3 fun GBA games to play on your PlayStation Vita or PSP- Switching over to the Nintendo side for some game ideas
The PSVita and PSP emulate many consoles well and the GameBoy Advance is no exception. With a fitting control scheme and good performance, playing GBA games on these portables is a joy and that’s why we’re gonna take a look at some titles worthy to play during this holiday season!
Introduction
The GameBoy Advance has been chosen because it’s the most recent Nintendo portable that you can emulate on the PSVita (and PSP). Another reason is that the game library of Nintendo consoles differs quite a bit from that of what Sony consoles offer so emulating the GBA gives you access to more light-hearted titles and many exclusives.
The recommended software to use on the PSP is gPSP and RetroArch/mGBA on the PSVita. That being said, I use gPSP via Adrenaline on my PSVita for the screen filters but that’s just because I like the Advanced AA filter too much and I never got around to setting up RetroArch correctly.
1. The Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Obviously, no list of GBA games can be complete without mentioning at least one Zelda game. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was initially a GBA exclusive Zelda game (but it was later made available on Virtual Console) that has Vaati as its main villain.
In a nutshell, Vaati turned princess Zelda into stone and…. you guessed it, Link has to save the day by defeating Vaati and saving Zelda. This is done by shrinking down in size to the world of the Picori and exploring several areas, all with their unique style and enemies. Other than simply following the main quest, there are also many heart pieces to collect so that the game never quite gets boring.
If you haven’t played a Zelda game before, then this one is a great place to start as it’s not as difficult as earlier Zelda games. Furthermore, emulators have save states so they could save you the frustration of being defeated in more challenging stages 😉
Recommended for: People who are new to the RPG genre or want an easy RPG to play on the go. As with many RPGs, it’s recommended you download a walkthrough if you’re going somewhere without internet this Christmas season as you may get stuck at certain points.
2. Drill Dozer
Drill Dozer is a lesser known GBA title that has great visuals and gameplay considering the hardware of the GBA. Originally released in 2005(JP)/2006(NA), this game has you playing as Jill in her drill dozer which is a powerful robo-drill that lets you dig holes through virtually everything by pressing the L/R triggers. You may also buy upgrades with in-game currency so that you could drill through stuff faster and have more health.
In this game, you have to retrieve the Red Diamond that a rival gang stole from Jill’s gang and to do this, you have to traverse through 17 well-designed stages and drill through a bunch of enemies. Overall, the game is quite fun even though it is a little short in my opinion.
Recommended for: Those who like action adventure games that are pretty easy, have colourful graphics and aren’t too long. Excellent to play on a moderately long road trip and could be a fun game for younger relatives to play.
3. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
If you’re looking for a great Castlevania game to play this Christmas, then look no further as 2003’s Aria of Sorrow fits the bill perfectly. The game has you playing as Soma Cruz, a transfer student in Japan, who manages to end up in Dracula’s castle and wants to get out. This is done by fighting a barrage of enemies with melee weapons and tactical souls (which are pretty fun to play with) in order to learn more about Dracula’s prophecies.
Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrows has pretty good graphics for its time and performs quite well. Difficulty-wise, it isn’t too hard but save states come in handy at times
Recommended for: People who like action side-scrolling platform games with an interesting story line and great gameplay. It’s also great for for those who want to get into the Castlevania series without playing older and more difficult installments in the series first.
Conclusion
If you’ve become tired of your PSP/PSVita, think again because there are hundreds of great games you can emulate which you may have never heard about!
In my opinion, nothing beats physical controls so playing games on smartphones will never be quite as enjoyable as playing them on a dedicated portable console 😉
To get more game ideas, check out last week’s PSP/PS1 game recommendations article!
Ninja 5-0 is pretty fun too!
Zelda is not an RPG. It’s an Action-Adventure game.
its a typical acttion rpg , im afraid
I wouldn’t call it a “Typical Action RPG”. I’d say that for the Mana games, Terrranigma, etc. Zelda games are more Adventure Puzzle than RPG.
i would say you are right.
in fact , its a jap style action rpg like the famous seiken densetsu, tenchi sousou, light crusader,or the story of thor, not a western arpg like diablo.its a naming system conflict.
where is pokemon series?
Why bring it up? The GBA has a bunch of games that are good.
if vita could emulated nds….that more fun…
Fire Emblem, Advance Wars
Heh, I’ve been playing The Minish Cap for the last few days or so on my N3DS XL and I can confirm that it’s a pretty damn good game (Tip: hold down either Start or Select while the game boots up and it will run at its native resolution).
I’ve never heard of “Drill Dozer”, but I always wanted to try the GBA version of Tony Hawk and Max Payne. 🙂 Maybe I’ll look into GBA injection into Nintendo’s “Virtual Console” containers. I’m sure I read something about that at some point.
wololo.net does not endorse piracy but here are some games you can and totally should pirate
Will never get tired of my vita and PS TV
+1 for this news site
What a coincidence, i just started playing through Castlevania – Aria of Sorrow once again. UO gpSP kai is a must though, everything else *** with the save (atleast the one i downloaded to start on hard difficulty, it just was an empty file after closing TempGBA and mGBA. I also recommend Fire Emblem – The Sacred Stones and Mario and Luigi – Superstar Saga.
This website is getting worse and worse. We had that stupid article the other day from Wololo about the firmware which had no information at all and now we have recommendations for GBA games that was mostly copy / pasted from another website.
It’s what their ads need when there are no exploits being released as they don’t even take part in any of their development. Lame, I must say.
For thoses who own a vita there’s a tips for playing GBA games with the correct aspect ratio, using gpsp on adrenaline set the display to “unsclaed 3/2” and then set the adrenaline scale X & Y to 3.0. then set a filter (sharp bilinear or lcd3x)
Yet another useless post
indeed, maybe some trainee who got a chance to fill an empty slot on the site. Not against really fresh unexperienced newcomers doing some articles to initiate some other people on the same level…, but this is just so much below the line for the people that frequent this site.
so.. that`s a news? i think it`s like “hmm.. idk what to say somethin new tho, maybe just say somethin that already all know? yes thats right!” heheh =))) for real, many psp\vita gamers already playn in emulators, and u know what? news must be like “SuperHacker9kkk created stable perfect working DS\n64\PS2\Android\ios\Etc.. Emulator for psp\vita!” and THATS! news. but we just see notification that some stuff already exist, just about it existing, not about updates, etc.. thats not a news.. Meh, i wanna create that emulators.. why i`m not born with hands from shoulders? eh.. some guys already can do that but.. u know.. laziness..
Breath of Fire series
Fire Emblem series
Golden Sun (though the second one might get stuck at a point so take care)
Zone of Enders: Fist of Mars (one of the best games I have ever played – much easier with that cstick)
Riviera: The Promised Land
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 1 and 2 (the best games by plot that I have ever played)