Nintendo has made an interesting addition to the Nintendo Switch Online GBA catalog. The first three Densetsu no Starfy games have been added to the serv?ice, which makes it ?the first time they’ve been available outside of Japan.

If Starfy sounds familiar to you, it might be because one game from the series was localized. That would be 2008’s The Legendary Starfy for DS, which is the fifth game of the series. There were ??fo?ur before that one.

The Starfy games were made by Tose and published by Nintendo. They’re cute platformers in a similar vein as the Kirby series. While I don’t really have a more compelling way to describe them, they are rather beloved games. While only having one game reach outside of Japan, the series has cultivated a f??anbase in other territori?es.

There is one caveat here. The games are still in Japanese. Nintendo released the games as is without bothering to translate the text. That’s not really anything new, since the company has been filling out the NSO catalogs for many of its consoles with Japanese games, it’s just a bit disappointing that they don’t go the extra mile. It means most of these games will remain a curiosity when they could have a better chance at reaching a new audience.

With that in mind, the Densetsu no Starfy games are platformers and can be enjoyed without?? understanding the story. You’re just not getting the full story, and that’s u?nfortunate.

Densetsu no Starfy, Densetsu no Starfy 2, and Densetsu no Starfy 3 ar?e all available on the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack GBA service. 

The post Formerly only available in Japan, the first three Starfy GBA games ha????ve been released on NSO appeared first on Destructoid.

Wayforward has revealed that the GBA’s 2005 hidden gem, Sigma Star Saga, is getting ported to modern platforms via Limited Run Games�proprietary Carbon Engine??. On top of that, it will also be getting re-released on GBA.

Sigma Star Saga is an interesting hybrid of RPG and horizontal shoot-’em-up,? which aren’t exactly the most compatible for crossover?, but Wayforward was able to make it work. It’s sort of like a normal JRPG, but the random battles are shoot-’em-up sequences.

Critics at the time were pretty lukewarm on it. However, over recent years it has found a fanbase in people plumbing the GBA catalog for?? forgotten gems.

I’ll be honest, I’ve played only about 15 minutes of Sigma Star Saga, but my husband was pretty stricken with it. What sticks most in my memory is the vibrant graphics. The original Game Boy Advance had a really difficult-to-see screen. While the GBA SP alleviated it with its front-lit screen, developers developed the technique of using really bright colors to make things more visible. The most notable examples of this are Metroid Fusion and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. The style was born out of necessity, but it’s a unique aesthetic that st?ands out today.

While details are somewhat scarce, this seems to be planned as a pretty straightforward port. I’ve played a few of the LRG Carbon Engine re-releases lately, and out?side of rewind and save states, they tend to be lacking in bells and whistles. It’s mostly just great to see older games get new leases on life. I just reall?y wish that they’d add in control mapping.

Sigma Star Saga will be released on PC and (unspecified) consoles sometime in 2025. It will also be getting a new physic?al GBA release via Limited Run Games.

The post Wayforw??ard is bringing the overlooked GBA title Sigma Star Saga to modern platforms appeared first on Destructoid.

Those who were around at the time will know just how much of a big deal Super Mario 64 was when it released in 1996. It represented not only the first 3D Mario game,? but also the next step forward in video game technology. It was quite some??thing, I can assure you.

Fast-forward nearly two decades, and someone is taking the classic N64 game and essentially "demaking" it to run on the Game Boy Advance. Yes, that's right, it's being rebuilt from scratch to run on hardware that's not been on the market since 2008/2009 (depending on the re?gion).

In the video above, we get a glimpse of the project in its current state, which is being done by coder Joshua Barretto. A cursory glance shows that we do, indeed, have a recognizable version of Super Mario 64 that's being recreated to run on the GBA.

Super Mario 64: Now with pixels!

According to a report from DSO Gaming, Barretto's demake is utilizing mesh??es from the Nintendo DS port of the original game. While it's still ver??y much in development, keep in mind that this is meant to be running on defunct hardware that was originally released in 2001.

You can check the trajectory of the fan project by going back across some of their older videos. In this one �up??loaded just a few weeks ago �we can compare and contrast. In the footage, we see that Mario himself is just a red triangle; a red triang??le with a shadow, mind.

