# Curating a list of the best Game Boy Advance games

**URL:** <https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581>\
**Category:** uncategorized\
**Created:** [July 10, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581 "2020-07-10T02:26:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/1 "2020-07-10T02:26:19Z")

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So let’s say you, hypothetically speaking, wanted to get your almost 8 year old son a classic gaming handheld. So maybe you might pick something like this, the [Revo K101 Plus](http://www.k1gbasp.com/stock-revo-k101-plus-cyrstal-black-blue-clear-p-47.html)

> **[Amazon.com: Crystal Black Revo K101 Plus Emulator Game Handheld : Video Games](https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Black-Emulator-Handheld-ARM7-ARM9/dp/B013T7LT8M)**
>
> The K101 Revo utilizes both an ARM7 and ARM9 CPU. The ARM7 is responsible for controlling the 2D dedicated graphic hardware and the sound hardware. The ARM9 acts as the master CPU for everything else. The system has achieved a high compatibility rate...

So you can run real physical Gameboy Advance carts (nice!) or the included faux cart with a SD card slot to play ROMs. (Not just GBA ROMs but a few other old systems, PC Engine, NES, Game Gear, etc.)

Then you might, hypothetically speaking, be a little overwhelmed by [the list of about ~1500 cartridges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_Boy_Advance_games) that were released for the GBA over its lifespan, which ran until about 2007. **Do you really want to present your kid with a menu that has two thousand choices?** Are there really that many GBA games worth .. playing?

So rather than trying to pare down the list by removing obvious dreck, or “worst game ever” lists, I went backwards: I composed a list of **only GBA games listed in at least one credible Best Of GBA article** using Google searches as you’d expect. Here’s what I ended up with. (Not in any particular order, but numbered so I can have an idea of how many choices there are.)

1. Mario Golf
2. Mario vs Donkey Kong
3. Mario Power Tennis
4. Super Mario Advance
5. Super Mario Advance 2
6. Super Mario Advance 3
7. Super Mario Advance 4
8. Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga
9. Mario Kart Super Circuit
10. Dr Mario & Puzzle League
11. Kirby and Amazing Mirror
12. Car Battler Joe
13. Wario Land 4
14. WarioWare Mega Microgame$!
15. Advance Wars 2
16. Tactics Ogre - Knight
17. Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town
18. Drill Dozer
19. Golden Sun
20. Final Fantasy 6
21. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
22. Mega Man Zero
23. Mega Man Zero 2
24. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2
25. Fire Emblem
26. Astro Boy Omega
27. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
28. Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
29. Castlevania Harmony
30. Metroid Fusion
31. Metroid Zero Mission
32. Zelda Minish cap
33. Zelda: Link to the Past
34. Ninja Five-O
35. Super Monkey Ball Jr.
36. Prince of Persia Sands of Time
37. Pinball of the Dead
38. Sonic Advance 2
39. Sonic Pinball Party
40. Kingdom Hearts
41. V-Rally 3
42. Lilo & Stitch
43. F-Zero GP Legend
44. Motoracer Advance
45. Racing Gears Advance
46. Final Fight One
47. River City Ransom EX
48. Iridon II
49. Space Invaders
50. Gradius Galaxies
51. Bubble Bobble
52. Super Puzzle Fighter II
53. Puyo Pop
54. Pokemon Pinball
55. TMNT
56. King of Fighters EX 2
57. Street Fighter Alpha 3
58. Rayman 3
59. Crash Bandicoot
60. Crash Nitro Kart
61. Donkey Kong Country
62. Donkey Kong King of Swing
63. Klonoa Dreams
64. Spider Man Mysterio
65. Contra Advance: Alien Wars
66. Metal Slug Advance
67. Ninja Cop
68. Kuru Kuru Kururin
69. Medal of Honor Infiltrator
70. Star Wars - Episode III
71. Matt Hoffmans Pro Bmx 2
72. R-Type 3
73. Gunstar Superheroes
74. Sabre Wulf
75. Doom II

(I did not include a few frequently cited that had cartridges with special hardware, such as WarioWare Twisted with rotation and Boktai with the sunlight sensor. I have no particular objection to used cartridges but I don’t want to deal with more physical stuff.)

