Nintendo's Game Boy Advance is a nostalgic classic from the 2000s era, with the handheld gaming system known for amassing some of the best IPs across a variety of genres. Role-playing games are one such genre, with titles under this category being one of the most content-rich.
The GBA has a diverse selection of franchises in this genre, with the voting community at Ranker putting together their list of 10 all-time greats. Unsurprisingly, many of the games are from the JRPG subgenre, but the range in franchises is deep as well as the spins on their premises.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Nintendo has toyed with the RPG genre for its platforming giant Mario, dating as far back as the Super Nintendo era with Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Along with the likes of the acclaimed Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is another beloved RPG classic for the colorful plumber.
Superstar Saga spawned a whole spin-off series, with it being acclaimed for its vibrant and humorous story and characters, as well as its creative spin on turn-based combat when compared to other JRPGs. It may not be the most games, but it's worth diving into for franchise and genre fans looking for a change of pace.
Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow
While the beloved Castlevania franchise -- on the gaming side of things -- has been bitterly neglected by publisher Konami, its impressive catalog is still fondly ed. Even with the gaming icon that is Symphony of the Night, the GBA's Aria of Sorrow still stands among the franchise's top tier.
The game was lauded for retaining the core of what makes a Castlevania game great as well as incorporating tasteful changes, namely the Tactical Soul system, to give this action-platformer RPG streamlined depth in its mechanics. To this day, Soma Cruz's quest remains one of the best that the Game Boy Advance has to offer.
Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen
The Pokémon IP has long since become one of the most iconic JRPG series thanks to the overall franchise's multibillion-dollar status. Red, Green, and Blue were the games to start it all and made a colossal impact on the gaming scene with the original Game Boy, with FireRed and LeafGreen arguably becoming the definitive versions of this Kanto adventure.
These remakes improved upon the original games in every conceivable way, implementing all of the quality-of-life enhancements the mainline series brought at the time. On top of facelifting the main story, FireRed and LeafGreen also added a solid chunk of postgame content in the process. They not only became perhaps the best Kanto region games but one of the best Pokémon games in general as well.
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Awakening on the Nintendo 3DS reinvigorated the tactical-RPG franchise's international viability, but the classic Fire Emblem games still stand as classics in their own right. The Sacred Stones was only the second game in the series to release outside of Japan, but it's the eighth entry overall.
This game revolves around a high fantasy world broken up into five countries, with each guarding a stone responsible for sealing an ancient demon. It was critically well-received for its compelling fantasy storytelling in between battles, while the strategic combat itself was praised for its engaging depth. It's refreshing to see the IP's efforts pay off, as Three Houses on the Switch continues to prove that Fire Emblem is a modern mainstay in Nintendo's vault.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Square Enix's JRPG titan Final Fantasy is one of the most recognizable pillars of the video game medium, but even with all the revered entries in the mainline series, the Tactics spinoffs have become franchise favorites. That's a big feat to accomplish given the status of games like VI, VII, IX, and more, as the original PlayStation classic set in motion a new collection of classics.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is connected to the world of Final Fantasy XII, as it revolves around a group of kids from a town called St. Ivalice who gets transported to the realm of Ivalice. Tactics Advance was well-received for its spin on the tactical-RPG subgenre, as well as its charming story, the cast of characters, and memorable graphics and music.
Mother 3
Outside of Japan, the Mother series -- known as EarthBound -- began as a commercially underwhelming JRPG series. However, in the decades since, it's become a hailed cult classic. EarthBound was the second game in the series, as the original never made its way out of Japan. To this day, it's the only one of Ness or Lucas' adventures to launch in the west, as Mother 3 also remains a Japan-exclusive.
The game was praised for using its intentionally campy surface-level aesthetics and characters to dive into darker meta themes. Likewise, its subversive gameplay elements to the conventional JRPG formula were well-received. Mother 3 has thankfully seen life on the international stage thanks to the unofficial translation patch.
Golden Sun
Developer Camelot Software Planning has made many games for Nintendo, including various sports-themed Mario spinoffs. However, one of their biggest cult classics was their Golden Sun series. It spawned a trilogy of games, with two being on the Game Boy Advance and the final on the Nintendo DS. Golden Sun is looked back upon favorably as one of the most underrated JRPGs ever made.
Golden Sun takes place in a fantasy setting where a group of magical "adepts" is tasked with preventing Alchemy from being released into the world. It was well-received for making the most of its 32-bit cartridge limitations, providing entertaining RPG combat, vibrant pixel art, and an immersive story.
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Even with the high standard set by its predecessor, Golden Sun: The Lost Age proved to be a worthy sequel that competes with the original. The Lost Age picks up from the ending of the first, putting players in the shoes of Golden Sun's antagonists attempting to reintroduce Alchemy into the world.
Though Camelot could've afforded to be a little bolder when it came to new features, its strong gameplay foundation was still welcomed. Just as well, the top-notch graphics and story were praised in comparison to similar RPGs.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
The seventh installment in the Fire Emblem series, The Blazing Blade, was the first to release outside of Japan. Nintendo and developer Intelligent Systems were initially nervous about bringing Fire Emblem westward given its subgenre and level of difficulty -- after all, "permadeath" of game characters in battle was still a staple then -- but seeing Advance Wars succeed as well as the popularity of the likes of Roy and Marth in Super Smash Bros. convinced them to.
The Blazing Blade takes place on the fantasy continent of Elibe, as three young lords embark on a quest to find one of their missing fathers while unraveling a deep-rooted conspiracy against the land. Thankfully for the budding (international) franchise, The Blazing Blade was met with critical acclaim for its seamless integration of tactical-RPG combat, character writing, and classical fantasy storytelling.
Final Fantasy VI
Asking Final Fantasy fans which mainline game is the best will likely yield different results, as the franchise offers a treasure trove's worth of excellent games. However, Final Fantasy VI still earns its spot among the very best of the series.
Originally released in the west as "Final Fantasy III," FFVI garnered emphatic acclaim for its riveting, emotional, and impressively mature story that blends the fantasy genre with steampunk. The vintage turn-based JRPG combat system was also well-received for using all the gameplay enhancements the Final Fantasy series introduced at the time.