GBA Hidden Gems

Stuck on what to play or what to buy? Join TVGS as I list and discuss ten of the most over looked and obscure GBA hidden gems that are stuck on the Gameboy Advance. Many lesser known games released for the Game Boy Advance handheld so let me know your top 10 overlooked games on the GBA down below!
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[@thatvideogamesshow]

What is your favourite GBA game?

[@HitoshuraZero]

Personally I had a blast with all Megaman games, from Battle Network to Megaman Zero, but there are so many gems in the GBA like Golden Sun, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, Castlevania, is just an amazing little handheld! Love your content and videos overall, keep it up!

[@kclink1579]

Final Fantasy 4 Advanced but that feels like cheating as it's not am originally made for GBA game.

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Some great choices there! Thank you, many more vids on the way 🙂

[@jorgemendez081]

Golden Sun Advance Wars Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories Metroid Fusion F Zero GP Legend GTA Advance Sword of Mana TLOZ The Minish Cap Shaman King Master of Spirits Megaman Zero

[@jonathanwald8858]

Tokyo xtreme racer advance Hope to see it on one of your videos

[@Sapphire200]

0:15 Flame of Recca 1:58 A Sound of Thunder 3:48 Double Dragon Advance 5:29 Invader 7:16 Medal of Honor: Infiltrator 8:58 Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island 10:56 Denki Blocks! 12:45 Konami Krazy Racers 14:34 Wario Land 4 16:18 Yggdra Union

[@alvarocarrasco1025]

Watching old GBA games footage relaxes me a lot

[@withoutthejuice7193]

Retro games in general are so relaxing

[@johnnym2069]

I still play GBA games to this day. I've always been obsessed with the GBA for some reason.

[@seriousstevegaming2090]

Hell yeah I highly agree, I love gba games.

[@BigBoy-bx1dw]

YES! I watch these videos while I work and they help me get through stressful days.

[@rchassereau2]

GBA is a system I definitely missed out on at the time and I'm only now getting into via handheld emulators - love seeing these, you may already have one but an RPG GBA roundup would be great. Enjoying your channel!

[@MC_Hammerpants]

Very cool to see people checking out some forgotten gems. The GBA is loaded with many dope ports of other rpgs. Speaking strictly originals: the 2 best strategy rpgs are Tactics Ogre: The Knights Of Lodis and Yggdra Union (better off with the psp port though imo). That's right- in your face Fire Emblem! The best rpg on the system is Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. That's right- in your face Golden Sun! If you want something unique and good check out Riviera: The Promised Land.

[@rchassereau2]

@@MC_Hammerpants Thank you I'll check them out!

[@jg2722]

@@MC_Hammerpants you have any rpg gba game recommendations !

[@crispyjuice2110]

@@jg2722 He just listed several... lol you alright dude?

[@ITSONSIGHT.]

@@jg2722 golden sun and Golden sun the lost age are MUST PLAY games. They're the best handheld RPGs ever.

[@GameCubeGalaxy]

Some great hidden gems here! Medal of Honor Infiltrator is definitely one I’m glad you mentioned! I recently tried it out and was like “wow, this is FAR better than the previous MOH effort on the GBA.” Wario Land 4 is a fantastic game as well that I couldn’t put down. Great list of games here as always! I need to check out Invader 👍.

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Totally agree with Medal of Honor! It deserved so much more attention.

[@mechamania]

“The Hurricanes” on Genesis is an _incredible_ side scrolling game that had used the soccer ball-kicking “shot” mechanic amazingly, in the early ‘90s. The Beckham game looks interesting, as a “Hurricanes, Jr.”

[@alexanderkulaev541]

Cool, adding this to my backlog! Thank you!

[@hekanymous]

I never played too much Yggdra Union, bur Riviera: The Promised Land was one of my favourites a while back. Such a fun RPG from the same series, I'd recommend it too.

[@hopoheikki8503]

Nice, these were actually hidden gens unlike in many other lists. If I'd add one, it might be something like Sigma Star Saga.