So this is a “top 100” meta-list generated by combining all the “best GBA games of all time” lists I could find. The only risk is outliers, where one person ranked some weird game way higher than everyone else. The [metacritic GBA list](http://www.metacritic.com/publication/gba-central) was particularly solid, if you want a single list to verify … 2000-2007 were plenty active years on the Internet for new GBA game release reviews, versus say the life of the Game Boy which _seriously_ predates the Internet.

Any objections to anything on this list? Anything I missed?

I hope my meta-aggregation of the best GBA games of all time can help others who might find themselves in this … _hypothetical_ … situation.

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/2 "2020-07-10T02:27:45Z")

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Agreed – I cleaned up the list a bit, semi-sorted it (or at least grouped similar items together) and ended up with 75 total.

I also watched a few more best GBA videos and made sure they were represented. If you pick the top 25 GBA games, most sites more or less agree on at least 20 of those, I’d say.

That’s what we’re gonna find out! With ~80 choices, hopefully he can pick and choose what he likes. The Revo k101 plus arrived today; it’s a really cool little device. You can see why it gets very positive reviews.

(The only downside seems to be super sketchy emulation of anything _other_ than GBA and GB, but … that’s not a serious downside in my book.)

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/3 "2020-07-10T02:28:35Z")

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Having some hands on time with it, and some SD cards, it’s a remarkably solid little device:

 ![image](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/uploads/default/original/3X/8/6/86eed635f35f2fa63bb141068eae279c4855c333.jpeg)

Basically just dump the ROMs in the root folder, then add the `ksystem` folder with the [cheats and game preview images](http://kteam.ys168.com/), and you’re done. You can even customize the background and boot pictures, too!

I also [updated the firmware to latest](http://kteam.ys168.com/) which was from March 2016 but it might already have been at that version. Hard to tell, there’s no version number in the help page. Aha! I found the firmware update notes:

> 03-10-2016
> 
> - changes to 3:2 screen formatting
> 
> 02-24-2016
> 
> - 3 new brightness levels
> - Adjusted power levels required to trigger the low battery red light
> - New option to specify wake mode. (any button / press A+ B together to wake)
> - New ‘reset game’ option in in game menu
> - Now supports zipped 8bit roms
> - improved 3:2 mode for better text display. (screen mode #2)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/XNolrQ-r8yU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque

I concur with this guy. Sketchy “other than GBA / GB” emulation aside, this is a near-perfect device.

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/4 "2020-07-10T02:29:54Z")

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I had a bit of a scare when the device would not power on before I began to box it up as done for my son.

I had a hunch something was funky with the battery. I checked the back and there’s a handy screw and compartment for removing just the battery.

So I popped the battery out.. it looked nearly _identical_ to another battery I saw recently in an el-cheapo rechargable mini-keyboard we use. Sure enough I went and grabbed it, swapped the battery, and now it works.

Looks like this is a (standard?) **Nokia BL-5B** model battery, cellphone style:

 ![image](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/uploads/default/original/3X/9/e/9e63de4d4a41911d1cc089e46be2870657ec11e1.jpeg)

I found [this](http://gbatemp.net/threads/revo-k101-plus-not-charging.416444/) on another forum, so probably just bad / weird battery contact.. because I noticed the “bad” battery worked fine in my mini keyboard, which I thought was super strange.

> Hey, I just bought a Revo K101 Plus and came in the mail today. I’m having issues with the charge though. It works when charging, but turns off once I take it out no matter how long I’ve had it in for. What should I do? I really don’t want to have to send it back since I got it from Germany and paid about 70 USD for Shipping (UPS Express) I’ve used two different cords and wall chargers, The LED lights up for a split second once I plug in it but then disappears. Please help…
> 
> Nvm: I solved the problem. I had to take the battery out and put it back in. I guess it wasn’t making contact.

Supposed to be 5 hours of battery life, if you keep the screen on a low brightness. It’s a VERY bright screen, though. I defaulted it to 4/8 and I probably should turn it down to 2.

I tested genesis and it definitely _doesn’t_ work. So the Revo K101+ emulates 8-bit systems only, plus GBA obviously which is the primary target.

I was never that into the 8-bit systems so It’s tough for me to muster any enthusiasm for NES / TurboGrafx / Sega Master System. Kinda weird since I did own an Atari 2600 but for whatever reason, NES just didn’t factor into my life. I did own both the SNES and Genesis of course, and they were both great, though I preferred Genesis.

I got a link cable and I can confirm multiplayer works fine between two of these. Also per YouTube it works between original GBA and the K101+, too.

