So in revisiting this 2000-2009 this month, I thought I'd go down page one of the list of Metacritic's best of for GBA in this time range and make some comments for the games I have something to say about.
Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past/Four Swords (#1 on MC), Minish Cap (#16) - I have a rather beat up and marked up cart of Link but not Minish. I should say, I don't own any GBA game in its original box. They were cardboard and didn't last. Getting them now is a pricey affair I'm not interested in.
Super Mario Kart: Super Circuit (#4) - I have this cart too I got for cheap a while back at Gamestop. I would say, I'm not thrilled to play a racing game on a handheld but I will give it another run to see if my feelings have changed.
Advance Wars (#5), Advance Wars 2 (#17) - Of all my GBA games, I would like boxed versions of these that I own as lone carts. They're my favorites for the system. I've never beaten them, so there's always more to do.
Metroid Fusion (#7), Zero Mission (#15) - I own these carts. The first new Metroid game after Super Metroid '94 and the remake of the first Metroid. I have yet to really get excited by these but maybe this time will be different.
Final Fantasy VI (#8), Tactics (#26), IV (#35), V (#54), I & II (#97) - I would love to have these, but I fear they are expensive these days. Anyways, the main series games are part of Pixel Remasters, I own Tactics for PS1, and I have IV for DS.
Castlevania Aria of Sorrow (#10), Circle of the Moon (#12), Harmony of Dissonance (#24)- These GBA Castlevanias look amazing, and I own Circle of the Moon. I always have trouble with the gameplay, but I have the Castlevania Advance Collection on my wishlist to try out Aria and Harmony.
Golden Sun (#11), Lost Age (#28) - I still have these on GBA but have yet to play more them than an hour or so. I need to take a deep dive into these.
Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga (#13) - I love this series and will gladly play this again in its entirety.
WarioWare Inc. Mega Microgame$! (#18), Twisted (#21), Wario Land 4 (#20) - After being wowed by Wario Land Shake It, I now want all the Wario games. These may be pricey but maybe reasonable, I'll see when I go looking.
Tactics Ogre: Knight of the Lodis (#19) - I have this cart from way back. I feel like I may be past my obsession with tactics games seeing how they beat me up every time I play them, but since I own this still, it's worth giving it a run before I decide to trade it for something more fun, perhaps.
Fire Emblem (#23), Sacred Stones (#33) - I think one of these that I own is not legitimate. It still has the real, full game on it but it's some kind of bootleg. I'll have to check again to make sure. But again, the strategy games were my interest at one time and maybe now not so much. I will replay them though.
Puyo Pop (#42) - I just put this on my wish list. Puzzle games are great on handhelds.
Klonoa: Empire of Dreams (#47) - Luckily I still have this. I love the Klonoa games, one of the few platform game franchises I really enjoy.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (#50) - I swear I owned this at one time but not anymore. I can't really have this on too many systems.
Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland (#72), Amazing Mirror (#94) - I'd like to own all the Kirby games but price might get in my way. I just saw Nightmare at a store but it was a little more than I wanted to pay. I think it was $30. Neither are on my Dream Collection for Wii, so I will get them one day.
Breath of Fire II (#79), Breath of Fire (#106) - I have the first one in the series (maybe this was the bootleg cart I have?), and I need to play more of it. I doubt I'll be able to get this sequel for anything reasonable though.
Lunar Legend (#107) - Somehow I own this from way back when I got it cheap. It retells Silver Star, whatever that means, but original Silver Star is now remastered and available on consoles. The original PS1 disc was always pricey even back in my flea market hunting days of the 2000s.
Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon (#137) - I have this too and maybe it's now something worth trading, but I'd like to play it first. It's a remake of the first Shining Force game and also available on the Switch Sub.
Tales of Phantasia (#147) - I still own this too. I feel I played it once but don't remember much about it. It's a port of the first Tales game. I've had on and off again success enjoying the Tales games. Always worth a try though.
Riviera The Promised Land (#149) - I really enjoyed this RPG some years ago. I still have it and want to play it again.
Phantasy Star Collection (#152) - The first 3 Phantasy Star games for your handheld. I don't know how much I'll enjoy this anymore since I've kind of decided that complex games for my handheld aren't something I really want, but I give it a go before I likely trade it.
Sword of Mana (#196) - I'm always surprised at what I have sometimes in my collection. Things get added years ago and I totally forget about them under the mountain of games I've accumulated over the years. It's an enhanced remake of the first Mana game, called Final Fantasy Adventure in the west. I'm glad I still own it so I can finally play it.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (#269) - This may be far down the list critically, but I love this series after playing this one on the Switch Sub. I have since picked up several titles in this series for DS including Blue Team, the port of this for DS.
That's enough GBA for now. Next time I'll do the same for PS2. I didn't realize how much I would put down here just for GBA.
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