The castle from Mario 64 is still ??very much present, but looking at the latest video, we can see that Barretto has made quite a lot of progress. In less than two months, they've added in the actual character model, new movement mechanics, a pause menu, better textures, and some bug fixes.

There's even a settings menu, something that wasn't present on the Nintendo 64 OG. We get to see options for reducing the resolution and view distance, plu??s the ability to disable detailed textures to make the game run smoother.

At the moment, there's no release date for this Game Boy Advance rebuild of Super Mario 64. And, as far as I can tell, it's just coming to the console itself, so you'd need to actually have a GBA to play it. If I had one concern, it's how Nintendo will react if it sees its IP being demade for ancient hardware. I hope they go easy on Barretto. I'm g??etting tired of big legal teams bringing their litigation hammers down on regular folk.

The post Check out thi????s demake of Super Mario 64 for the Game Boy Advance appeared first on Destructoid.

Incube8 Games has announced that they’re going to be the ones to stamping AgeOfGames unreleased Game Boy Advance game, Kien, to cartridge this year. It will be released in ?Q2 2024 on ??GBA.

Kien was originally set to launch during the GBA’s heyday in 2002. As the story goes, the game made it as far as being sent to review publications at the time, only to be canceled before release. It got picked up and canceled a?gain by other publishers but was never released. However, a prototype ROM did get leaked and made its rounds.

Itâ€??™s a mix of action-platformer and RPG. The story involves two?? apprentices fighting evil in the wake of the disappearance of the 7 Masters of the Absolute.

One thing to keep in mind here is that Kien is maybe not great. Nintendo Power was among the publications at the time that reviewed it (issue 173, November 2003), and the five staff members who looked at it gave it an average of three out of five stars. That makes it slightly better than Power Rangers: Ninja Rescue by their sizing of it, but not as good as Ultimate Beach Soccer. Nintendo Power reviews were weird at that time.

In any case, the Incube8 release will come with a cartridge, protector, box, manual, and stickers. It's great to see a game that never got a chance back in the day being given some life, and I've been enjoying the age of retro reproductions we're currently living in.

Kien will be available for GBA sometime in the second quarter of 2024. Though, it would ?show real commitment if they canceled it at the last minute.

The post Thrice-canceled? GBA game Kien is finally getting released 22 years after completion appeared first on Destructoid.

Limited Run Games has announced that they’re going to be re-releasing Hudson’s 2003 Game Boy Advance game, Ninja Five-O, both physica?lly an??d digitally for Switch, PS4, and PS5.

You might be thinking that Ninja Five-O is a quirky early-�0s localization title, but it was never released in Japan despite being developed by Hudson and published by Konami. That’s actually what it’s called, though it was released in Europe as Ninja Cop. It’s an extremely rare GBA game that now commands an impressive price tag on the collector’s market.

I was considering it for coverage as part of my Weekly Kusoge ?column, but then I found out that it’s actually a good game. Despite being rather obscure and having a small print run,?? the critics who reviewed it at the time gave it high marks.

Just look at that trailer. You can tell it’s fun to play. Featuring a ninja in the modern world, it resembles 1988’s Ninja Gaiden on NES, but Joe Osugi’s fancy footwork and flashy ninjutsu gives him a more impressive presence than Ryu Hayabusa of that series. According to the Blurb, Joe is out to “protect the city of Zipangu and take down the evil Mad Mask bosses.�/p>

Ninja Five-O is another in a lineup of games that are starting to come from Limited Run Game’s new partnership with Konami. Previously, the distributor announced Rocket Knight Adventure and Felix the Cat. Given Konami’s history of not respecting their back catalog, it’s nice to see that old library revisited. I still have my fingers crossed for some localized Ganbare Goemon games.

Ninja Five-O is coming to Switch, PS??4, and PS5 sometime in 2024.

The post ?Rare Hudson GBA game Ninja Five-O is getting re-released by Limited Run Games appeared first on Destructoid.