[@mightbeanerd]

I enjoyed Sigma Star saga but damn that game is honestly a chore sometimes, like when you get sent into a huge slow ship with tiny passageways

[@dinokaiser]

Hello! Love your videos :) Just a clarification on the story for A Sound of Thunder as it's even more insane than the premise suggests XD The movie is based on a short story that was quite literally the first story based on the concept of "the Butterfly Effect", they time travel to hunt Dinosaurs for sport (I feel that people would absolutely use time travel for something so mind numbingly stupid) and as a result one of the hunters leaves the designated platform and steps on a prehistoric butterfly, thereby changing the future. In the movie version, this results in time waves where the path evolution was drastically different and alternate timeline creatures replace our current ones, which is why as the back of the box says "time is definitely not on your side" hehe. In the book it results in fascism, not dino fascism just the regular ol human fascism. In the GBA version this results in head crabs and humanoid dinos for some reason XD The game had multiplayer too! Coop and Deathmatch! Apparently the game was supposed to have a bigger budget game for the xbox, gamecube and ps2 but was sadly cancelled Unseen64 has some screenshots of the project, it looks like it would've been cool!

[@brianagatonovic4984]

I thought I knew about GBA games, but I always learn about a new one when I watch your videos. The depth and breadth of your knowledge is very impressive, and this is coming from a person who has been gaming since C64. Excellent work.

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Thanks Brian! I appreciate that 🙂

[@blackflame4506]

Double Dragon Advance is criminally underrated and one of the best beat'em ups on the GBA! Definitely gonna check out Invader and MOH Infiltrator too! You sir got a new subscriber!!

[@buntin8050]

Respect bro. These are true hidden gems. i only knew the last 2 games on the list! thanks for making this

[@decamail]

this is a list that looks very solid and does not go for the usual games that are so covered they're not 'hidden' -gems anymore nor is it just showing a bunch of 'meh' games for the sake of originality. This is the first time i hear of "Invader" and I will definitely be checking it out.

[@gamernaut8864]

All these games looks amazing. Thanks for the list. I will definitely give them a try. Another great video.

[@neverritt]

WL4 is very popular, but great nonetheless. Give these a try: Guru Logic Champ (Puzzle) Shining Soul II (Diablo-esque) Summon Night II (ARPG)

[@craiganderson7986]

For a scary good time, try “Pinball of the Dead.” It’s a real scream!

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Thanks for the tip! I’ll check it out 🙂

[@gapster77]

Researching the not so obvious gems for my Miyoo Mini, this video was really good, nice work 👍🏻

[@PikaLink91]

Always cool to see more treasures on my favorite handheld.

[@flickering_wick]

By far, my favorite hidden GBA gem is Rainbow Six Rogue Spear. The level design and enemy placement is magnificent. The learning curve is steep, but once you get down the basics, it's a phenomenal game. I'm not even a fan of Tom Clancy games but really love that one and beat it many times.

[@monke12354]

I am definitely going to try A Sound of Thunder, though it was also really cool seeing Medal of Honor Infiltrator on this list. I used to play that game a ton when I was younger

[@CamperCarl00]

Imagine being such a well known hidden gem GBA game that you're used as a thumbnail for every video but don't feature at all within it.

[@EleanorDrapeaux]

Me who has read the entire gba library more than a few times: this video looks promising, I hope there's at least a couple of games I my have dismissed The very first game: hi

[@ryutou-ki4dl]

whenever i try to find a new "old" game to play your channel is my first stop, love it man. (tryin to comment on every video i watch for the algo xD)

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Haha thanks man, glad you enjoy the videos!

[@marie-lisecouillard7263]

I never thought anyone but me remembered the Flamme of Recca manga

[@farleysmoke5130]

Awesome video. Loads there I didn’t know about. I don’t like football or David Beckham but I’m off to go play that go go Beckham game right now! Thanks 😊

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Glad you found something new! Hope you enjoy it 🙂

[@frds_skce]

Ah, Ygddra union. One of the not-Fire-Emblem that absolutely busted my ass during my childhood. And i've already finished the Fire Emblem games on the GBA before picking Yggdra. Also, if you're wondering who's the guy and girl in the video's thumbnail, it's from a GBA game called Riviera: The Promised Land, a JRPG with unique exploration system and rich in lore and worldbuilding. Another great game from the same studio that made Yggdra Union

[@bscrazeee8905]

Thanks man, never heard of Sound Of Thunder before, compelled to try both game and film now!!! Cheers 🍻👍

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Glad you found something new man!

