10 Most Impressive Game Boy Advance JRPGs

I have the Game Boy Advance to thank for my love of sprites and pixel art. I had a Game Boy, too, but the fact that there were so many more vibrant colors and plenty of games that used that to their advantage certainly nurtured a deep appreciation for the art form later in life. Some titles really pushed what this little handheld could do, and the fact that it was home to a great JRPG or even several is strong proof of that.

The era of the Game Boy Advance and the GameCube together was a great time to be into this hobby. While we didn't know it then, many of these games would define our tastes and become favorites for the decades to come. You could say that about any console generation, depending on your age, but it's hard to ignore just how great games were for the GBA when JRPGs like these were constantly proving what they could do.

10 Phantasy Star Collection

Probably Someone's Life-Changing 3-in-1 Deal

There are a lot of gateway JRPGs out there. My own personal start with the genre is very hard to pin down between Pokémon, Kingdom Hearts, or Tales of. Thanks to the fact that it advertised holding three games in it on the box, there's likely someone out there that got their start with Phantasy Star Collection for the GBA. I wouldn't blame them. The Phantasy Star games aren't the longest RPGs out there, but it's still making my eyes go wide that there's three of them on one little cartridge.

This GBA collection has its roots with one sharing its name on the Sega Saturn. The difference between them, though, is that the Saturn version had all four of the original games on it. The GBA collection only has Phantasy Star I, II, and III. This was one of the biggest criticisms of the ports back then, but three games might have been all they could fit on it. The poor sound emulation, limited save slots, and other issues seem to suggest that's the case. Just because it was ambitious to include three games on the cart doesn't automatically mean it was good, after all.

9 Astro Boy: Omega Factor

Paying Respect to Our Anime Elders

I can hear you through the screen now. "This is a stretch," you say. I say — This game features EXP, levels, stats, a linear story with character portraits, and it asks you to play it twice for the true ending with the option to pick your stage thrown on top. That sounds like a lot of JRPGs, doesn't it? The levels themselves may be platformer beat-em-ups, but if a Yu Yu Hakusho game on the Sega Genesis that plays like Punch-Out counts, then so does this. If it wasn't for Astro Boy, JRPGs and anime as a whole would be completely different anyway. We've got to give credit where credit is due.

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is huge for a little licensed game. Everything I mentioned there is indeed part of its very lengthy gameplay loop. Omega Factor also goes out of its way to not only feature Astro and other key characters from his story, but plenty of other Osamu Tezuka characters as well. Phoenix, Black Jack, Unico all appear to name a few, but their stories might be shifted around to fit into the larger narrative. If anything I talked about here has made your jaw drop, trust me. Omega Factor's got so much more in it that'll surprise you.

8 Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand

A JRPG Had Solar Power Before the Entire World

Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand puts you in the shoes of Django, a young boy who takes hold of his vampire hunter ancestry to wield the Gun Del Sol. It's a special weapon that can shoot sunlight at Django's targets. Boktai has an internal clock within it that you need to set so the game can match your day-and-night cycle in real time. Like one would expect from a game developed by Hideo Kojima — yes, that Kojima — there's an element of stealth to it. When your weapons run out of sunlight, you'll need to sneak past enemies to reach nearby recharge stations.

Playing Boktai during the day gives you a special advantage, though. The original Boktai GBA cartridges had solar sensors on them that could register and recharge your weapons if you held the game up to the sun. It's the kind of gimmicky concept you'd only find during the Game Boy era, and it managed to be interesting enough to have three games follow it up.

7 Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Years of Kingdom Hearts Multi-Console Confusion Starts Here

You've just finished Kingdom Hearts. You watch as Sora, Donald, and Goofy chase Pluto toward a new adventure. You smile as you turn your PlayStation off, and wonder what will come next. You then find out that it's on the Game Boy Advance and question your loyalties to Sony.

Thankfully, the best way to play Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories these days is on the 1.5 and 2.5 ReMix collection, but that was a real struggle many Kingdom Hearts fans went through back in the day. Chain of Memories on the Game Boy Advance is a nostalgic title for a lot of people. The character art was amazing to look at, and it was the first GBA title to use FMVs in it. The FMVs are very impressive when you remember that Chain of Memories didn't just have Sora's storyline, but one for Riku, too.

Considering Chain of Memories was the only game leading to Kingdom Hearts 2 at the time, being released on an entire different side of the gaming industry back then certainly was an ambitious move.

6 Fire Emblem

A Redefining Second Chance

The Fire Emblem series started out back on the Famicom (NES) and remained in Japan because Nintendo wasn't sure it would find an audience internationally. Following the inclusion of Marth and Roy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade was localized as just "Fire Emblem" to give the series a chance to thrive worldwide.