Get that GBA on the NSO ASAP

If there is one thing I’m going to miss when the Wii U and 3DS eShops finally close their doors for good, it’s being able to actually buy the old games I remember from my childhood from the Virtual Console. Nintendo has the richest back catalog of any developer in the industry today and it’s just a shame that going forward, the only way we might be able to experience some of these titles is with Nintendo Switch Online. Don’t get me wrong. I like the service, and I think the selection of NES and SNES titles is pretty solid. But considering how much of Nintendo’s history is tied to portable devices that are currently not avail??able on the subscription service, fans are missing out on a part of the company’s and the industry’s legacy.

That might be changing, though. Recently, reports surfaced online that Nintendo’s emulator ?for the Game Boy Advance had leaked with a handful of notable titles leaking alongside it. Whether or not this is legit remains to be seen, but if this is what’s next for the Nintendo Switch Online service, consider me excited (certainly a lot more excited than I am for those N64 games it's slowly adding to the Expansion Pass tier). I wanted to share my excitement with the rest of the writers here at Destructoid, so I asked them ??to name the GBA title they’d most like to see appear on NSO should this leak prove legit.

Ninja Five-O

The number one GBA game I’d love to play on my Nintendo Switch will always be Ninja Five-O. Developed by Hudson Soft and published by Konami, the action platformer flew way under the radar in 2003, releasing right around the same time as Golden Sun: The Lost Age and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. Reviews were great but sales were dismal. The game faded from the market as quietly as it came in, only to resurge in popularity when people start writing articles about the best GBA games. Unfortunately, that surge was far too small to warrant a second printing of the game, and prices for original copies skyrocketed. I have never played Ninja Five-O, but I’ve wanted to for many years because of all the love it’s received from the lucky? few who did manage to give the game a chance w?ay back when.

Here’s the catch, though. Ninja Five-O is one of the listed titles in the GBA Emulator leak, and it, along with a few others, actually has me thinking this leak might not be legit. Because it’s almost too perfect for an obscure yet beloved GBA game that costs a fortune to purchase these days to appear on the list of compatible games for this emulator. It’s entirely possible, I’ll admit. After all, NSO has seen some pretty obscure games before. But I just don’t think we’re that lucky or that this timeline is that generous. - CJ Andriessen

Mother 3

Nobody likes to be wrong, but I would love it if everything I've heard over the past 5 years about Mother 3's chances of being brought overseas turned out to be outdated information. If you haven't heard of the game before, well, you have a lot to catch up on. First released in Japan 16 years ago, Mother 3 is a comedic, tragic tale. With heart-wrenching deaths, multiple gender-nonconforming characters, and messages of anti-capitalism and anti-television(!), an unaltered release of Mother 3 on the western Switch Online service would be sure to make headlines. Fans who have demanded it for years would go bananas. O?thers would demand boycotts of Nintendo for being (gasp!) "too woke."

It's hard to imagine that Nintendo wants to deal with all this controversy, but again, I'd love to be wrong if it meant getting to play the best RPG of the GBA era on my Switch. - Jonathan Holmes

Gunstar Super Heroes

An oft-forgotten gem in the Treasure catalog, Gunstar Super Heroes (also known as Gunstar Future Heroes) was released on Game Boy Advance in 2005 and serves as ??a direct sequel to the beloved Sega Mega Drive classic of 1993. Once again, the color-coded Team Gunstar goes into battle against the reformed "Empire", on a mission to prevent the resurrection of the terrifying overlord, Golden Silver.

Gunstar Super Heroes takes the explosive, pixelated, run 'n' gun chaos of its predecessor and scales it down to the handheld console's diminutive form. While the wide arsenal of weapons, creative boss battles, and dynamic combat are all present and correct, Gunstar Super Heroes inclu?des funky fresh maneuvers, fun new characters and bosses, and even a new gender for protagonist Red �now a gun-t??oting gal.

While rated highly by critics, even winning "Best GBA Game" at E3 2005, Gunstar Super Heroes did not, sadly, see sales success. And while it is hardly a five-star release, this pocket-sized blaster, much like the entire Gunstar Heroes franchise, deserves better than to languish in the "Where Are They Now?" file. - Chris Moyse

Pokémon LeafGreen

This might be shocking to hear, but I am just now embarking on my Pokémon journey for the first time as an adult after I was banned from playing any of the games as a kid. There was a lot of debate amongst my Pokémon-loving friends about which game I should start with, but we finally decided that LeafGreen was the best option -- and I ??don't think there could have been a better choice.