[@marcwilliams9824]

Sound of Thunder is based off a Ray Bradbury short story.

[@YouRSmalltime]

you've got impeccable taste my guy. Almost every game is going on my wishlist.

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Glad you found some new games! 🙂

[@vallaurianv6024]

Double Dragon Advance is one of my favourite brawlers. The large move set and tactical game play is great

[@thatvideogamesshow]

I’ll second that!

[@kikomanq]

love this channel is like im in back to the time

[@supertuesday600]

Invader looks good! Thanks for the recommendation!! Gonna try it out soon 😊

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Have fun!

[@NinBendo1]

Good to see you hit 100K! Been here since roughly 20K, hope you keep growing man :)

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Thanks NinBendo, I appreciate that 🙂

[@NinBendo1]

@@thatvideogamesshow No problem, always happy to see people who talk about *actual* hidden gems! I own Macross Delta Scramble because of you and I’ll never forget that

[@chill6455]

I'll be real man, I had to sub once I saw that thumbnail. Riviera The Promised Land is a true hidden gem and I await something of a remake in the future. This as well as another Yu-Gi-Oh game was stellar. Can't remember the name of it though, as I had emulated dozens of GBA titles back in the old days lol.

[@PeruvianPotato]

Well there was a HD remaster announced a while back

[@Zakennayo]

loved the grandia1 song at the background, glad to see a man of culture.

[@Runetone]

Great List i own most of them boxed. Invader, Double Dragon advanced And Sound Of Thunder. Is going for hefty prices these days. you good at covering hidden gems. Have you shown The Avatar games on the the Gba ? They are pretty good :)

[@thatvideogamesshow]

I’ve never tried them! I’ll have to check them out 🙂

[@UltimateCooler666]

Since when is Wario Land 4 a hidden gem? It's one of the most beloved GBA games and pretty well known.

[@sagalesage]

Tekken 2 music Intro... You're a man of culture

[@johnpabon7535]

Medal of Honor : Infiltrator is pretty unique. It may be difficult here and there, but I, too, call it a fun, underrated gem. 👍

[@user-ov1hh5rf5y]

Wow! these are really hidden Games you chose! Thanks

[@MrZhdarkstar]

While I know that the lists tend to stick the idea of "Theme A on out-of-print Platform B, " can we get lists of "Theme A from Platform B/C/D Ported to Current (as of video upload) Platform X/Y/Z" that don't explicitly point viewers to paying current collector prices for the out-of-print platform or implicitly direct viewers to emulation because secondary market prices are absurdly high. We've long since been at a point where the only way that the corporations will consider releasing new entries to otherwise dormant IPs is to buy the current platform ports of these titles.

[@MarkSeinIII]

Summon Night on the GBA is what I played a lot. Also Harvest Moon and the Sonic fighting game. The Klonoa gba games are good too.

[@retrocute]

That Invader game, wow

[@joeruss1834]

Congrats on the 100k!

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Thanks Joe, I appreciate that 🙂

[@willgarner1406]

where does the music you use come from? im especially interested in the intro track and the one you used when talking about flame of recca thx!

[@jjwhy321y3]

Good list. Time to fire up my Miyoo Mini and check them out.

[@adamlach6572]

Medal of Honor Inflitrator is amazing in my opinion, really great title

[@linkthehero8431]

I'm surprised Asterix and Obelix XXL wasn't mentioned. It's a full 3D polygonal platformer/brawler (save for the characters which are just sprites) crammed on the GBA that actually plays well and I don't see too many people talking about it.

[@amurter19]

No idea there was a movie, much less a game, but A Sound of Thunder is originally a Ray Bradbury short story, lol.

[@gusdavid7798]

No wonder, movie got a 4.2/10 on imdb. Might still watch it tho since Ben Kingsley's on it.

