Friday, June 13, 2008

GBA Micro

I believe I have talked about one of my favorite devices but if not, allow me to indulge.  

The image you see to the left is my famicom gba micro that I bought from NCSX when they were first announced.  Of course I bought the Japanese version thinking there is no way it would come out in America and of course it did haha.  Oh well - I think mine has a mario or something on the back and the American version does not.  

I don't know what it is but handheld gaming definitely speaks to my heart a lot of times over standard console games.  I like the immediacy (usually) of turning something on and playing for a few minutes then turning it off.  The GBA Micro may very well be my favorite handheld of all time.  The D-Pad is one of the if not the best D-Pads on any console regardless of size.  In face I play Super Turbo nonstop with this thing.  Of course I don't play single player but the training mode in that game is surprisingly fun and accurate.  I've spent way more time than I would care to admit doing stupid stuff like cross up, overhead, low forward into super with Ryu vs. Gief or jump in fierce, low jab x2, standing jab into Guile versus Fei Long.  

While I definitely love my DS and even my PSP on occasion I keep coming back to my GBA Micro.  Not only do I never charge the thing and it lasts for an eternity but the GBA catalog makes me smile as well.  Both Metroid games are good - ok so the first one sucks a little but the second one is amazing, Aria of Sorrow, Drill Dozer, Zelda, Wario, Rhythm Tengoku (best game on the GBA?), Mario & Luigi, etc are all phenomenal games.  Even the GBA Wario sequel which I didn't like all that much at first - Wario Ware Twisted is a billion times more fun on the GBA Micro. 

What really made me remember how much I love my Micro is this thread on NeoGaf.  That guy makes me want to run out and buy 3 more to say the least.  

I know the Micro got a bad rap when it first came out - if I'm not mistaken DS Phat was already released and the screen was considered too small by a lot of people (something i completely disagree with) and the shoulder buttons being a little whacky (something I will sheepishly nod my head to) but it has been one of the best things I ever bought.  While I don't condone piracy I did buy a flash cart so I could play NES games on it and let me tell you - having a portable NES was truly gaming nirvana for a while.  Every time I was sitting in the boyfriend chair at the mall I could get some Mike Tyson's Punch Out going on.  Yeah - it's totally being a geek but oh well.  007-373-5963 FTW.  

*I don't know how readily available they are in America these days but play-asia is still selling the famicom version for reasonable.  

3 comments:

Nat Loh said...

That image makes it look like a cell phone. Swap the cartridge slot for a SD card slot and add a flip face with mini qwerty board and you have yourself a killer app product.

Tyler Forberg said...

I think part of the Micro's Charm is its size. If I pickup a controller, I always buy a third party brand because I can pick it up in a smaller size. It allows my hands to cover the entire controller. This could be personal preference however.

The micro should have been more popular. Unfortunatly, with the DS being backwards compatible and it having a bigger screen, it outclasses the micro.

Plus the DS has a nifty paint program you can install. <3

Shaheed said...

yeah i was a little steamed when they randomly released this in the states with a big WTF... i ended up buying a different color cover for the unit which made it look like that pokemon version..