GBA Hits 25! Digging into Nintendo's Handheld Vault – The Must-Plays on Switch and the Magical Games We're Still Wishing For
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Join Jeff as he, channeling his inner digital wizard, explores Eurogamer's fantastic rundown of Game Boy Advance gems turning 25 – from the quirky classics you can play on Switch right now, to the legendary titles we're all desperately hoping Nintendo pulls out of its magical hat soon.
Right then, gather 'round, folks! Our mates over at Eurogamer just dropped a cracking piece, originally penned by Matt Wales with stellar contributions from Chris Tapsell, Christian Donlan, and Marie Pritchard, celebrating the quarter-century milestone of a true handheld legend: the Game Boy Advance. You can find their full insights over at eurogamer.net. And bloody hell, if that doesn't make you feel a bit ancient, I don't know what will!
Twenty-five years, eh? It feels like just yesterday I was trying to explain to my nan why a tiny screen could hold so much wonder. The GBA wasn't just a console; it was a pocket-sized portal, a digital spellbook that let you conjure entire worlds on the bus. Selling over 81.5 million units is no small feat, and its library? Absolute wizardry. It gave us sequels to beloved series and birthed entirely new legends. So, to honour this silver anniversary, we're diving into Eurogamer's curated list of personal favourites – both the ones Nintendo has blessed us with on Switch, and the elusive gems we're still desperately hoping to see resurrected.
No doubt, with a back catalogue this rich, some of your faves might be missing (sorry, Metroid fans, I feel your pain!), but that's the beauty of it, isn't it? It’s all about those personal gaming memories, those little moments that stick with you like a particularly stubborn spell. So, let’s get stuck into the ones you can grab on Switch right now.
### The Legends We're Re-living on Switch (or Switch Online)
**The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (Switch Online)**
Now, *Four Swords* is an interesting beast. Originally bundled with *A Link to the Past* (which, let’s be honest, is practically money in the bank by itself – a true masterclass in puzzle-box design!), *Four Swords* flipped the script. It took the most insular of adventures and made it a chaotic, collaborative romp for up to four Links. Procedural dungeons? Tick. Knockabout action? Double tick. But if I'm being honest, the real magic, the core of the fun, was probably just trying to snag more rupees than your mates.
My own memory of it? One glorious, whirlwind session on a train from London to Brighton, all four of us with GBAs, a spaghetti junction of link cables, and a desperate quest for more shiny bits. It was pure, unadulterated chaos, and it was glorious. Now that it’s on Switch, I *should* really revisit it. But you know that peculiar fear, don't you? The one where you just *know* it won't quite live up to the rose-tinted, nostalgic glow of that first, perfect memory. Still, the allure of sharing Link's adventures with pals is a potent charm indeed.
**Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Switch eShop)**
Ah, *Circle of the Moon*. A launch title that was both breathtakingly beautiful and utterly infuriating, depending entirely on whether you had a convenient beam of light handy. I vividly remember this game being a *gorgeous* spectacle on my youthful GBA – those sprites, that pixel art, truly next-gen stuff. The problem? If you weren't practically playing it under a spotlight, its dark, brooding action was about as readable as ancient, faded scrolls. I half reckon the Konami dev team never actually tested it in a dimly lit room, which is a bit like a wizard forgetting their wand needs to glow.
This flaw, however, led to one of my most cherished, if slightly absurd, gaming memories: spending hours perched on an uncomfortable garden chair, tilting my GBA just so, trying to angle as much harsh summer sun onto that tiny screen as possible, all to see Nathan Graves in his full, dimly lit glory. You could argue other GBA Castlevanias refined the Metroidvania formula better, but for me, *Circle of the Moon* was the gateway, the first taste of that Gothic handheld magic. And for that, it’ll always hold a special place in my digital heart.
**The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (Switch Online)**
Capcom making Zelda games? Sounds a bit like a forbidden spell, but honestly, they’d proven their chops with the *Oracle* games on the original Game Boy. *Minish Cap* though, mate, that was a step up. It took the gorgeous, cartoon-y art style of *Wind Waker* and shrunk it down – literally. Link's ability to shrink into a tiny, wibbling cluster of pixels (still unmistakably our hero!) was pure genius. It presented the world in two distinct forms, normal and 'exploded close-up,' revealing secrets and pathways you'd otherwise never see. It’s like *The Legend of Zelda* met some kind of arcane microscope, and the results are every bit as wonderful as that sounds.
