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[TLZ]

It's a nitro capture unit made by intelligent systems, the blue box contains all the custom hardware for both DS & GBA the boards are huge in it the cards go into the top of the case instead of the DS, the DS is just a modified shell with no internals apart from the buttons & screen hence it needing to be linked to the main box with a cable. It basically allows you to play DS & GBA games on a tv the unit has 2 video out ports so you can choose if you like to make one large DS by using a tv for each part of the DS screen or you can choose to display them both on a single screen there's a bunch of dip switches around the back.

Not exactly something nintendo wanted ended up in consumer hands as it's dev hardware but tough titty lol

Then maybe I shouldn't ask you how you got it

 

[Impotaku]

Then maybe I shouldn't ask you how you got it

I'm safe as long as i never show the serial around the back as that tells nintendo where it came from lol. My friend in japan came across a few for sale years ago so i got it for less than ebay usually scalps them for. As DS is one of my main collections i always wanted one.

 

[NT80]

I got a DS Lite as my first handheld for this reason. The GBA backward compatibility was a bonus. There were plenty of 2d exclusives I wanted to play on those systems.
Astro Boy (by famed developer Treasure)
Magical Quest 3
6 2d Castlevania games across GBA and DS
Mega Man ZX Advent
Contra 4
Ganbare Goemon (Legend of the Mystical Ninja)
New Super Mario Bros
Double Dragon Advance
Thor God of Thunder
Rune Factory 4
Others I can't remember now.

PSP was quite good in this regard too with games like Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins, Prinny can I really be the Hero, an overhead GTA, Mega Man games, Castlevania Dracula Chronicles and Darius Burst.

These formats kept quality 2d games alive in that period for me. With a couple of exceptions those are all new games.

 

[Fat Frog]

Exactly as you said, GBA is literally SNES 2.

More like a Snes Genesis fusion:

- Comix Zone
- Sonic
- Phantasy Star games
- Shining force remake
- Columns

and Sega Treasure games:
- Astro Boy
- Gunstar Heroes

Even some Castlevania Advance reminds the genesis since Michiru Yamane composed for both consoles...

Dope console.

 

[Bakkus]

Minish Cap was gorgeous, but awful as a game.

Not true. Great dungeons, better combat than alttp and la. Only thing pretty bad was most of the sidequests involving the kinstones.

 

[TintoConCasera]

GBA runs at a resolution of 240x160 which makes it impossible to get correct pixel mapping in fullscreen on a CRT TV. I think most emulator frontends (like Retroarch) support 1:1 pixel mapping in a smaller window and then allow you to use an overlay to cover the rest of the display area.

It's less than ideal but I think GBA games look absolutely fantastic on my own tube TV. The display window isn't really that small and it doesn't really bother me when playing GBA games. It's much better than playing on that small LCD in my opinion.

Will have to try that! I was emulating through a hacked Wii, don't know if I'll get those options on the emulator available there but it's worth checking out. Thanks!

 

[nkarafo]

The GBA had lower resolution than the SNES so no.

 

[OmegaSpirit32X]

The GBA had lower resolution than the SNES so no.

The SNES comparassions come from the games themselves.

 

[Trilobit]

Not true. Great dungeons, better combat than alttp and la. Only thing pretty bad was most of the sidequests involving the kinstones.

I felt it was very illogical in places as I had to resort to a walkthrough in a way that was new to me in Zelda games. I also felt it was too gated which made it feel super linear. Just overall feel was of an unpolished game that should have been in development longer.

I played it to the end, but didn't really enjoy it, except for the graphics.

 

[Bakkus]

I felt it was very illogical in places as I had to resort to a walkthrough in a way that was new to me in Zelda games

And you never had this problem with for example Link's Awakening? Minish Cap is absolutely nothing in that department compared to that.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

People must be including GBA backwards compatibility in their assessments of the DS, because it’s library is awful. Lots of gimmicky touchscreen games and lukewarm sequels. There are a few standouts (Castlevania, Ghost Trick, and a bunch of ports/remakes) but otherwise it was a letdown. Not a single good Mario, Zelda, or Metroid game was released during in the entire DS lifecycle. They managed to release one Fire Emblem game (a remake of the first, with years of map design progress unchanged). They had remakes/ports of old Square RPGs and Pokémon games.

