RELATED: Games Still Trapped Exclusively On Game Boy Advance

Whether one agrees with that sentiment or not, the Game Boy Advance has a great library of RPGs. Most of them are still trapped on the system, unfortunately. Whether they get ported off anytime soon is hard to say but let’s honor them anyway in celebration of the handheld’s 20th anniversary.

Updated on February 25, 2022, by Ritwik Mitra: The Game Boy Advance was one of Nintendo’s biggest successes, with the handheld selling like hotcakes and featuring a massive library of brilliant games. The GBA might now be a footnote in Nintendo’s illustrious history, but fans still look back fondly on the massive lineup of games present in this console. RPGs especially flourished on the console, with the best games of the bunch in the genre being mentioned below.

15 Dragon Ball Z: Buu’s Fury

The Dragon Ball Z action RPG trilogy that came out on the Game Boy Advance was pretty spectacular. The first game in this Legacy of Goku series was pretty rough, with the second game making a valiant effort in addressing the faults of the original and making the game way more accessible.

Buu’s Fury is the final chapter of this trilogy, and it’s a mighty fine game that perfects the formula established by its predecessors. It might be a bit easy and has its fair share of flaws, but most fans with nostalgic memories about this game won’t really care.

14 Breath Of Fire 2

Breath of Fire 2 is one of the best games in this illustrious JRPG series. It’s also one of the most underrated titles around, with most players only familiar with the Breath of Fire games on the PlayStation.

Breath of Fire 2 is a brilliant game with a classic story and engaging combat. Fans of old-school JRPGs will have a blast with this title.

13 DemiKids

Most people who picked up DemiKids assumed that it was nothing more than a game for kids. This assumption couldn’t have been more erroneous… especially once they found out which series this title belonged to.

DemiKids is also known as Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children, which is a surprising fact for many people. The Game Boy Advance saw the release of both DemiKids Light And DemiKids Dark, with the latter being slightly more challenging.

12 Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen

Both these games and the actual generational entries of Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire were good. All five including Pokemon Emerald were not huge leaps forward for the series though which is why the GBA games are usually ranked lower for fans.

Still, the nostalgic pull of these remakes did have some significance. Besides, how could one make an RPG list without putting Pokemon on it?

11 Sword Of Mana

This was a remake of the first game in the Mana series, Final Fantasy Adventure. The biggest change, other than the graphics, was adding the ability to choose a gender.

That’s not the only change as the scenario was reforged as well, adding in more story content for example. It’s not the best of the Mana games, but it is indeed a fine action RPG on GBA.

10 Lufia: The Ruins Of Lore

Lufia has always been an RPG series most forget about since it debuted on the Super Nintendo. Lufia 2 is considered the best of them all, but this GBA entry is right up there with it.

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The game is a classic turn-based RPG with a world map and everything. The easy-to-understand mechanics, catchy music, and colorful graphics make it well worth looking into even now.

9 Golden Sun

It’s hard to pick between this game and its sequel since they are both tied so integrally to each other. Either way, both games are often considered top-tier Nintendo RPG exclusives. It’s a shame the last game was over a decade ago on DS and that there hasn’t been any word of a sequel since.

What’s more — it never made its way into consoles, but there is always hope. Sad news aside, this mix of classic gameplay and puzzle dungeons akin to The Legend of Zelda made it stick out.

8 Kingdom Hearts: Chain Of Memories

While some lauded it for rehashing the areas of the first game, Chain of Memories is a top-notch card RPG. Why did Square Enix need to put them in there in the first place when a normal action RPG like its predecessor could have worked just as easily?

No one knows the answer to that question, but one thing is for sure — this was a fun way to wait things out until the proper sequel. It is better than the PS2 remake thanks to the gorgeous pixel art.

7 Final Fantasy 6 Advance

Final Fantasy 6 is one of the greatest role-playing games of all time. With the increasing popularity of the Game Boy Advance, Square Enix thought that this game deserved a port on this handheld as well.

Final Fantasy 6 Advance does a commendable job of bringing the game over to the Game Boy Advance. One department where it suffers is the soundtrack, which had to suffer a serious downgrade since it lacked access to the complex sound chip of the SNES.

6 Fire Emblem

This is another case where two games are almost tied with each other. The 2003 release, just titled Fire Emblem, should be applauded the most for being significant to the West.

It was the first game introduced over here since the series debuted on the Famicom, or NES, in 1990 in Japan. This and its sequel though, The Sacred Stones, are some fine strategy RPGs for the handheld.

5 Tactics Ogre: The Knight Of Lodis

This entry in the Tactics Ogre series is perhaps the first one that caught any sort of widespread attraction. That’s because it fell more in line with tactical RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics.

Most of the other Nintendo entries released in the West before this felt more experimental. To hammer it home, this is Final Fantasy Tactics but without the name and not as bloody as that first game.

4 Mother 3

Earthbound is one of the most charming and underrated video games of all time. The fact that this series is still influencing modern video games shows just how ahead of its time this game really was.

The same applies to Mother 3 as well, so it’s downright criminal that this game never received the English localization it deserved. Thankfully, it seems that an official translation will finally be making its way on the Switch.

3 Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

This may not have been the sequel most fans of the original were expecting. It wasn’t as dark and was instead more lighthearted. Plus the Judge system could be frustrating.

RELATED: Game Boy Games Trapped In Japan

If one were to look past all that stuff though they would discover this GBA sequel was worthy of the name of Final Fantasy Tactics after all.

2 Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow

This might not be what one thinks of immediately when considering RPGs on the GBA, but this technically fits. Most Metroidvanias that fall more in line with Castlevania are RPGs thanks to leveling up.

It is the best entry in this series on the GBA and in fact may even rival what some consider to be the very best, Symphony of the Night. Either way, this game was great no matter where that argument falls.

1 Mario And Luigi: Superstar Saga

Paper Mario was an interesting spiritual successor to Super Mario RPG on the SNES. However, some fans felt it lacked that true RPG feeling of the original. There wasn’t much of a story and the party characters were a bit lackluster and didn’t participate as much in it.

Even though the party only consisted of Mario and Luigi for this, it still felt a lot meatier. Everything from the visuals to the humor to the actual gameplay all make it one heck of an RPG. Play this one and not the 3DS remake.

MORE: The Best Exclusives On The Game Boy Advance (According To Metacritic)