[@craiganderson7986]

See this movie! You won’t be disappointed! It’s on the top of my “ Guilty Pleasures” list!

[@chcknfsh]

I almost thought I already watched this one but no, it’s new 🎉🎉

[@jpsrandom6943]

I see your videos evwrutime I can, please keep up the good content, I love my vintage portable games and you are on point t every time, much love from Colombia

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Thanks for watching!

[@fink94]

GBA is one of the best consoles ever

[@cringer8107]

Indeed , meanwhile my library is huge and there are so many hidden gems!

[@TiroDvD]

Hidden Gems but not sure how hidden since I found most via "Retro Gaming with RacketBoy": Iridion II, Shining Soul II, Drill Dozer, Hamtaro Ham-Ham Heart Break, Gozilla (by WayFoward), Scurge Hive.

[@SylvesterAshcroft88]

I played Denki Blocks on sky, and it was such a good game, it's a shame it never achieved the popularity of other tetromino games, such as the licensed tetris titles by nintendo.

[@HUYI1]

Hmm, I really thought I was the only one who did that, used to play denki blocks on sky all the time, good times

[@zdenshadowdragonbyzideodi8819]

Wow thank you fir this video

[@ApolloMclaren]

Not really a hidden gem but Ive been playing mother 3 a lot lately and it’s probably the best experience ive had with a retro game ever. I feel like its not talked about enough when compared to any modern nintendo series. It really tops all of them imo.

[@johnnym2069]

I play Mother 3 at least once a year. I've just started replaying it again this year. The Mother trilogy are cult classics and I honestly prefer it that way. I just feel like those games shouldn't be in the mainstream. I had the pleasure of discovering Mother 3 on my own without any knowledge of it or the previous two games. I was like "what the fuck is this? " However, I slowly fell in love as I kept playing. Was one of my most magical gaming experiences ever.

[@iami3rian394]

​@@johnnym2069Earthbound is pretty widely recognized as one of the best games of all time. You sure it's not mainstream? The inclusion on the SNES mini kinda changed things.

[@TheHammersmashdave]

New viewer here. Turned the video on, heard the intro cutscene music from tekken 2, instant subscribe.

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Thanks David!

[@HammerBlow666]

Man I played the living hell out of Double Dragon Advance. If I'm being entirely honest I still do. Definitely the best version of the game ever.

[@hopoheikki8503]

Do GB/GBC hidden gems. My favorite some what hidden gems for GB are Kwirk and Motorcross Maniacs.

[@NeosNeo]

Ahhh man I forgot all about Denki Blocks I struggled with this game as a kid

[@enorma29]

it's that song from Catherine! instant like!

[@boggleHank]

Nice vid, what was the outro music?

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Double Dragon 2 Arcade - Ending

[@evilblader7]

I'm grateful for show us a hidden gema, specially in Gameboy advance, I love Gameboy advance. If you don't mind I want to more hidden gems in Gameboy Gameboy color please 😊

[@thatvideogamesshow]

In the works 🙂

[@baifomet6425]

Invader aknowleged! I had that game as a teenager and played the hell out of it.

[@theinktician]

I never knew Warioland 4 was considered a gem. 2 of my friends had it- but they were also the only WarioWare owners i knew. I'm surprised (not really) that neither Summon Knight games made the list. I found a copy during COVID after illegally playing it for years

[@NeoNinjaX87]

Love the GBA!!

[@thatvideogamesshow]

One of the best handhelds!

[@FEARitself100]

A sound of thunder is wild. They turned a short novel into a videogame

[@diebesgrab]

Double Dragon Advance was probably the best game in the series when it came out, but after Neon, Gaiden, and the Zeebo and mobile games, it’s hard for it to compete. ArcSys really needs to port the mobile version to modern platforms.

[@steelwrath]

All your videos are top notch 👍 subscribed 💯

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Thanks man!

[@pendragnx]

I've been on the lookout for Medal of Honor: Infiltrator for a while.. still have yet to come across it in the wild

[@Frietuurs]

Can you finally reveal what track you’re using for the intro. Would love for you to tell what soundtracks you’re using since they don’t always correlate to the game you’re talking about.