The GBA on the other hand was held back by having only two face buttons.

 

[ShirAhava]

GBA was awesome

I completely ignored DS and nothing of value was lost what an overrated ugly POS

 

[Spukc]

I never found the GBA to be the SNES 2 that some poeple said. it had a great library of 2D games dont get me wrong. But the graphics and sound just wernt as good as teh SNES in my opinion. Also the 2 face button controller was super limiting.

Loved the GBA but it wasnt as good as SNES

Castlevania games
Metroid games
Sonic games
Golden sun games
Advance wars games
All the new RPG’s
Denki blocks
All the snes ports .

Honestly besides the fucked color palette it is the snes 2

The snes had those games that lacked modern game design.. the gba has way less of those

 

[DGrayson]

Castlevania games
Metroid games
Sonic games
Golden sun games
Advance wars games
All the new RPG’s
Denki blocks
All the snes ports .

Honestly besides the fucked color palette it is the snes 2

The snes had those games that lacked modern game design.. the gba has way less of those

It had excellent games dont get me wrong but when I think abotu the Castlevania games for example i just wish those came out on SNES with better graphics, sound and 4 face buttons.

 

[cireza]

I completely ignored DS and nothing of value was lost

How can you tell if you completely ignored the console ?

 

[ShirAhava]

How can you tell if you completely ignored the console ?

I have eyes? The games looked horrid and I know what I want to play no series I follow or care about were released on DS (other than Chrono Trigger)

 

[cireza]

The games looked horrid

2D pixel-art games were in all regard just as good as the GBA ones on DS, and it was a visual style largely represented on the console.

 

[Trilobit]

And you never had this problem with for example Link's Awakening? Minish Cap is absolutely nothing in that department compared to that.

I've been wanting to play that on the Switch, but haven't yet purchased it. Now I'm feeling a bit hesitant.

 

[JimboJones]

I was still actively buying and playing GBA games up until the 3DS replaced my DSlite as my main handheld. Such a great library.

 

[93xfan]

Yeah, I'll never understand people that skipped GBA, DS and 3DS.

Exactly as you said, GBA is literally SNES 2. It's like everyone just kept making games like Chrono Trigger for an extra 10 years in a parallel universe.

I’ve always enjoyed games on my TV. Wanted to get the GC GBA player, but didn’t for some reason. I do feel music took a bit of a dive in composition quality when compared to the SNES and Genesis, but maybe I just haven’t found the right games. I suspect it was less of a focus though

 

[GigaBowser]

These handhelds are just too small and blurry for me to go back to unfortunately.

 

[OmegaSpirit32X]

People must be including GBA backwards compatibility in their assessments of the DS, because it’s library is awful. Lots of gimmicky touchscreen games and lukewarm sequels. There are a few standouts (Castlevania, Ghost Trick, and a bunch of ports/remakes) but otherwise it was a letdown. Not a single good Mario, Zelda, or Metroid game was released during in the entire DS lifecycle. They managed to release one Fire Emblem game (a remake of the first, with years of map design progress unchanged). They had remakes/ports of old Square RPGs and Pokémon games.

The GBA on the other hand was held back by having only two face buttons.

Idk, New Super Mario Bros. was good and Mario Kart DS and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story where the best in their spinoff series. and Imo, even a lot of those lukewarm sequels and the touchscreen games ended up being pretty good regardless

 

[Midnight Bliss]

It’s not too uncommon for some people to have been really put off by the way games were going during the ps2 generation especially after the dreamcast died.

It took me until about 2005-2006 to open up to trying more GBA games and eventually try DS games into the later 00s and beyond and honestly the GBA kinda saved gaming for me. If it wasn’t for pc games like cavestory, within a deep forest and knytt around 2004-ish and the GBA I probably would have dropped gaming for a while.

