Gaming consoles changed the gaming industry and brought a paradigm shift by providing a handy means of playing games on the go. Nintendo has a major role in helping console gaming reach a wider audience. The Japanese video game company launched Gameboy Advance in 2001 and brought 32-bit gaming and “landscape” form factor to mainstream gaming for the first time.
GameBoy Advance was an instant hit amongst gaming enthusiasts and the variety of GBA games made the iconic console quite popular in that era. Long after the sales of the handheld console halted, GBA games remained popular amongst gamers.
If reading this is evoking nostalgia, here is a list of the 10 best GBA games that will further remind you of your childhood. Compiling a list of the best games for Game Boy Advance wasn’t an easy task, but it did take me down a nostalgic ride. You can play most of the games on this list using a GBA emulator on your PC.
Before proceeding, do check out our list of the best Nintendo DS emulators To Play Pokemon Games.
10 Best GBA Games To Play On A GBA Emulator
1. Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap – Best GBA Game Ever
Nintendo consoles and Zelda franchise are like the two sides of a coin, it is difficult to separate them. Out of all the Legend of Zelda games, Minish Cap is considered the best game that you can play on a GBA emulator. Nintendo involved Capcom in the development of the game, which worked wonders in favor of the franchise. The action-adventure game soon became one of the most popular games for GBA enthusiasts. The game has all the features you’ll find in any of the games belonging to the Zelda franchise but consider them much smoother and more fun. If you want to play the game offline, you can download a GBA emulator for the same.
2. Astro Boy: Omega Factor – Best GBA game for Anime fans
If you’re an anime fan as well as a gamer, I bet you must have played Astro Boy: Omega Factor at least once in your life. The character of Osamu Tezuka touched the hearts of many and the plot of the GBA game made it further popular amongst gamers. Astro Boy: Omega Factor has intuitive controls and fans particularly like its side-scrolling stages. It is considered one of the best GBA games in the action genre. GBA ROM for Astro Boy: Omega Factor is easily available online for when you want to reminisce about the old times.
3. Pokemon Emerald – Arguably Best GBA game for Pokemon lovers
Picking out the best Pokemon game for Gameboy Advance wasn’t as easy as it sounds owing to the fact that there is a huge number of GBA Pokemon games out there. However, Pokemon Emerald is one of the definitive games that every lover of the series must have played on their GBA. You can easily argue that we could’ve included Ruby or Sapphire but Emerald stood out as the best. The game introduced the Battle Frontier round which wasn’t found in any of the previous editions of the Pokemon franchise. Pokemon Emerald, with its advanced graphics and gripping gameplay, deserves to be regarded as one of the top GBA Pokemon games.
4. WarioWare: Twisted – Best GBA Game With Gyrosensor
The list of the best GBA games is incomplete without WarioWare: Twisted. This puzzle video game brought the concept of “five-second gameplay” to mainstream gaming. Quite ahead of its time, WarioWare: Twisted utilized the gyrosensor and was one of the two games available at the time to do so. It was a highly entertaining game and received a rating of 9.5 out of 10 from IGN. WarioWare: Twisted GBA ROM is available on the internet but the real fun was spinning your GBA like a maniac.
5. Doom 2 – The legendary GBA Game
Were you really expecting us not to include this legendary video game in this list of top GBA games? Doom 2, the popular first-person shooter game, is counted as one of the highly-rated GameBoy Advance games in the action genre. You step into the shoes of Doom Slayer with the aim of killing demons in an apocalyptic world. It is a very addictive and lengthy FPS game that brings intense action to Game Boy Advance.
6. Donkey Kong Country – One Of the Classic GameBoy Advance Games
When it comes to the list of best GBA games, Donkey Kong Country surely deserves a spot. This classic game was a favorite of many back in its time. The adventure game has challenging enemies, fun-filled stages and minigames to keep you entertained for a long time. If you want to bask in the era of platforming games, there is no better option than Donkey Kong Country. The game can also be played on a PC by using a GBA emulator. However, the experience of the rush on a handheld console like GameBoy Advance is unparalleled.
7. Metal Slug Advance – Best Shooting Game For GBA
When SNK Playmore offered the GBA version of Metal Slug, many people thought that the developer had killed the game. On the contrary, Metal Slug Advance emerged as one of the best GameBoy games, beating all the odds. The game brought the choice of a male or female character, health bar, and side quests. Metal Slug Advance is an excellent game that ticks off all the checkboxes for a perfect GBA game. It is one of the games that you will find in the collection of every GameBoy Advance enthusiast. You can still download the GBA ROM Metal Slug from the internet but you’d require a GBA emulator to play it.
8. Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand – An Expensive Yet Interesting GBA Game
Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand is considered one of the kind games ever developed for GameBoy Advance. The game is a creation of Hideo Kojima, the famous developer who is also behind classics like Snatcher and Metal Gear. Boktai, one of the popular GBA games, had a daylight sensor that charged in the sunlight. The game is about a vampire hunter hence the developer added a daylight sensor in the cartridge to give a new twist to the game. Being a quirky game that brought something totally out of the game, Boktai not only earned the title of one of the best GBA games, but also one of the most expensive cartridges available for GBA during the peak era of the handheld console.
9. Golden Sun – Best GameBoy Advance RPG
The Golden Sun was, in a real sense, one of the most hyped games for GameBoy Advance. Developed by the creators of Shining Force and several Mario sports titles, Golden Sun had amazing graphics, immersive background score, and a complex storyline. The turn-based battles made the game fun and rendered an unmatched experience on the handheld console. It also involved a bit of strategy when players were required to set Djinn to their character. The Golden Sun GBA game also had a sequel named The Lost Age and the developers also allowed transferring characters and items between the two titles.
10. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow – Best Title of Castlevania Series
The Castlevania series by Konami hit GameBoy Advance lovers like a Tsunami. Compared to the previous two titles in the series, Aria of Sorrow is considered as the best mainly owing to the fact that it was the last game of the series and it added improved graphics, new characters, and gameplay elements. If any RPG game that could be placed on the same pedestal as the Golden Sun then it is Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. It is one of the top GBA games to find a place in the collection of those who fervently played games on GameBoy Advance back in early 2000.
Play Enlisted Best GBA Games Using A GBA Emulator
It is rare to find a GameBoy Advance console these days. However, if you still want to cherish your childhood and relive that time when you spent hours clearing a stage in your favorite GBA game, you can do it now using a GBA emulator. There are plenty of GBA emulators available online that you can download according to your platform. Some of the noteworthy GameBoy Advance emulators that you can download from the internet are RetroArch, GBA.emu, mGBA, and BatGBA.