As I'm playing it, I keep imagining myself at 10 years old, embarking on this adventure for the first time, and it rules. It may be a simple game, but it's so well designed I find its gameplay loop engaging, entranci?ng even.

So, with as much fun as I've been having, the only downside is that because I'm playing it on a ROM on my friend's computer, I can only play it when I go over to his place. Having it on a handheld console would not only be convenient, but I think it would also be another great way to emulate the original LeafGreen experience for myself, even if I missed that boat fifteen years ago. I'd definitely be looking forward to the other games on the leaked list that I haven't played yet (of which there are many), but I think I'd wanna start with this one if it were included. - Noelle Warner

Wario Land 4

Hand me a Nintendo Switch with Wario Land 4 loaded on it, and I'm going to play it �all of it. Right then and there. I'll collect every jewel and even do the baseball mini-game.

This ended up being the very first Game Boy Advance game I was able to play, and it wowed me in person. It felt like a ??huge leap, visually. Heck, looking over random screenshots today, the crisp, colorful, gnarly-looking pixel art holds up so well �the bosses and Wario transformations, especially. I wish more games looked like this??!

While I haven't gone back to play all of the prior Wario games (and I probably never will, if I'm being honest), there's something about Wario Land 4 that resonates with me to this day. It has that "Wow, this is immediately fun" factor going for it, as well as memorable art, animation, and music. Dashing into blocks and weirdos just feels right. And even though the game is accessible to me on Wii U and 3DS, it deserves a spot on Switch, too. - Jordan Devore

Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 1 & 2

The GBA had a great many unforgettable games but of all of them (except maybe Final Fantasy Tactics Advance), I want to see Atlus' ports of Super Robot Wars OG and OG2. Back then they were so unsure about its appeal in the west that they went by the untranslated Super Robot Taisen title, even! I like Super Robot Wars, but even after the frankly miraculous overseas release of Super Robot Wars 30, my favorites are still the "Original Generation" titles, which use the various game-exclusive characters and designs as the stars of their own setting. So rather than a funky excuse to have Char from Gundam hang out with Shinji from Evangelion and what-have-you, I've always felt that the OG series has operated under more pr??essure to stand on its own, with interesting arcs and fun characters that don't lean on the extreme brand recognition a classic mecha gets you.

Of course, at this point, the ideal situation would be for Bandai Namco to enhance and port over the PS3-era Super Robot Wars OGS, but if we're talking GBA games that exist and that I'd like to see more people play, these are the ones. - Josh Tolentino

Astro Boy: Omega Factor

Everything I've ever seen, watched, or read related to Astro Boy has been extremely disjointed and weird, making it a perfect fit for legendary developer Treasure (so amazing, they've already been featured on this list with Gunstar Super Heroes). Astro Boy: Omega Factor was an easy title to overlook back in 2004, and the only reason I picked it out of a bargain bin was its pedigree. It lives up to those papers by showing off ridiculous attacks, over-the-t??op gameplay, and tight graphics. Frankly, I think Treasure's library should always be, er, treasured, so it would be great to see this cult classic?? be given another chance.

What are the chances someone will work through all the licensing needed to make this happen? About as likely as someone going to the effort of re-releasing McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure, it should be done, but I'll believe it when I see it. - Zoey Handley

Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand

There is no shortage of excellent GBA games that could go on here because the GBA is a pretty fantastic little device. It's got RPGs, platformers, and even some of its fighting games ain't half bad. But if we're doing a dream Switch Online lineup, I want to see some swings for the fences. Let's the oft-forgotten Hideo Kojima handheld classic Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand.

Boktai infamously used a detector to capture sunlight as part of its core mechanic. So much like extremely two-screen Nintendo DS games, this makes it a bit more of a conundrum to port-forward. But Boktai is also an interesting piece of the Game Boy Advance's library; it's an action RPG with some cool mechanics and an intriguing setting. The sunlight isn't just a gameplay feature, but lore too. I'd love to see this persevere in some updated way to at least showcase the stranger experiments in the GBA's library. - Eric Van Allen

*****

So many great games named above and so many more that didn't make the cut, including Drill Dozer, Golden Sun, and Kirby and the Amazing Mirror. But as Eric says, the GBA is a pretty fantastic device with a solid library of great games across multiple genres that I can't wait to have very slowly rolled out onto the Nintendo Switch Online service. That's o?ur list. What are the games you most want to see make an appearance?