This shit really does matter, having quality 2D games made by competent companies in japan.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Idk, New Super Mario Bros. was good and Mario Kart DS and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story where the best in their spinoff series. and Imo, even a lot of those lukewarm sequels and the touchscreen games ended up being pretty good regardless

I’d argue all those were among the weakest in their respective series. Bowser’s Inside story has the best case, but Superstar Saga was on GBA and did everything better. Everyone’s opinion is different but NSMB really was a low point for 2D Mario that you can’t ignore.

 

[Alter_Fridge]

I had a DS but not a GBA

 

[Alter_Fridge]

GBA was very cool, but the amount of hours I put into my DS was something else. Shout out for Hotel Dusk and Henry Hatsworth, two of my favorite games of the system.

I played Hotel Dusk a bit but too many doors

 

[veterangamerUK]

Oww my head, that title reads like how a 5 year old speaks in front of class: "My name is Michael and I am 5 years old and my mummy and daddy love me very much and my best friend is Peter and I like playing with Lego". Punctuation was a marvellous invention.

 

[93xfan]

I never found the GBA to be the SNES 2 that some poeple said. it had a great library of 2D games dont get me wrong. But the graphics and sound just wernt as good as teh SNES in my opinion. Also the 2 face button controller was super limiting.

Loved the GBA but it wasnt as good as SNES

Sadly I feel the same way. Wish I could enjoy them as much as I did my snes collection.

 

[OmegaSpirit32X]

I’d argue all those were among the weakest in their respective series. Bowser’s Inside story has the best case, but Superstar Saga was on GBA and did everything better. Everyone’s opinion is different but NSMB really was a low point for 2D Mario that you can’t ignore.

NSMB revived and revitalized 2D Mario and NSMBWii expanded on it. it was when they started milking it hard with NSMB2 and NMSBU when 2D Mario truly reached it's lowest point. DS is also considered amongst the best of the Mario Kart games due to it's gameplay fluidity and wide variety of game modes.

 

[deriks]

I don't really get OP, but I have to say that I was a Mega Drive kid and got a GBA in his prime, later a DS and had a blast with them

 

[LavitzSlambert]

NSMB revived and revitalized 2D Mario and NSMBWii expanded on it. it was when they started milking it hard with NSMB2 and NMSBU when 2D Mario truly reached it's lowest point. DS is also considered amongst the best of the Mario Kart games due to it's gameplay fluidity and wide variety of game modes.

All of the NSMB games were laughable. Revitalized? They nearly killed 2D Mario.

Here is actual footage of an excited young Nintendo fan experiencing the majesty of NSMB upon release:



I get it, not exactly. But the same soundtrack.

 

[OmegaSpirit32X]

All of the NSMB games were laughable. Revitalized? They nearly killed 2D Mario.

Here is actual footage of an excited young Nintendo fan experiencing the majesty of NSMB upon release:



I get it, not exactly. But the same soundtrack.

NSMB1 was one of the best selling games of all time it brought back and introduced a lot of people to the Mario series, since it was the first 2D Mario since Land 2, which came out in 1992 it was one hell of a gap.

Just because you didn't like it and just because NSMBU and NSMB2 sucked doesn't negate the original 2's impact.

(SMW2: Yoshi's Island and SML3: Wario Land don't count btw, those are spinoffs with misleading titles)

 

[justiceiro]

My problem with GBA is that everything is metroidvania or tactics games. Platformers were left out.

 

[Kilau]

Dusted off my old DS Lite and the dang thing still had a charge in the battery lol.

Works great, played some games. Would like to get one of those cards that you can load a ton of games on and let my son enjoy it.

 

[electricmastro]

I like to imagine this as what if Spyro came out on SNES:

 

[Rayderism]

I have a GBA SP and a DSlite around here somewhere.....all flash carded up. Both have a NES skin on them. On the DS, with a flashcard in both ports, it has about 700 games at my fingertips.