This is, to date, the only console I have ever bought on its release date, and it is one that is filled with many happy memories for me. I bought it at Toys 'R Us after several failed attempts elsewhere, and I'll never forget its beautiful clamshell design, the wonders of how tiny the cartridges were, or my joy at being able to play Super Mario 64 on a handheld (this was the first game I bought for the system). I also loved that I could still play my old GBA games on it. We spent many happy hours playing great/good/average/poor/stupid games on the bus and at school, and I spent many more solitary hours playing in my room, in the car, and on the couch. It will always hold a special place in my heart, but I do think that the Game Boy Advance still has the overall deeper and better library of games, explaining why I did a Top Ten GBA Games article first. It was frankly a little shocking to me how shallow this console is, as I would only consider the top seven games to be truly must-buys.
My basic rules have been roughly the same for every list thus far, namely, no ports or remakes.
Honorable Mentions:
Mega Man Zero Collection-Great collection of great games, but they're ports
Pokemon HeartGold/Soulsilver-Incredible remakes of fantastic games
Chrono Trigger-The definitive port of a perfect game
LostMagic-I think this is a very ambitious and fun game, but too flawed to make the top ten
Super Mario 64-Another great port on the system. Also you can play as Yoshi.
New Super Mario Bros-Pretty good, but not good enough to crack the top 10
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story-Ditto
Caveats-I haven't finished the following games, so you'll have to forgive me if they don't appear here, along with any of the other games I'm missing:
The World Ends with You-I've started this one, and enjoyed pieces of it, but it seemed very dialogue heavy for a game with such a fun combat system. I'll wrap this up at some point, but I can't say I have well-formed opinions about it.
Animal Crossing: Wild World-This seems so perfect for handheld, but I've never seen a copy in the wild
Any of the Phoenix Wright or Professor Layton games
Radiant Historia-I really need to try this one, but I haven't seen one in the wild
Mario Party DS
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor-Never have played any games in this series, but I really want to try it
On to the top ten!
10. Children of Mana
This is a simple, fun, hack and slash RPG. I burned tons of hours into this, but don't feel very confident putting it at number 10. If you like the genre, or the Mana series, go for it. If not, there's no shame in skipping it.
9. Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus
I have zero qualms in saying that this is the best Yu-Gi-Oh game ever made. It has a great story mode that actually scales very well with your ability to have a card collection, it's graphically very nice, and it has a huge collection of cards. If you like the card game, grab this one!
8. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Boy, this console is not super deep. I consider this a good game, but not a great one. It's outstripped in basically every way by its two predecessors in the series, but it's still a good time, particularly if you enjoy the strategy RPG genre as much as I do.
7. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
This is the game I always point to as an example for why Pokemon is my favorite RPG series. This is my least favorite main series Pokemon game, and it's still a fantastic game. Contrast that with stinkers like Final Fantasy III (the real III, not the SNES III), and you can see a consistent level of quality across the series that makes each one a guaranteed good time.
6. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
This is a very good game from a series I've been getting increasingly fond of in the last year. You really need to check out this series if you haven't, but the places to start are probably with Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow or more likely Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. But displaying the map on the second screen is a really nice selling point-the main thing that hurts this one is the high purchase price.
5. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
I really love it when I'm not looking forward to a game, or come in biased against it, and it completely wows me. This is a truly excellent Zelda title, and really offers something for casual gamers as well as those who are just looking for a different spin on the classic control scheme and approach.
4. Mario Kart DS
3. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
It's a great series, and it's the best game in the series. This is a game that's not super pricey, and is super good. You need to check it out if you get a chance.
2. Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
When I see retrospectives of this series, most people put Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story ahead of this one, which is incomprehensible to me. This is clearly the better of the two, even if it lags slightly behind the original due to an inferior villain. This game has much better puzzles, much more fun combat, and the Bowser gimmick in the next game just isn't used very well. Definitely go with this one.
1. Pokemon Black/White/Black 2/White 2
This is kind of cheating, but sue me. These are among my favorite Pokemon games to date, and feature tons of the best new Pokemon designs since Ruby and Sapphire. The game also probably has the best story in any Pokemon game, featuring a fascinating villain who will actually having you questioning the ethics of Pokemon training! These games are a must get, and were the first in the series to have true sequels.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my list, and feel free to let me know if there are titles I've missed that I should check out!
-TRO
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