10 Best GBA Games You Can Beat In One Sitting

The video game industry continues to evolve in unbelievable ways, leaving audiences with more options than ever before. It’s easy to focus on the ongoing accomplishments of next-gen hardware, but there are still many milestones from the gaming industry’s past that are worthy of celebration. The Nintendo Switch bridges the gap between console and handheld gaming, but for years Nintendo tackled these fields seperately.

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The Game Boy Advance is a pivotal piece of hardware that helped Nintendo dominate the handheld market for years. Game Boy Advance games were substantially longer than the titles that were on Nintendo’s Game Boy Color, but not every game was interested in being an extensive experience. Some of the Game Boy Advance’s most satisfying releases can actually be completed in a single playthrough.

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10

Kirby: Nightmare In Dream Land Remakes An NES Classic With Extra Love

One of the biggest selling points of Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance is that it could effectively handle Super Nintendo quality games on a handheld level. This resulted in many SNES ports, as well as remakes of classics from earlier generations. Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land is a remake of the original Nintendo’s Kirby’s Adventure. Aesthetically, Nightmare in Dream Land looks incredible and has many extra perks, such as extra playable characters and many entertaining sub-games. However, the core game is still only eight levels, all of which are short and simple.

9

The Sonic Advance Games Are The Definitive Handheld Sonic Experience

The earliest gaming generations pitted Sega and Nintendo in competition with each other, but Sega’s evolution into a third-party developer following the death of the Dreamcast finally meant that Sega’s Sonic could be on Nintendo hardware. The Sonic Advance games on the Game Boy Advance are a love letter to the original Genesis trilogy. They generate a proper velocity of speed, feature inspired level design, and don’t get too lost in extraneous concepts. All of these titles can be sped through in a single sitting, but the first Sonic Advance is both the shortest and the best.

8

Mega Man Zero Allows Mega Man X’s Powerful Partner To Run The Show

The Mega Man games are some of Capcom’s most popular releases and the Super Nintendo developed some of their most impressive games through their Mega Man X trilogy. These games introduce Zero, a compelling supporting character who finally gets put in the spotlight in the Game Boy Advance’s four Mega Man Zero titles.

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The Mega Man Zero franchise translates Zero’s fast-paced melee combat into a fresh setting that’s as entertaining as it is deep. There is so much content to master in Mega Man Zero, but gamers with less time can also fly through them all in under three hours.

7

Gunstar Super Heroes Is A Frenetic Action Game With A Retro Sensibility

Treasure is a revered game developer that made a name for themselves during the ’90s with some exceptional action-platformers. The Sega Genesis’ Gunstar Heroes is one of Treasure’s greatest triumphs, and audiences were incredibly surprised when an official sequel happened more than a decade after the original’s release. 2005’s Gunstar Super Heroes for the Game Boy Advance doesn’t miss a beat from its Genesis classic. It delivers addictive run-and-gun gameplay that pushes the Game Boy Advance’s hardware to the limit. The gameplay and presentation behind Gunstar Super Heroes are immaculate, but the chaotic adventure doesn’t last much longer than two hours.

6

Mario Kart: Super Circuit Is An Infinitely Entertaining Handheld Racer

Nintendo’s Mario Kart franchise is one of their biggest performers and it’s arguably usurped Mario’s platformers in appeal. Mario Kart’s popularity is still at an all-time high, but the Game Boy Advance’s Mario Kart: Super Circuit was a pivotal release for the handheld. Super Circuit is the first handheld Mario Kart game and it doesn’t struggle at all with this transition. It contains all of the courses from the Super Nintendo original, as well as nearly two-dozen new courses. Super Circuit contains endless replayability and takes forever to master, but the different cups can all be beaten easily within a few hours.

5

Klonoa: Empire Of Dreams Is A Strong Beginner Platformer For All Ages

Klonoa is a quirky fantasy platformer that found an audience on the PlayStation and originally experimented with portable releases on Japan’s WonderSwan handheld. The Game Boy Advance’s Klonoa: Empire of Dreams is set between the two mainline titles and it’s an excellent take on the sidescrolling platformer with puzzle elements.

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Klonoa’s PlayStation outings aren’t overly difficult or long and the same is true with Empire of Dreams. It’s a satisfying introduction to Klonoa for the Nintendo crowd, but it won’t challenge audiences for very long.

4

Metroid Fusion Sets A New Standard For 2D Metroid Games

Nintendo sometimes struggles to shower Metroid with the same respect that they have for Mario and Zelda, but the past few years have been kind to fans of the sci-fi/action series. The Switch’s Metroid Dread is being praised as a series high point, but narratively it continues from the Game Boy Advance’s moody Metroid Fusion. This Super Metroid successor offers tight and intuitive controls and one of the most intimidating atmospheres in a Metroid game. Metroid Fusion is full of secrets, but the main objectives can be cleared in around five hours, or considerably faster for those that know what they’re doing.

3

The Legendary Starfy 3 Is The Franchise’s GBA Swan Song

Nintendo has gotten a lot better with the localization of niche properties, but The Legendary Starfy is still one of the company’s bigger oversights. Starfy’s roots actually go back to the original Game Boy, even though the first North American release was the Nintendo DS’s fourth entry in the franchise. The Starfy games are brightly colored and full of adorable characters and level designs, but they’re fairly simple in the challenge department. The Game Boy Advance’s third Starfy game feels like the most complete entry in the series, but it can still be finished in a single lengthy gaming session.

2

Astro Boy: Omega Factor Turns The Famous Boy Robot Into A Beat-‘Em-Up Legend

Video games that adapt licensed properties, especially anime series, can polarize the gaming community. There are often low expectations with these sorts of endeavors, which always makes it exciting when a developer delivers a passionate love letter to the property. Astro Boy: Omega Factor is developed by Treasure and Hitmaker, and it properly translates the exaggerated action of Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy into a fast-paced beat-’em-up sidescroller. Omega Factor looks gorgeous and plays to the developer’s strengths, but it also doesn’t overstay its welcome. It is a tight experience that doesn’t last much longer than three hours.

1

Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 Gives The SNES Classic A Portable Makeover

There are some excellent original games that made their debut on the Game Boy Advance, but some of the console’s most popular releases are from the Super Mario Advance series, which update and re-release former Super Mario classics. Super Mario Advance 2 translates one of the best video games of all time, Super Mario World, into a portable experience and doesn’t struggle in the slightest. Granted, a proper completion of Super Mario World is a lengthy feat, but savvy gamers who take the “Star Road” route can beat the game in an hour or two.

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