Collection essentials #510-#512: Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP & Game Boy Micro

The original Game Boy debuted in 1989. It was an 8-bit device, a little less powerful but relatively comparable to Nintendo’s home console at the time, the NES. Other handhelds quickly followed from other companies that were technologically more impressive than the Game Boy, but Nintendo’s little machine that could flat-out mopped the floor with all competition. And perhaps surprisingly, as Nintendo’s home consoles grew more and more powerful as the ‘90s progressed, the relatively simple Game Boy didn’t change all that much. There was a nicer version called the Game Boy Pocket which released in 1996. And then in 1998, the Game Boy Color hit the scene as somewhat of a successor and provided color graphics for the first time, but it was still an 8-bit machine that provided so little improvement that it’s still sort of ambiguous as to whether the Game Boy Color was even a new system or just another more-advanced hardware revision with its own exclusive games. But the turn of the millennium, Nintendo’s Game Boys were still the primary handheld on the market with only 8 bits, when other companies were coming out with home consoles like the PlayStation 2 that were marketed as having a whopping 128 bits.

After over a decade, Nintendo decided it was finally time to unleash a handheld machine that was more than a wimpy 8 bits. The Game Boy Advance came out in 2001, boasting a much greater 32 bits. Although this is technically the same number of bits as the original PlayStation which was a fully 3D console, its capabilities are much different because bits aren’t the whole story. Most of the time Game Boy Advance games resemble those of the 16-bit Super Nintendo (which at the time was a decade old), and in fact many Super Nintendo games would get ported to the GBA. In some ways the GBA is even less powerful than that old console and has noticeably weaker sound, although there are some things graphically it can do that Super Nintendo could not.

What else did the Game Boy Advance offer that was new? Well, there’s more buttons, as the “shoulder” L and R buttons were added. That’s still not as many buttons as a Super Nintendo controller, but it still managed to get the job done most of the time. It was also Nintendo’s first handheld system with a wide screen instead of the square-shaped ones that had come before. Nintendo also kept backwards compatibility going, meaning that old Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges and nearly all accessories are fully compatible with a Game Boy Advance. There are some features missing, such as the IR sensor found on the top of the Game Boy color which allowed for simple data exchange in a few games, most notably allowing players to use the “mystery gift” feature in Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal.

One thing that was a bit of an issue with the original Game Boy Advance is that the screen was still not backlit. This means the system did produce light to help players see the screen, and so players had to make sure they were in a well-lit area or had some kind of accessory to provide light so they could actually see what they were doing. In some visually-dark games such as a Castlevania title released at launch, the issue was even more pronounced. This would be remedied in 2003 with the release of a brand new model, the “Game Boy Advance SP”. This unit looks quite a bit different from the original GBA, as it has a “clamshell” sort of design that lets you close the system like a flip phone. It’s smaller and even easier to fit into your pocket, and you won’t have to worry about the screen getting dirty while not playing. And as I just alluded to, the Game Boy Advance SP finally has a backlight so you’ll be able to see the action no matter where you are in the real world. Even better, another version of the SP released in 2005 which has a much brighter backlight which makes GBA games look more vibrant than ever. In addition to this, the SP is also the first Nintendo handheld that doesn’t use batteries, as for the first time it utilizes rechargeable battery packs and comes with a charger to plug in and recharge the battery when not playing. This is awesome for those kids who hate having to bug their parents for more AAs in order to keep on gaming on the go. This type of battery instantly became the new standard for handheld systems going forward. The biggest problem with the Game Boy Advance SP is that it doesn’t have a headphone jack, so in order to use headphones with it you need to buy a small converter accessory to plug them in, which is a bit of a pain and compatibility with various sets of headphones can vary quite a bit.

There was a third Game Boy Advance revision also in 2005 called the Game Boy Micro. This thing is seriously tiny, and therefore the most portable Game Boy system ever. It also features a rechargeable battery pack and a backlit screen like the SP, and it even has a headphone jack! But the tradeoff is that the Micro is not backwards compatible with games for the older Game Boy systems. When the Micro came out, it seemed a little pointless with so many other options already available. However, as an adult, I’ve grown fond of it as a neat little piece of technology, and I appreciate how incredibly portable it is, so I do occasionally use mine.

The Game Boy Advance, like other Game Boys before it, was a major success. They managed once again to find the right balance of quality and price which was appealing to a wide variety of consumers of all ages. In a time when Nintendo’s home consoles were struggling, it helped pick up the slack, selling tens of millions of units, roughly keeping pace with Sony’s incredibly popular PlayStation 2 console. Nintendo was struggling to get enough third-party games on their home consoles, but they didn’t have this problem as a huge variety of developers were happy to make games for their popular new handheld. The Game Boy Advance faced very little competition, and at the time of its launch there really wasn’t any other comparable handheld on the market from another company. In late 2003 Nokia would release a competitor called the N-Gage which sought to appeal to consumers by also doubling as a cell phone, but due to a variety of design flaws the N-Gage was pretty much a flop and never at any time posed any serious threat to the utter dominance Nintendo continued to have over the handheld market.

When I was a kid, I got a subscription to Nintendo Power magazine for my 11th birthday. This was in early 2001 when the magazine was extensively covering the upcoming Game Boy Advance. This was really cool because back then we didn’t have the internet at home and I had never subscribed to any magazine before, so my knowledge of current gaming news was usually quite limited. Finally, I was able to see exactly what was coming out soon and what sorts of cool games I could choose from. I of course knew quickly that I had to have my own GBA. 

At the time my dad had a sort of incentive-based rewards system for my siblings and I. He had a paper taped to a file cabinet on which he drew a grid with all of our names and a series of 10 boxes to check off (by fulfilling some kind of stated goal) before we could earn a certain agreed-upon prize listed on the right side of the paper. That season in 2001 I picked Game Boy Advance as my incentive, and I think the goal to earn points was improving my Spanish if I remember right. I was only expected to get a grasp of the basics and didn’t have to be anything close to fluent or anything (though I would take that goal on in adulthood), and I really worked at it. I thought I was doing great and was hoping for the maximum gain of 4 points in one week, and was slightly disappointed when I “only” got 2 ½ (which was still quite high). Either way, I did manage to get my very own Game Boy Advance during its launch year of 2001! Sadly my original system is long gone and I have no clue what happened to it. I skipped over the SP and Micro when they were new. For a few years, naturally, it was my handheld system of choice, and living in a town that was a 20-minute drive or longer from seemingly everything, it sure came in handy.

If you’re a video game fan who was around in the early 2000s, it’s almost certain that you’re familiar with the Game Boy Advance and have fond memories of it. No matter which iteration, it’s a quality gaming device with a wide variety of games to offer. Many games in its library have much less appeal now since there are better ways to play some of the same games on the go. But it still has plenty of high-quality exclusive original titles that remain highly enjoyable multiple decades later. There are some newer systems which can play Game Boy Advance cartridges so you don’t necessarily need one of these three devices to play the GBA’s library. If you want to figure out what might be your optimal device to play these games, feel free to give me a comment and I’d be glad to help you figure it out. 

Game Boy Advance SP (with the brighter backlight) is in the running even today for the title of “best overall handheld game system” due to its large compatibility, ease of portability, and sturdy reliable build. It probably wouldn’t be my first choice, in part because of the missing headphone jack, but I can’t blame someone else for going with it. 

While I don’t give my GBA systems quite as much use as I used to, they’re still beloved classic machines that clearly deserve spots in my collection. The last and also best of the legendary “Game Boy” line. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for some my picks of standout games from the GBA library.