On the April 10th 2007 edition of the "Hotspot", Jeff Gerstmann was explaining how the GBA section of Gamespot's web site days are numbered. Therefore, I was just what wondering what everyone thought of the system at this point in its history.
In my opinion, and I realize that I may be alone on this, the Gameboy Advance is definitely one of the best game systems of all time, and the greatest portable gaming system of all time. I consider the GBA library to be leaps and bounds better than that of the NES, SNES, Master System, Genesis, TG-16 and previous iterations of the Gameboy. Let's take a more detailed look at that argument.
- Ports: we cannot deny that the GBA was a great place for remakes and ports of older software. Just about all of the biggest titles from the NES, SNES and Genesis have been ported over or remade on the GBA in one form or another. The entire Super Mario series, entire pre-Sony Final Fantasy series, pre-Sony Breath of Fire series, Cl*ssic NES series, Capcom Mini Mix, Sega's Smash Pack, Phantasy Star Collection, entire Donkey Kong Country series, Lunar, Zelda: A link to the Past, Shining Force, Comix Zone, Earthworm Jim, Rock and Roll Racing, Double Dragon Advanced, Final Fight One, Super Ghouls and Ghosts Advanced...these a just a few examples of a collection that rivals what is available and going to be available on the Wii's Virtual Console. With a robust collection of Arcade Game Collections as well, there actually is more retro gaming available for the GBA than any other system.
- Great sequels: the GBA was a great place to resurrect alot of dormant franchises that had been forgotten since the beginning of the 3D era. Many of these franchises were continuations of existing series from other consoles, evolved to a form that seemed beyond the scope of a portable game system. The Castlevania Series, the Fire Emblem series, the Advance Wars series, Metriod Fusion, Sword of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics, Zelda: The Minish Cap, MarioKart, F-Zero, Super Gunstar Heroes, the Pokemon games, the MegaMan Zero and Battle Network series...these are just a few examples of previously existing series on other platforms that really came into bloom on the GBA. Some of the best entries of these series are exclusive to the GBA.
- Original software: with all of the great ports and sequels making their way to the GBA it's easy to overlook the vast majority of original titles for the GBA. Great titles like Racing Gears Advance, Warioware, the Golden Sun series, the Boktia series, Car Battler Joe, Tron 2.0, Drill Dozer, the Iridion series, Mech Platoon, Ninja Five-O, the Super Robot Taisen series, Yggdra Union, Riviera: The Promised Land, Astroboy: The Omega Factor, Top Gear Rally, Scourge: The Hive...these are a fraction of the quality original games in the GBA library.
While at this time, the DS and PSP have captured the imaginations of current gamers, I believe that history will show that the GBA was a legendary system, that will stay in the hearts and minds of those who played it for years to come.. I'll be playing GBA games for many years to come. How about you?