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/5 "2020-07-10T02:34:59Z")

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All these topics were circa 2016 on a different forum but I wanted to collect them here for a curated list of best Game Boy Advance games!

This is the problem with modern emulation: you don’t really want a list of a zillion games including every single thing ever released for the platform, you want the 100 best games (or even less) for the platform. Otherwise it’s totally overwhelming…

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**Author:** ![thw0rted](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/thw0rted/32/36443_2.png) [@thw0rted](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/thw0rted)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 6:49am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/6 "2020-07-10T06:49:14Z")

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Was somebody else in this thread earlier? #2 starts with “Agreed”. It also occurred to me that this could have been an old post from before the blog moved to Discourse that just got imported for some reason. The first link (product name) goes to a domain squatter now, so that backs up my theory. (I don’t remember seeing it previously though.)

If I’m right: how did your gadget hold up? I don’t know how much this cost (back when the post first went up?) but for my money, the best retro emulator is a hacked PSP. Can you still get those for a reasonable price? The SNES emulator I had on there was basically perfect…

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/7 "2020-07-10T16:30:59Z")

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Is it still possible / viable to hack the PSP and Vita? This Revo K101 device originally cost $95, I checked my notes.

There are a _ton_ of inexpensive Chinese 8-bit emulator boxes on Amazon these days, hard to even tell what’s good and bad! One youtube channel that has a lot of fun with it is [Wicked Gamer & Collector](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW_sIU3MaWW5cXSjGqNIvbw).

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**Author:** ![JimPas](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/jimpas/32/76163_2.png) [@JimPas](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/JimPas)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/8 "2020-07-10T18:44:46Z")

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We bought two of these for our granddaughter’s last year. I think our son plays with them more than his girls. 😆 I don’t even know what games are on them as the girls have their favorites and they stick with those. We did buy SD cards for them also - 32GB(?).

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/9 "2020-07-11T05:02:11Z")

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Looks like the sequel to the Revo K101 Plus is the RS-97 – but it gets kinda bad reviews, I guess for the same reason, most of the emulation aside from the GBA part isn’t very good.

Sounds like the current recommendation is the Retro Game Plus / Q9 V2 running OpenDingux. Make sure it is the V2!!

> **[Amazon.com: Handheld Game Console, Retro Mini Game Player with 520 Classical FC...](https://www.amazon.com/Handheld-Console-Screen-Classic-Portable/dp/B07PV7R3ZK)**
>
> Amazon.com: Handheld Game Console, Retro Mini Game Player with 520 Classical FC Games 3-Inch Color Screen Support for Connecting TV & Two Players 600mAh Rechargeable Battery Present for Kids and Adult (White)

Review here, it’s only $50

[![](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/uploads/default/original/3X/d/6/d6cda2814d04388e31b3d0769c092c3cec5c2a8c.jpeg "Retro Game Plus | 2 Anniversary Edition Emulation Handheld") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0NhVfm1TTs)

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/11 "2021-01-21T18:39:24Z")

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> [@thw0rted](#):
>
> the best retro emulator is a hacked PSP

I looked into this, came VERY close to pulling the trigger, and decided against it.. here’s why:

[![](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/uploads/default/original/3X/6/4/64e340c0c1a1815291f037fa39902a9fe4373020.jpeg "PS Vita as a Retro Gaming Handheld (Review)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH3TUHwNTKk&t=1425)

Note that the (now obsolete, unavailable) Revo K101 Plus _only_ played GBA games. I actually got a very nice GBA SP with upgraded IPS screen off Etsy, so I can play original GB and GBC cartridges as well. Right now I only have a few: the Tetris ornament..

[https://twitter.com/codinghorror/status/1344154238469881860](https://twitter.com/codinghorror/status/1344154238469881860)

I didn’t twitter it, but I set up a red/green Tetris ornament using the Pokemon Emerald and Ruby GBA carts hotglued together, too. They worked, I checked them! 👍

As well as WarioWare Twisted and Yoshi Topsy Turvy, but I kept those out for actual play, not ornaments 😉

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**Author:** ![thw0rted](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/thw0rted/32/36443_2.png) [@thw0rted](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/thw0rted)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 9:14am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/12 "2021-01-22T09:14:50Z")

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Y’know, I have two Vitas (I got _very_ lucky at a couple of clearance sales) and nobody uses either of them at the moment. I had been keeping them “clean” so I could keep using them with PSN content but if they’re going to sit in a drawer, maybe it’s worth looking into custom firmware for one. Now the question becomes, do I hack the 1000 (good screen, bad charger) or 2000 (vice versa)?

