December 10, 2007

Ah, nostalgia. We remember the awe we felt just watching the Game Boy logo fly onto the GBA screen in a cascade of rainbow colours some six and a half years ago. Having imported the console early we didn't have any games for our first day with the machine, so we were forced to play Game Boy Color games on it instead, frequently switching to widescreen and back like it was the best thing in the world. But when we finally got to play the Mario Kart-esque Konami Krazy Racers, it was a revelation.

But flash forward to 2007 and it's a different story indeed. With the DS crushing its older sibling as GBA prepares for its last Christmas as a viable console, we've put together a list of some of our favourite GBA games just in case you missed out on the delights it has to offer. We've also found a basic price for each of them on eBay at the moment in case you fancy picking one up. Take a look and see how many you've missed out on - you may just fall in love all over again.

Advance Wars
All the Advance Wars games have been ace (and essentially the same at heart) but the simplicity of the original has yet to be surpassed. It's a turn-based strategy war game, only it's got ultra cute cartoony graphics so every time you fire a shot, you see a cutaway of the battle being played out. Once you start, you won't rest until you finish the game - and that feels like a massive achievement. Boxed, unopened copies are fetching up to $50 on eBay, but if you don't mind a few creases, second hand copies are quite cheap.

Basic eBay price: £7 / $11

Above: We played this for too long a few years ago. New batteries dead in less than a day (ahem)