Poll: Your Game Boy Advance model of choice?

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Launching all the way back in 2001, the Game Boy Advance was the first radical redesign in the Game Boy line of systems with its move to a horizontal layout. Throughout its nearly 10 year lifespan we also saw multiple redesigns and revisions of the hardware.

It infamously launched with a non-backlit screen meaning it was notorious for being difficult to play in low light situations. This was remedied by third party add-ons, most famously the Afterburner and was later addressed by Nintendo with the launch of the Game Boy Advance SP which featured a front-lit display.

It was also of course the system that made GBAtemp possible and the reason we're here today thanks to a boom in piracy when an abundance of affordable and easy-to-use flash carts flooded the markets.

The GBA saw three major hardware revisions with the original, the SP and the Micro.

The Original Game Boy Advance

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The original GBA launched on March 21 2001 in Japan and has sold over 81 million units to date. It's radical redesign in form factor sported a horizontal layout, shoulder buttons and 240×160px TFT LCD.

Games shipped on game paks that were roughly half the height of the original Game Boy cartridges and could hold up to 32MB of data (with Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories shipping on this size cartridge).

Game Boy Advance SP

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The Game Boy Advance launched in 2003 and saw yet another change to the form factor of the handheld. It featured a clam shell design which enabled the screen to be protected when not in use, more importantly, the display featured a front-lit panel which enabled play in any lighting condition.

In terms of specs the system stayed the same but Nintendo added a rechargeable lithium ion battery and opted to remove the headphone jack (showing courage 13 years before Apple). They sold a separate adaptor for 3.5mm headphones that plugged into the multipurpose charging port. This also meant you couldn't charge the system and use headphones at the same time.

In late 2005 Nintendo released a revised version of the GBA SP (AGS-101) of which the major difference was the addition of a proper backlit and much brighter screen.

Game Boy Advance Micro

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In 2005 Nintendo released the final GBA redesign in the form of the Game Boy Advance Micro. A miniature version of the system barely any bigger than the game paks themselves. Weighing in at just 80g the system sported a rechargeable battery and backlit display.

The screen was of course much smaller though it retained pixel resolution meaning games didn't look squashed or distorted. Interestingly enough for the size it also saw the return of the headphone jack and also featured removable, customisable face plates. Though it did lose backwards compatibility with legacy Game Boy cartridges.

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What was your preferred model of the Game Boy Advance?
 

MikaDubbz

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Officially the best model is the SP revision, AGP-101. But, in terms of what I most prefer is a modded original model GBA with a backlight. That model really did just have the best form factor.
 
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MadMakuFuuma

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last SP revision is the best, of course... but:
for the gameplay standpoint: (AGB-001) with backlight mod is the best. it has the best shoulder buttons too.
 
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playstays_shun

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How would you guys rank GBA , against DS and 3DS

hot take but I hope Nintendo creates another true handheld. I really like my switch but it’s missing the magic of their true portables in game library breadth and simplicity

it’s now home console style games just on a system that is handheld in form if you choose

even vita mastered the handheld vibe
 
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Dani Dandelion

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While the SP and Micro are superior in many ways, the original GBA was the one I had as a teen. I'd play for hours while lying in bed instead of sleeping, usually on school nights. Mostly JRPGs. I had one of those light attachment accessories, too.
 

Charli

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I have very fond memories of my transparent GBA (AGB-001) :gba: Always adjusting the screen angle during car trips to keep the screen image visible. Damn those tunnels and bridges blocking my precious sunlight! During night I'd make use of my top mounted screen cover that had a little light integrated ^_^ I also used my GBA a lot to play outside under the sun, e.g at the beach while on vacation. Maybe a little too much though because today the original blueish / violet color faded to yellow / almost orange.

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hmm.. I wonder if I would be able to fix the color fading with Retrobrigth? Does it work with transparent plastic? Or can it only restore the color of the surface layer?

Despite all the love I've got for the original GBA, my winner is the Micro. I was so surprised I hadn't heard earlier of the Micro when I first came across it, which was around 2007 I think..? Maybe later. There were never any advertisements and I don't remember seeing it in any store. I guess the Micro had a pretty hard time since the DS was Nintendo's exciting new handheld at that time. But therefore I was able to score a Micro quite cheap on ebay. Playing my GBA games on such a crisp and colorful backlit screen was a real game changer for me. It's incompatibility with older Game Boy games didn't bother me that much because I also bought my first flash card at that time and loaded it up with the Goomba emulator. I fell for a really cheap offer on an EFA-Linker II flash card. Too cheap as it turned out... I think it's some kind of clone of the original EFA-Linker flash card. I was so happy when I got it to run eventually. Although it was always a gamble how many ROMs would appear in the game list after flashing... But at least it wasn't a total waste of money. On Windows 7 I used Windows XP mode because the drivers I had only seemed to work with XP. I wonder if could resurrect that XP VM, I should have an old backup lying around somewhere :unsure: Would be nice to backup my savegames as long as the flash card is still working.

I used to carry that little thing so much around with me, always loaded up with my flash card :) I think I mostly used it to play GB and GBC color games with Goomba :rolleyes: Being able to save Tetris High Scores was great! :D

Regarding the SP.. It somehow always seemed really uncomfortable when I played with my friends SP back in the day. But maybe I was just used to the original GBA. With my Micro this was somehow never a real issue for me. The L and R shoulder buttons maybe aren't really that comfortable after playing for some time though.

Well, that's my little trip down GBA memory lane. Thanks for this thread ;)


How are the buttons for the micro? Are they more like the original or the SP or something different altogether?
I can't compare the buttons to the SP since I don't own one, but they are crisper than the buttons on my original GBA. Especially the D-Pad is much better on my Micro. It's very mushy on my GBA.
 
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I'll never forget laying in bed at night as I play Brother Bear and Pokemon on my red GBA SP, all while pretending to be asleep of course :^) There was also Spongebob bfbb as well
 

codezer0

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Never had a micro, which I think would fit great in some of those tiny pockets some pants have nowadays. but I also prefer the bigger screens. And for ergonomics, an original mode is wonderful. As pocket-friendly as the SP is, I cannot ignore how often I've had shoulder buttons being a problem on those, and the lack of a headphone jack out of the factory.
 
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