As we all know from the large Smash Bros. Fire Emblem cast, the games, and the direct announcements since, the gamble paid off. Fire Emblem ended up being a nice, engaging, yet simple fantasy JRPG for those that gave it a chance. That success has led the series to the heights it now has in Nintendo's IP portfolio.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade might not be the most impressive GBA game in terms of presentation or story, but I think it deserves a spot for bringing FE out of obscurity. The other two GBA Fire Emblem games improve on what Blazing Blade set up, so if you're looking for GBA JRPGs to invest in, these three are a great choice.

5 Golden Sun

The Cult Classic

Golden Sun is regularly dubbed the best JRPG on the Game Boy Advance for good reason. It has all the elements one would love from the genre wrapped up in fantastic presentation and a satisfying and challenging gameplay loop. On top of that, you could use spells like Carry to explore the world in a way that was immersive and different from how most games handled things. You could even Mind Read NPCs!

I want you to think about what that entails for a second. Golden Sun has very responsive menus, incredible 3D sprites, adaptive stats and systems like the Djinns, combat that plays out all at once in a snap, branching story paths, and very interactive worlds. All on this little Game Boy Advance cartridge. It even had multiplayer through the link cable. It's almost like a whole other Final Fantasy 7 in its own right. You can really tell the developers at Camelot Software loved working on Golden Sun with the aim of making an unforgettable JRPG. And boy, have they.

4 Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Versions

The Definition of "Advanced"

Every Pokémon generation and region tests the expectations of its players. That goes without saying. I could argue every Pokémon game is ambitious in some way, but Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire sincerely deserve praise. The franchise started humbly with Pokémon Red and Blue, and Pokémon Gold and Silver followed them like proper sequels.

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were the first games in the series to reinvent the wheel, and they did it with style. The detail and feel of the sprites were dripping with good artistic direction. It's not only one of the most impressive GBA games visually, but it felt great to battle and catch Pokémon all the way through.

It left such a mark on me as a kid that when I think of the Game Boy Advance era, my mind goes to how Ruby and Sapphire made me feel. The way everything changed and had this sense of style that I could only find in the Generation 3 games. The Pokémon series had a strong sense of confidence back then that can still be felt in the games themselves.

3 Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Leave the Mushroom Kingdom Behind

When you think of JRPGs, the last thing that would come to your head would be Mario and Luigi. Yet, thanks to the fantastic series made by AlphaDream, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga brings the plumbers to this genre with flying colors. The game has Mario and Luigi adventuring through the Beanbean Kingdom, a neighboring realm to the Mushroom Kingdom.

This game oozes charm in the way only a Game Boy Advance game can. The reason the Mario Bros. are on this journey is because Princess Peach had her voice stolen. The game shows this by having Peach speak with special characters that explode when they fall out of the speech bubble. This is only the start of just how Superstar Saga endears itself to you with its creativity.

It's a good thing it works hard on making you love it, because it also throws a unique control scheme at you. Mario's actions are controlled with the A Button, but Luigi's actions are controlled with the B Button. When you first start playing, it might seem tricky, but you'll get the hang of it. And then it'll become a habit so much that when Mario & Luigi: Brothership changes it years later, it'll throw you off your game completely.

2 Riviera: The Promised Land

The Stone You Left Unturned

Riviera: The Promised Land starts out a bit pretentious, if I can be honest. When you start, it tells you the story of a war between angels and demons that took place 1,000 years ago. Now, in the present day, demons are returning. Two Grim Angels, with one being our protagonist Ein, set out to destroy the land before it gets taken over. None of this matters too much, because Ein gets amnesia soon after.

I'm being a bit tough on Riviera's opening, but it actually plays a key part in the overarching themes of the story instead of just being another game with a tropey protagonist. It's very refreshing with the way Riviera is just as overly anime as you'd expect from JRPGs at the time.

With its unique flair on its mechanics and obvious attention to detail that only an ambitious game would have, it's easy to get sucked into Riviera: The Promised Land. If you're one of the many people that likely didn't give it the time of day when it was first on the Game Boy Advance, you really should give it a try. It's both nostalgic and timeless all at once.

1 Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis

The Tactical JRPG That Got Lost Along the Way

A lot of the games we talked about here are very anime in nature. It comes with the "J" in "JRPG." Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis is no different, but the Tactics Ogre series offers players a more traditional fantasy experience wrapped up in everything you'd expect from a JRPG in terms of presentation.

The way Tactics Ogre presents itself might seem a bit uncanny to Final Fantasy Tactics. That's because Tactics Ogre was actually made first by the same director, Yasumi Matsuno. Tactics Ogre was also both quick and late to the tactical JRPG party, being made just five years after the original Fire Emblem. Ogre Tactics' games came over to international markets, but never became the hit Fire Emblem would later on.

With all of that said, Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis has a lot to offer those who adore this particular sub-genre. It has secret characters to find, and five endings that can be earned based on your actions. It's definitely a game those in love with titles can get sucked into and not put down for a while, and that's impressive for a GBA title on its own.