Summary
There are two great types of turn-based games on the Game Boy Advance. There are traditional Japanese ones wherein players have to sift through menus and literally take turns between heroes and villains. ThePokemongames are great examples includingPokemon FireRedandPokemon LeafGreen.
Other great traditional turn-based hits includeMother 3,Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, andGolden Sun. The other type of turn-based gameplay can be found in tactical RPGs. Typically, players can amass small armies and move them around a map. It’s like an RPG form of Chess and they do indeed require a lot of strategy. Let’s highlight some great ones today.
Super Robot Taisen Jis one of many iterations of the GBA in this Japan-centric series. They’re all heavily filled with mech from across the anime universe. This one includes characters notably fromGundam SEEDandG Gundamalong with debuting franchises likeFull Metal PanicandTekkaman Bladefor the realhardcore mech fans. This one also has a school theme around it wherein a group of high students get sucked into a bizarre sci-fi plot. Battles are played out on a simple grid but attacks are flashier once executed. While this is an exclusive for Japan, there has been an English fan update.
7Onimusha Tactics
Fighting Demons In Feudal Japan
TheOnimushaseries started as horror action games akin toResident Evil. Capcom then tried to make some bizarre spinoffs likeOnimusha Blade Warriorswhich was aSuper Smash Bros.cloneandOnimusha Tacticswhich was a strategy RPG. Even though there are some funky-looking characters, it’s not a grotesque nightmare like the mainline games. It was an odd move from Capcom’s part but it made for a decent RPG on the GBA. Characters could walk around grids, attack, level up, and the usual sort in this fantasy-based version of feudal Japan.
6Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars
Kojima’s Legacy Continues On Handheld
There were twoZone of the Enderstitles on the PS2 which were fast-paced mech games. While notdirected by Hideo KojimaofMetal Gearfame, he did have a hand in producing them. The series then got an anime,Zone of the Enders Dolores, I, andZone of the Enders: The Fist of Marslooks more in line with that anime universe.
The map grids are as simple as theSuper Robot Taisengames but the attack segments are more involved. Players have control of the cockpit and can aim at enemies for short spans. It’s a hard game to master but a fun one to learn.
Yggdra Union: We’ll Never Fight Aloneis kind of like a more anime-inspired version ofAdvance Wars. Instead of planes, tanks, and other motorized vehicles, players controlled big armies. Each hero on the map conveyed about ten soldiers which varied depending on ranks. Losing soldiers would be like the equivalent of losing HP in other RPGs. It was a clever way to depict the toils of war, but in a more light-hearted way even though the story was also not afraid of getting dark.
4Shining Force: Resurrection Of The Dark Dragon
Sega’s Tactical Series Comes To Nintendo
When they discontinued the Dreamcast,Sega brought a lot of their top franchisesto Nintendo consoles likeShining. TheShiningseries began as a dungeon crawler withShining in the Darkness. Its sequel pivoted the gameplay style andShining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragonis a remake of that game for the GBA. Players moved around units on fairly detailed top-down maps from soldiers to archers to more wild units like centaurs which was a staple of the franchise. This was a good update for the game, allowing Nintendo fans to discover a hidden gem among strategy RPGs.
3Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
A Tactical Isekai
Final Fantasy Tactics Advanceis a wild sequel to the bloody and religious original on the PS1. LikeOnimusha Tactics, this was a pivot toward a more kid-friendly audience. It’s more clear in the plot as a group of children get warped into theland of Ivalice, makingFinal Fantasy Tactics Advancean Isekai.
Players, as the hero Marche, quickly became the leader of a mercenary squad. They could build up their crew, change Jobs, and plot a route around the expanding universe all while taking on side quests. While not as mature, it was still an engaging strategy game.
In the grand line of Square Enix-owned strategy franchises,Tactics Ogreoften gets overlooked.Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodiswas before Square Enix absorbed the developer, Quest, and this instead waspublished by Atlusin North America. It was a smooth move on their part as it fit their niche RPG market nicely. Like most tactical games on the GBA, players could recruit a squad of units and play around with their classes and equipment to turn them into an elite battalion. It was harder than most on the GBA though as the accuracy stat was quite vicious.
Fire Emblemis the first entry North America got since theFire Emblemseriesbegan on the NES in 1990. It is the seventh main game that got the cooler title in Japan,Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. Understandably, Nintendo localizers simplified it since this was a new series to most. The difficulty of this game is infamous since it has permadeath, a feature of most entries. That challenge is what attracted a lot of tactical fans though and the rest is history. It’s a big franchise in the West even though quite several games are still trapped in Japan.