And those Kinstone collectibles? Forget your Korok seeds, these were genuinely compelling. Fusing them together to unlock cool stuff felt like piecing together fragments of a lost prophecy. Deeply in love with them back in the day, I was.
**Wario Land 4 (Switch Online)**
Mario on GBA was… a bit weird, wasn't he? Nintendo mostly repackaged SNES classics. But Wario? Oh, Wario was firmly in his glorious protagonist era, and *Wario Land 4* was a magnificent leap. It looked stellar, a vibrant cartoon brought to life, especially those opening moments of Wario tearing across the desert in his purple Cadillac.
It’s not the deepest platformer, perhaps, but it's wonderfully more-ish. You’d blast through a level, tracking down trinkets, then scramble frantically to escape before the timer ran out. Pure, unadulterated chaotic fun, perfectly suited to a handheld. And that soundtrack? Utterly bizarre and brilliant. A real testament to what happens when you let the anti-hero shine.
**Golden Sun (Switch Online)**
*Golden Sun* isn't a game I remember for its intricate plot – the alchemy-based calamity is a bit of a haze, to be fair. No, *Golden Sun* is all about the *vibe*. It's a hazy, golden-hued memory of charm and wonder. The dinky characters, made so expressive by their little animated emoji speech bubbles (which, admittedly, probably weren't unique but felt like pure magic to my younger, RPG-averse self), stuck with me.
Then there was the Djinn system, a wonderfully unique way to augment your party, and the Psyenergy abilities that weren’t just for battle but for clever puzzle-solving out in the world. (You could even mind-read NPCs for added silliness, which is just peak Jeff-level mischief). More than anything, it was the breeziness of it all, a brisk, spirited adventure delivered with a light touch that felt like a revelation compared to the more ponderous RPGs of the era. A whole world of charm, squeezed miraculously onto a tiny cartridge. Now that it’s on Switch, I’m pondering if it’s finally time to cast a return spell.
**Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (Switch Online)**
For my money, this isn't just *a* Mario RPG, it's *the best* Mario RPG. It’s a riotous sitcom of an adventure, where the brothers must be controlled as a pair, turning even the simplest jump into an ingenious, comedic challenge. The slapstick, the constant tangling – it's pure joy. It really built on that idea of the Mushroom Kingdom being a complex land, full of unique areas and traditions, much like stumbling into a new, whimsical dimension. Everywhere they go, someone's asking Mario to pull off his signature move, and the landscapes themselves are a glorious explosion of pinks and purples.
Sure, the sequels were great, but this one, for me, holds a special glow. Probably because I first played it over a Christmas break, so it's forever entangled with memories of fairy lights and wrapping paper. A perfect blend of humour, charm, and innovative gameplay.
**Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (Switch eShop)**
Oh, what a treat! Having these back on Switch (and, apparently, Switch 2 – cheeky!) is like finding a long-lost spellbook. There are caveats, of course, as there always are when Nintendo's involved. You can't call your rival Mr. Arse anymore (a true tragedy, if you ask me), and they cost a pretty penny, sold separately from the subscription. But make no mistake: these are two of the most significant video games *ever*, lovingly remade into arguably the *platonic ideal* of 16-bit, full-colour Pokémon.
What’s genuinely nice, and a little bit quirky, is how early these remakes landed in Pokémon's lifespan (Generation III, if you're keeping track of your Pokedex entries). This means they retain a lot of the wonderfully awkward foibles of the first generation. The physical/special split hadn’t quite settled, so you're re-tuning all that moveset muscle memory. And the version exclusives? Brutal. But honestly, as much as later games tried to usher in new generations, *FireRed* and *LeafGreen* capture the essence, the raw, challenging, awkward, brilliant core of Pokémon in a way few others can. It's not just a game; it's a rite of passage.
### The Wishlist: Games We're Still Conjuring for a Switch Return
Right, now that we've had our fill of current delights, let's talk about the ones still lingering in the ether, the games we’re hoping Nintendo digs out of its magical hat for a grand reappearance.
**WarioWare Twisted!**
Okay, so *Twisted!* might not be the *best* *WarioWare* (I'm partial to *Touched!* myself, purely for the Ashley song – a banger, that one), but it’s my absolute favourite. It nails that *WarioWare* genius of breaking games into five-second bursts of pure, ludic TikTok (sorry, couldn’t resist) brilliance. But the real wizardry? It introduced a new piece of hardware, a chunky gyro sensor built right into the cartridge itself!
