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**SuperDanX** · 31-01-2006, 08:31

Lunar legend
Lufia
Breath of fire 1 & 2
Sorwd of mana
final fantasy's
phantasy star collection
shinning soul 1 & 2
shinning in the darkness
(or what ever its called)

**Kaladron** · 31-01-2006, 08:44

You can't get Shining in the Darkness for GBA. You can get a remake of Shining Force though and it's very good. Don't bother with Shining Soul as it's pretty dull, Shining Soul II is much better.

**Kaladron** · 31-01-2006, 08:45

Oh and don't forget Minish Cap if you haven't already played it. That is the essential GBA game as far as I'm concerned.

**Duddyroar** · 31-01-2006, 09:00

Yeah, just finsished Minish Cap - what a game!

I've played Lunar Legend and I thought it was terrible compared to the original. Quite tempted to get Breath of Fire 1 & 2, although I've had the first one and it got pretty dull halfway through.

Shining Soul I've also played (forgot to mention this in the original list) and it didn't grab me - how is the second game better?

I want to get a copy of Lufia but it seems pretty rare.

**Ajay1986** · 31-01-2006, 10:47

Im a big fan of shining soul 2 its really underrated. Its a massive game and theres loads of different items and stuff to find thats what i like in my RPG's.

**Kaladron** · 31-01-2006, 11:40

Originally posted by Duddyroar

Shining Soul I've also played (forgot to mention this in the original list) and it didn't grab me - how is the second game better?

Soul 2 has a few more interesting characters, much more imaginative levels and loads of secrets. I can't comment on the story (I've only played the Japanese one) but exploring the levels, searching for secret items/areas and fighting bosses is pretty good fun.

I must stress though, that despite the name this has very little in common with the original Shining games. If you're after something that's reminsent of the Mega Drive and Saturn titles then Shining Force: Ressurection of the Dark Dragon is a must. All the graphics were redone and several extra battles and characters were addedd. One particular character gets his attacks from collectible cards and is so different to the other characters that he makes it worth playing even if you've done the original.

Check out my review here

**S3M** · 31-01-2006, 11:58

Fire Emblem 1,2 & 3

The one staring Roy wasn't released in the west. You'll have to import it!

Here's a few more.

Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
Onimusha Tactics
Harvest Moon
Riviera The Promised Land (Wonderful game)
Megaman Battle Network 1,2,3,4,5
Advance Wars 1 & 2
Pokemon Red, Green, Ruby etc..
Castlevania (oddly enough as the newer games do have a lot of RPG elements)

Shining Soul is a terrible game and the worse RPG by far on the GBA, it's like a really bad version of Zelda Four Swords.

Shining Soul II is much better, but I'd still leave it at the bottom of the RPG pile as it's still not that great.

Can't say I rate the Shining Force remake much either, the game is bland and life less compared to the original version. Plus I'd have to say that many of the changes are for the worse.

Golden Sun is a much better bet as it was made by the maker of the early Shining Force games. Riviera The Promised Land, really is a very good RPG with a lot of original ideas, so it plays a lot different to some of the other games currently on the market.

**Duddyroar** · 31-01-2006, 12:09

Riviera The Promised Land - Quite interested in this - any more opinions/comments?

**vertigo** · 31-01-2006, 13:10

Me too, very interested in Riviera seeing as all the magazine and website reviews I've read about it say that it's thrown out all the boring crap that plagues RPGs (chat to every single villager in order to leave, random f-ing battles, needless levelling up) but I still can't quite get the picture of how you do actually play it or what goes on in place of those.

**Combination** · 31-01-2006, 13:15

Scratch Sword of Mana, can't say for certain if it's just the English localization but the script has got to be among the worst ever.

But more importantly, the gameplay in this Final Fantasy Legend remake is hampered by a non-existent AI, effectively rendering your partner useless throughout the game. They will pretty much get stuck on all objects. Of course, this gives you a chance to earn more experience points for your main character. It also has some of the most absurd screen tearing I've seen in a GBA game, yet there is hardly anything going on!

/rant, yes, I was burned by SOM

**Strider** · 31-01-2006, 13:27

This is a coincidence... I'm putting together a retro rated of the top GBA rpgs at the moment

**vertigo** · 31-01-2006, 13:37

Originally posted by Vic Vipr

Scratch Sword of Mana, can't say for certain if it's just the English localization but the script has got to be among the worst ever.

But more importantly, the gameplay in this Final Fantasy Legend remake is hampered by a non-existent AI, effectively rendering your partner useless throughout the game. They will pretty much get stuck on all objects. Of course, this gives you a chance to earn more experience points for your main character. It also has some of the most absurd screen tearing I've seen in a GBA game, yet there is hardly anything going on!

/rant, yes, I was burned by SOM

Yup, all of that. It's utter garbage, isn't it? As you say, crap script, awful sprite engine, the AI is about as useful as a chocolate frying pan. Any other dev name and title on the game and you'd have had a 60% rating. As soon as you stick Squaresoft and Mana on it, you end up with the rabid blinkered fanboys throwing 10/10s at it like there's no tomorrow. Twaddle.

**S3M** · 31-01-2006, 13:56

Riviera The Promised Land, if your interested here is a more in-depth comments.

Riviera is mainly set in dungeons, but there are towns, the dungeons are very cleverly done as they are made up of a number of stages. Each stage has a couple of areas but once you leave a stage you can?t go back to it unless an event takes you back to it. Even more interesting is the fact you get a score for each dungeon depending on how you did and what you found.

The battle combat is a bit like FF but you see the monsters before they attack so there are no random battles in fact they are all at pre-set locations. You can attack with a range of weapons but each weapon has X many uses and different characters develop different skills with each weapon. Now the super attacks are quite interesting as you have one super bar for the whole team, now as you take damage the bar charges up and allows you to do 3 levels of super attacks. You can also do a super called a Limit Breaker that does major damage but this will also crack the super bar and prevents you from pulling off anymore specials for the remainder of that battle.

At the end of each battle you are graded on your performance and are given a number of TP points depending on the result. Now the TP points are very interesting in order to search statues, open chests you need TP points. Even more so is the fact they are in quite short supply. Now in a room you may only have enough point to search a crack in the wall or a strange statue, which do you chose? As you search items you may find hidden items or route, make a bad choice and you will spring traps and alert enemies to your location. Your decisions also impact your relationships with other characters, especially in cases where you get asked to chose a team member to perform an action, some of the result are very funny. All these events give you a score and at the end of a dungeon you?re rated on your score.

Excellent graphic?s and sound, but the game may not be every one?s cup of tea, I myself have really enjoyed what I have played so far.

Add me to the Sword of Mana is rubbish crew, it really is bad and so it Final Fantasy 1 & 2 really bland boring remakes and the extra dungeons in FF1 are just pure torture, no one should have to live through that.

ft:

**Duddyroar** · 01-02-2006, 09:06

Hmmm.

I've read a few reviews online and both Lufia and Riviera don't score that highly...not that I'm questioning your opinion S3M. It sounds like an interesting game but I kinda like all the exploring and talky bits in RPGs.

Has anyone played Final Fantasy IV on the GBA? That's top of my list at the moment.

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