[@xelthos2051]

A Sound of Thunder is a really good short story that this game takes a ton of liberties with and bastardizes a ton. Lol. Well worth a read for anyone.

[@Frieowksf1293]

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night is another hidden gem for the GBA, although, I do understand why many people ignored it, it was made by the same team as A New Beginning GBA, which was just terrible, plus, the system was on its last legs by 2007

[@qmchale5130]

I enjoyed Eternal Night a lot better than New Beginning.

[@athag1]

A Sound of Thunder is based on a short story by Ray Bradbury written in the 50s. The Butterfly effect was coined from the same short story.

[@lokasocba]

I'll take Invader and MoH Infiltrator. I wish I liked Yggdra Union, the game is beautiful to look but I couldn't get behind the combat system. I'd like to recommend another Sting! game instead: Riviera - The Promised Land. Cute, simple and quite enjoyable JRPG

[@kclink1579]

12:47 Still got this game and have had it since about 2002.

[@gerc2005]

I can't for the life of me indentify the opening song, is it from SoR?

[@theultimategamer95]

Owned Medal of Honor Infiltrator as a kid, thought it was fun af. Then I tried it a couple of months ago again for old time's sake, felt pretty slow and clunky tbh, which is a shame. Konami Krazy Racers is the best GBA racer imo (and goddamn that theme tune). Invader is a cool game also, and Go Go Beckham's graphics are really nice on the eyes.

[@drifter4training]

double dragon advance is going to be available in the double dragon collection for consoles and PC, the day after double dragon gaiden was released

[@matthewbraith0411]

A David Beckham licensed game... crazy man :)

[@guaplei1]

Time to install all the game in here

[@guitarlesson666]

I dunno if it's a hidden gem really,but I always replay the Mario power tennis tour and the GBA sims (bustin out and urbz the most)

[@thomasbryans6547]

A Sound Of Thunder looks fun. All the isometric shooters I played on GBA were awful and that looks decent

[@joshoshea3194]

Medal of Honour just looked like a total RIP off of Shock Troopers on the Neo Geo? The one with the blocks that you had to move around looked pretty good, I bet that's quite fun that'll actually be quite addictive once you get the hang of it. Some good looking titles here. I always like it when I hear of games that slipped me by.

[@joshoshea3194]

I actually found Wario Land 4 really difficult. I got stuck at the end of the first level. But that was probably just me? 🙂

[@johnmartinez-valentin5427]

Some of these games 🎮 looks worth buying

[@joset814]

Love this channel

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Thanks José!

[@dadsfreetimeclassicgaming1220]

That game looks great but you're playing the trauma center song. Now all I can think about is trauma center

[@uriva0707]

Thanks

[@thatguy00271]

another great vid

[@thatvideogamesshow]

Cheers!

[@skywalker8035]

What is the theme song in the beginning ?

[@not4ne141]

I was wondering why the thumbnail shows Riviera but not in the list.

[@SynikPixels]

They should start making games for the gba again I'd buy them.

[@SynikPixels]

I still play alot of my gba games to this day, collection is getting kinda big I have about 50ish games now 😅

[@PeruvianPotato]

Wish granted?

[@PixelOutlaw]

Invader looks like a typical Euroshmup. Slow movement uninspired bullet patterns and upgrades to try and balance out a weak main weapon.

[@ShaffySwitcher]

You forgot about Rhythm Tengoku!!

[@alphenhousplaysgames4565]

as someone who HAS played all of these, wario land 4, go go beckham, yggrda union, are the 3 on this last that you will actually miss not playing. the other ones, well, if a gba is all you got they're gonna be good. otherwise there's better versions of similar games.

[@absoluteclownworld]

Wario Land 4 is a Hidden 💎? Naw everyone knows that's the best one in the series 😉

[@DrayLoco]

Anyone know the song that plays right after the intro?

[@SaitouSad1]

Re: Flame of Recca I believe this follows the manga story which takes continues after the anime

[@allnamestakenlol]

GBA is such a great system.

[@Vwarans]

Flame of Recca A Sound of Thunder

[@mike6927]

Double dragon advance is my favorite double dragon game