Top 5 RPGs for the Game Boy Advance

Harvest Moon

(Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town)

Harvest Moon can be called an RPG or a simulation game, but either way it's addicting and hard to put down. Yes, a game about farming CAN be fun.

The introductions to Friends of Mineral Town differ slightly from More Friends of Mineral Town, as does the gameplay. The former allows you to play as a boy, while the latter allows you to play as a girl, but the essential "plot" is the same: to rejuvenate and run an abandoned farm.

There is nothing terribly complex about this game and it's very easy to pick up, even for "casual" gamers. Everything is fairly straightforward so there is no need to worry about getting lost in the controls.

Doesn't sound like much? What exactly is the fun in raising virtual cows, sheep, chickens, a dog, and a horse? Harvest Moon kept me occupied for hours on end, really for no logical reason. Give it a try, if you don't mind giving up the rest of your day to your Game Boy.

Sword of Mana

Sword of Mana has two storylines, dependent on whether you choose to play as the hero or the heroine. You only need to play one character to get most of the story, but the option of choosing between two characters gives Sword of Mana a high re-play value.

Sword of Mana sports an engaging storyline teeming with interesting characters and a real-time battle system. Enemies have strengths and weaknesses associated with weapons as well as magic, and you can totally customize your character based on the stats you assign upon a "level up."

The graphics are some of the cleanest on the GBA, though by no means the most intricate (See Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories).

Fans of fantasy will definitely appreciate this game for its clean graphics, engaging storyline and heartrending climax.

Tales of Phantasia

Tales of Phantasia follows the story of a young swordsman who becomes involved in a demonic plot to revive a powerful magic-user and his journey through time to save his friend.

Typical of the Tales series, battles are real time and rely heavily on reaction time and skill. Some of the game's interface is difficult to understand, as well as discrepancies between what the instruction manual says are the correct commands and what actually works in the game. Once past that, Tales of Phantasia is one of the most enjoyable games for the Game Boy Advance.

The only playable character is the hero, Cress, but other characters can be easily instructed by selecting a specific fighting style, i.e. heal or full magic. Surprisingly, the AI is actually quite intelligent once you find a fighting style that works for you.

This is by no means a short game-you'll be devoting upwards of 30 hours to Tales of Phantasia, so it's well worth the price.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

The only problem I have in recommending this game is the fact that it's a demi- sequel to a Playstation 2 game, Kingdom Hearts. It's possible to play through this game without having first become familiar with its Playstation counterpart, but you'll miss out on a good section of the plot and characters you would have recognized as old faces.

Aside from that, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is an excellent game. It boasts some of the best graphics on the Game Boy Advance (if not THE best) as well as one of the better GBA soundtracks. While most cut scenes are just characters talking in-game, a special few cut away to excellently rendered scenes that go far beyond the typical GBA pixel art.

Gameplay is unusual for the Kingdom Hearts series: the battle system is still real time, but it's card battle style. Each card represents a magic spell or a physical attack, which can be played against the enemy.

The card battles themselves are fairly easy to understand. The general rule is: higher numbered cards beat out lower number cards, though there are some exceptions.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories still features Sora as the main character, but Donald and Goofy are playable only as summon cards, as are any other allies in the various worlds.

The result of successfully beating Sora's story in Chain of Memories unlocks Reverse/ Rebirth mode, with Riku as the main character.

Unfortunately, I can only suggest this game for people who have played Kingdom Hearts on the Playstation 2; it's one of the best games on the GBA but it's easy to get lost, as the characters progress through Sora's memories from the events that occurred in Kingdom Hearts.

(If you have a PS 2 and have not played Kingdom Hearts, I would highly recommend it. However, since this is a list of GBA games, I won't get into that here.)

Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls

Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II are actually remakes of older games, released together on one cartridge.

Finaly Fantasy I is the tale of four heroes destined to save the world from evil. Each character is severely limited based on its class; white mages are adept in healing and support but offer very little in the way of attack power. Warriors are strong offensively but have no to extremely little healing ability.

The storyline is very generic, and in my opinion very distanced from the gamer. The character interactions are weak, at best, and the only reason I was able to play through it was because of my addiction to RPGs of any kind, especially those dealing with time travel. I will admit, the concept was intriguing, but there wasn't much there to make it interesting.

Final Fantasy II is completely different, and in my opinion much better than Final Fantasy I. The characters in II have personalities and a place in the world they fight to save. Character relationships play a huge part in Final Fantasy II-sometimes there's a fine line between enemy and ally.

Each character is loosely inclined toward a certain job at the start of the game, but this is totally customizable based on battle performance. The more a spell is used, the stronger it gets. The same goes for weapons-how you fight determines what a character's strengths and weaknesses are.

Successfully completing the main storyline in Final Fantasy II unlocks Rebirth mode, which chronicles the escapades and adventures of the deceased characters.

Overall, Final Fantasy I is an ok RPG but pales in comparison to Final Fantasy II.

Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed here are my own and should not coerce you into purchasing a particular game. However, all of these games are excellent and should be given serious consideration.