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**Author:** ![alysdexia](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/alysdexia/32/76523_2.png) [@alysdexia](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/alysdexia)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2021, 10:42am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/13 "2021-01-30T10:42:44Z")

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physical → real/card/hardcopy as opposed to virtval/eShop/download as all of the games are fýsic and digital; weird = fateful → uncanny = bizarre; platform, → platform;; less → lesser → fewer; hard → touh

I’v been a’keeping a list of video games I like from impressions of reviews, releases, and pictures for about 12 years, formerly called Wish List despite whether I had owned them and only restricted to video games and now simply called Like List, now with over 600 games on over 40 platforms: [Like List](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR34FWfK70LSY0Hx3w3yyVaX15HkMMZ7CJirLf3Eyb0lU99b0p6MMmmqjQ8brETQ70Gfu2VHNGI1h1C/pub). However I was never much interested in GBA wherefore so many games were simply SNES ports or adaptations but with lost resolution, so I only put 13 GBA games, tho by my interests quite unique from the “best” (= popular) listings, rather than the 49 GB[C] games, 42 NES games, and 51 SNES games. I wasn’t that interested in Sega so only put 1 SMS game and 5 SG games.

> GBA[SP] (101:6, 105:9): Lady Sia (101:10), Wario Land 4 (101:11), Bomberman Max 2: Blue Advance (102:5), Bomberman Max 2: Red Advance (102:5), Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (103:11), Kim Possible 2: Drakken’s Demise (104:9), Mario Pinball Land (104:10), TMNT 2: Battle Nexus (104:10), Disney’s Kim Possible 3: Team Possible (105:8), Gunstar Super Heroes (105:10), Hudson Best Collection Vol 6: Bōken Jima Collection (106:1), Mother 3 (106:4), TMNT (107:3) :0/13

I don’t own a GBA so neither do I own any of these games, thus the 0.

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 1:50am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/16 "2025-07-21T01:50:43Z")

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I tried this with ChatGPT deep research and got some odd results. Query terms are:

> generate a list of the best 50 Game Boy Advance games of all time, using critic ratings from well regarded sources, combined with user ratings, and giving extra weight to games which have aged well and are considered innovative and still fun today

and

> only official released, no remakes, use the expert curation as part of the aggregate score

First of all, why is ChatGPT arguing with itself constantly while making this list? 😖 Bizarre. Never seen that before.

[Top 50 Game Boy Advance Games of All Time.pdf](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/uploads/short-url/9XycneNPGqsjoqMKV6HUP5yo3aF.pdf) (120.8 KB)

1. Metroid Fusion
2. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
3. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
4. Mother 3
5. Advance Wars
6. Pokémon Emerald
7. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
8. Fire Emblem (Blazing Blade)
9. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!
10. Golden Sun
11. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
12. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
13. WarioWare: Twisted!
14. Golden Sun: The Lost Age
15. Mario Kart: Super Circuit
16. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
17. Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
18. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
19. Astro Boy: Omega Factor
20. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
21. Mega Man Zero 3
22. Mega Man Zero 2
23. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team
24. Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis
25. Mega Man Battle Network 3
26. Mario vs. Donkey Kong
27. Wario Land 4
28. Sonic Advance
29. Drill Dozer
30. Ninja Five-O
31. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
32. Rhythm Tengoku
33. Gunstar Super Heroes
34. Klonoa: Empire of Dreams
35. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
36. Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
37. Pinball of the Dead
38. Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
39. Summon Night: Swordcraft Story
40. Metal Slug Advance
41. Yggdra Union: We’ll Never Fight Alone
42. Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty’s Revenge
43. Spider-Man: Mysterio’s Menace
44. Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2
45. Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced
46. F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
47. Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II
48. Mega Man Zero 4
49. Mario Golf: Advance Tour
50. Mario Tennis: Power Tour

Commonalities are:

- Mario Golf: Advance Tour
- Mario vs. Donkey Kong
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
- Mario Kart: Super Circuit
- Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
- Wario Land 4
- WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!
- Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
- Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis
- Drill Dozer
- Golden Sun
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
- Mega Man Zero 2
- Fire Emblem (Blazing Blade)
- Astro Boy: Omega Factor
- Pokémon Emerald
- Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
- Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
- Metroid Fusion
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
- Ninja Five-O
- Pinball of the Dead
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

That’s 23, so half the list is different..