This meant you were *twisting* the GBA, exploring movement in ways that felt genuinely fresh, from unwinding Mario 1-1 like a toilet roll to the sheer joy of receiving capsule toys from a physical dispenser. And the *rumble*! Oh, the unique corrugated rumble built into that gyro was a tactile marvel, full of character. My copy's battery died years ago, and I still mourn its passing. The fact this never saw a European release is a proper crime against gaming. More people needed to experience this technological prophecy!
**Spyro: Season of Ice**
If you've followed my musings, you'll know Spyro occupies a special place in my heart. Every game is a favourite, but *Season of Ice*? That one holds the top spot. Grendor trapping fairies in ice crystals, Spyro torching his way through realms – it was classic Spyro, but more than that, it was a bonding agent.
It was one of the first games I ever played, a shared adventure with my elder sibling. Their game, initially, but soon it became *ours*. They'd let me watch, then play alongside them. This little purple dragon sparked a lifelong bond that still burns bright today. Now, with younger members of the family, I'm yearning for this to pop up on Switch 2 so we can share that same magic. Thank you, little dragon, for the memories!
**Pokémon Emerald**
Look, we've had *FireRed* and *LeafGreen*, so surely, *surely* it's time for *Ruby*, *Sapphire*, and, most importantly, *Emerald* to grace the Switch. Beyond the dodgy Ebay carts and the real ones selling for hundreds, *Emerald* remains, for many, the absolute pinnacle of old-school Pokémon.
A huge array of environmental puzzles, lengthy dungeons, swathes of legendaries, cross-game functionality – it had it all. It gave us the Battle Frontier, still the most beloved post-game destination for high-level play, and introduced now-essential elements like Abilities. But above all, *Emerald's* magic was in its astonishing boss-on-boss action, that Rayquaza-based climax that felt so much bigger than the tiny, poorly lit screen it was on. I played these games until my GBA's battery light blinked red countless times. The memories of getting lost, getting stuck, trying to explain braille to an 11-year-old – they’re indelible. Come on, Nintendo, let’s make it happen!
**Rhythm Tengoku**
*Rhythm Tengoku* is one of the few Japan-only games I've ever imported (along with *Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan* and *Taiko no Tatsujin* with a drum peripheral, so you can probably spot a theme in my rhythmic madness). The second I saw its trailer, I knew I *had* to have it. Created by the same mad geniuses behind *WarioWare*, it whisks players through a bizarre parade of musical mini-games, each with its own distinctive lo-fi art style.
It's not quite as frantic as *WarioWare*, but it shares that same relentless sense of absurd invention, building challenges around call and response. You'd be plucking hairs from an onion's chin, smacking baseballs through space, guiding dancing robots – the sheer stupidity is part of its charm. But the brilliant bit is how each challenge builds, demanding you rely solely on rhythmic instincts as visual cues disappear. Later entries like *Rhythm Heaven* are fun, but the original GBA version, with its pure, unadulterated rhythmic magic, deserves its chance to shine on Switch.
**Drill Dozer**
*Drill Dozer* is a 2D action-platformer by Game Freak, but for me, it's less about the game and more about the *object*. It’s one of my absolute favourite cartridges, a chunky, dark-red lozenge that sticks out of the GBA slot like a proud little extension. Why? Because it had built-in rumble! It was one of only two GBA games to offer it (*WarioWare Twisted!* being the other), and it used it beautifully.
Controlling a mech with a giant drill bit, chugging through walls – it's inherently fun, but *Drill Dozer* elevated it with every shudder and shake. It felt less like a game and more like operating a magical device, a machine you were truly learning to master. The on-screen UI was needlessly massive, but maybe that was part of the machine aesthetic. I don't know, mate, but I do know I want to play it again, just for the pure, tactile joy of that cartridge.
So there you have it, a quarter-century of handheld wizardry! The GBA truly was a marvel, a tiny device that punched well above its weight, delivering unforgettable experiences that still resonate today. Whether you're re-living old glories on your Switch or holding out hope for a magical return of your lost favourites, one thing's for sure: the spirit of the Game Boy Advance is alive and kicking, a testament to enduring game design and the sheer power of nostalgia. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I hear the faint chime of a charging GBA battery in the distance…
Tags: Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Switch, Retro Gaming, Gaming History, Console Anniversary
Original article: Eurogamer