - I used to own this but traded it. I feel realy constrained playing a racing game on a handheld. I'd much rather play it on a big screen. I could've played it on my Game Boy Player for GameCube, I guess, but I need a little something more in my racing games like crazy speed or crashing to keep my interest. 

5. 17. Advance Wars 1 and 2 - These are old favorites and will remain in my collection forever. All I need now are boxed copies which are rather hard to find and expensive for GBA because they used cardboard boxes. Too bad they didn't use plastic like the DS. I also have the remakes for Switch. The games work great on handheld or console. I even play similar games such as Nectaris: Military Madness, Mecha Wars and Wargroove. Even the Daisenryaku series has some comparison. They're all based on old war, hex grid based, board games I used to play as a kid. 

7. 15 - Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission - So I love the visuals of these games. The cutscenes are great. I like the stories too. I actualy got a lot farther in both playing them on Switch last week, but I still didn't get very far. I have both of these physical though, so I'll dig in again sometime soon. 

8. Final Fantasy VI - I played some of the pixel remaster I had on Switch last week. I got past the Narshe guard with the Moogles I had trouble with last time, but then couldn't for the life of me find Edgar's Chambers in Figaro Castle. Sometimes I just goof it up rather badly. A walkthrough shows it shouldn't be that hard. Well, another time perhaps. 

10. 12. 24. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance - I got the farthest in Harmony of Dissonance within the Castlevania Advance Collection, available everywhere (and on sale last week for $10). I love the cut sceens in these games, but I often have trouble with the gameplay. I finally understood the map screen and special attacks playing HoD but how do you health up outside of rarely found potions? My health just widdles away, and in that early boss fight it just ran down to nothing quickly. The games seem very difficult, but I'll keep trying. 

11. Golden Sun - I traded my copy out of frustration recently but replayed it on Switch last week and got way past where I got stuck. I got through the Mercury Lighthouse but couldn't figure out how to use the Mind Read Psynergy. Every time you click "A" near a character, they talk to you and you don't mind read them. I had some trouble with the Psynergy that moves stuff too, but I figured that one out eventually. I don't know about the Mind Read. Well, for another time. I'm just glad I got as far as I did this time. 

13. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga - Where it all started with M&L games. I still own it, but I played it on the Switch service last week. I got pretty far but in part one you have to use your Spin Move to capture 10 Hoohoo spirits in 30 seconds to enter the boss fight with the guardian. I had a lot of trouble with this and stopped playing after numerous tries. Well, I'll return to it on physical because I love this game and the whole series that followed. 

18. 21. WarioWare Inc. Mega Microgames and Twisted - Mega Microgames is on Switch but not Twisted. I played Microgames last week and really enjoyed it. I love the design aesthetic of the Wario games: sound, graphics, mechanics. They are wildly creative and fun and perfect for handheld systems. I would love to own these physically. 

19. Tactics Ogre: Knight of the Lodis - I actually own the cart, but I found out it is a bootleg and not official. Well, it still has the full game on it. The remake is available on Switch for a price. I've played my cart before and got killed early on. I've been turning away from tactics games of late because they tend to be hard and, in the end, I really don't get much out of them. But, I may take another crack at it soon and see what happens. 

20. Wario Land 4 - I really enjoyed this on the Switch subscription service. I love Wario's charge move and his ability to grab and throw enemies and objects. It makes that platforming so much more tolerable to me. 

22. Bomberman Tournament - I've never really played much of the Bomberman games. They always seemed better in multiplayer, but this has a single player quest mode I may have to check out sometime. 

23. Fire Emblem - I played this on the Switch last week even though I have the cart (and will play that later). I got 10 levels into it before a game ending death, surprising myself mightily at my progress. I found out later that the first 10 levels are just the prologue and there are 20 more to go. Wow! This game is about tactics, yes, but it also attempts to tell a good story and develop characters and the relationships between each other. There didn't seem to be any actual mechanics for relationships in this first game of the series, but cut-scenes do show you how they relate to each other and change due to battle results. I'm encouraged by this recent run that I can actually get deep into this game next time I play it. 

25. Ultimate Card Games - It's surprising that a traditional game collection made it so high on the critics list. I'm looking for it now. There is a DS version too which came out much later I've seen before at my game stores, so maybe I'll pick that up. I'd play solitaire in it at least. 

And that's the top 25 on Metacritic and my thoughts on them. It helps me to think about these and any games I've played and got stuck in. A quick glance at a walkthrough while writing this can clear up some things for next time. 

What do you think?