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**Author:** ![JimPas](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/jimpas/32/76163_2.png) [@JimPas](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/JimPas)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/17 "2025-07-21T18:03:59Z")

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My first impression was ChatGPT was _determined_ to achieve the first criteria of 50 games, and then “refined” it with the additional data points which cut it down to 23. Strange that it didn’t re-sort the list to maintain the 50 games.  
I DL’d the pdf and will read it later this afternoon. 🙂

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**Author:** ![cjs](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/cjs/32/79351_2.png) [@cjs](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/cjs)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 4:28am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/18 "2026-08-07T04:28:47Z")

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> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> …so probably just bad / weird battery contact.. because I noticed the “bad” battery worked fine in my mini keyboard, which I thought was super strange.

Contact cleaner is your friend when it comes to things like this. In North America I expect that Cramolin Red is still available; outside North America there are various local products, such as Kure Contact Spray here in Japan.

Just drop or squirt a bit on and rub it with a Kimwipe or similar lint-free cloth. (Or just a Q-tip if you’re not to fussed about fibres being left behind.)

> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> First of all, why is ChatGPT arguing with itself constantly while making this list? 😖

My understanding is that this is a pretty standard technique for getting better results from LLMs: get them to talk a bunch and then review what they’ve talked about and try to improve that. It also helps avoid losing stuff out the end of the context window, I think.

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 7:36am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/19 "2026-08-28T07:36:35Z")

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So true. It’s amazing how many times I have run into this “clean the electrical contact points with isopropyl alcohol” situation since then.

At least the fix is clear, simple and easy to understand – and implement. I wish more problems we faced in this world were so straightforward. I am very happy to have you as a teammate, regardless, no matter what. 🤗

I’ll never abandon team humanity. I assure you of that.

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**Author:** ![cjs](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/cjs/32/79351_2.png) [@cjs](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/cjs)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 9:52am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/20 "2026-08-28T09:52:22Z")

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> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> It’s amazing how many times I have run into this “clean the electrical contact points with isopropyl alcohol” situation since then.

IPA is fine if that’s all you have, but proper contact cleaner, such as Deoxit or Cramolin, will do a better job of removing/undoing corrosion and also in some cases leave behind a protective coat on the connector, or so I’ve been given to understand.

I carry little dripper bottles of both with me in my toolkit.

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**Author:** ![JimPas](https://discourse-cdn.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/jimpas/32/76163_2.png) [@JimPas](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/JimPas)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 6:39am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/curating-a-list-of-the-best-game-boy-advance-games/7581/21 "2026-08-29T06:39:22Z")

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> [@cjs](#):
>
> proper contact cleaner, such as Deoxit or Cramolin, will do a better job of removing/undoing corrosion and also in some cases leave behind a protective coat on the connector,

Showing my age here. I got started in TV-Radio repair at the age of 14. Back then the spray was called TV Tuner Spray. The old TVs had the large, rotary tuner drums with many contacts in it. The spray cleaned & lubricated the contacts. I always had at least 2 large cans of spray. When I finally ran out and went to a Radio Shack store to get more, I asked for a can of TV Tuner Spray. The sales clerk looked at me cross-eyed. He had no idea what I was talking about until I explained that it was used to clean/lubricate the tuner drums in older TVs as well as noisy volume controls & rheostats. “Oh,” he said, “You want Contact Cleaner. That’s what it’s called now.” lol! I never realized they changed the name after the tuner drums had become obsolete. I still have a can of “Contact Cleaner” (not sure on the brand name) I use it on volume controls, switches, etcetera.

You are correct that it does leave a lubricant coating on the contacts.

Ran into the same situation with “Corona Dope” used on the 2nd anode of the Cathode Ray Tubes (picture tubes). When you heard a constant sizzling sound from the TV, it was usually the corona dope breaking down from years of 35,000 volts running to it. Remove the wire, ground it to the chassis to prevent a muscle-snapping shock, spray or brush the dope around the opening in the CRT, let dry and reattach the anode wire. No more sizzling! Now, I guess, it’s just called rubberized paint and is available in not just the original red, but in yellow, blue and black. It’s also used on hand tools to both prevent shocks and to increase grip on the handles. I have a bottle of yellow down in my workshop (probably long dried up since I last used it).