The post These are the GBA games Destructoid most wants to see on Nintendo Switch On??line appeared first on Destructoid.

You may hate me, but it ain't no lie

My husband may have bought 2003’s American Idol on GBA (for some reason), but I was the one who conquered it in the course of one car trip. I'm not too fond of American Idol. I don’t really enjoy reality television in general, but I find American Idol depressi??ng. It depicts a mindset where a career is not built through hard work, practice, and a drive to improve, but rather it’s something to be won in front of an audience. It views? music as merely a product rather than art, regardless of your definition of art.

I don’t have to wat?ch it, though. I only have to listen to the music when I’m shopp?ing. The only thing that is forcing me to play the game is morbid curiosity, of which I have an abundance.

Have you ever wanted to be judged by your Game Boy Advance? Have I got the game for you! There was also a PS2 version, which is the same but different. How is it the same? You put your dignity on the line to try and win a record contract. How is it different? The PS2 version of American Idol h??as you play a rhythm game with the di?rectional buttons, whereas the GBA gives you only the A and B buttons.

Also, the GBA version is uglier, but to the developer’s credit, they used 3D polygons for characters. That doesn’t earn it an award or anything, but it’s sometimes neat to see. The PS2 version also probably sounds better, considering it’s on a DVD and not a fun??-sized Kit-Kat. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s kind of impressive from a technical standpoint if we’re being charit?able.

Here’s an admission: I like button-based rhythm games. It might be because it’s reassurance that the most basic gaming ability any of us have �the ability to press the right button at the right time �is still functioning optimally. The way that American Idol boils it down to just two buttons is something that you’d typically expect to see as a mini-game ??in a larger tr?ial, but here is the whole concept.

Before you get there, you create a character with your choice of horribly outdated clothing. Was this what we wore in the early aughts? Some of these look like they belong in the �0s. Weirdly, this is actually one of the criteria American Idol judges you on. It didn’t like my fancy cocktail dress, but when I went to the effort to put together the ugliest possible combination, it bumped my rating up. It’s not clear why you should care about what American Idol thinks of your outfit, b??ut it rates you anyway to make you feel inadequate.

Then get ready to press buttons to golden oldies by Brittany Spears and the Backstreet Boys. Or is it NSync? I really can’t tell the difference since I was listening to Weird Al at the turn of the millennium. In any case, t?he playlist will either be awful or nostalgic.

In each tier of the competition, you select what song your character sings from a list of two or three. This makes sure you suffer through a variety of rendi?tions and also means that if you play the game more than twice, you suf??fer repeatedly.

The gameplay is as basic as it sounds. Your cursor goes around a circle and whenever it goes over an A or B, you press the corresponding button. Behind your rhythm circle, your pixellated origami avat??ar gyrates. I’m not going to suggest that the papercraft monstrosity moves in time to the music because, while I’m hardly a dancer, I’m fairly confident that it doesn’t.

You’re then rated on how well you pushed buttons. Depictions of (hold on, I need to look this up) Randy Jac??kson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell then giv??e you vague comments about your performance. These are pretty token sound samples, but I guess you need the judges in there somewhere.

It’s not all bad. While the song choices aren’t really my style and the backing music sounds like demo tracks on a cheap keyboard, the singer’s voice gets pitch-shifted when you screw up. Not realistically, either, where t??hey might get too high or too low, but rather it starts warbling. It’s riotously funny every time it happens because the track will be going fine, then suddenly your character’s face starts peeling to reveal the lizard living beneath. It nearly made me giggle every time it happened, causing me to lose focus and my singer’s voice to deteriorate further.

You unlock more crappy wardrobe items as you proceed through the game. On the previously mentioned car trip, I was able to unlock them all, so it hardly extended the playtime. How far do you expect it to go? I’ve seen? more depth ??in a hacking mini-game.

I’ll admit that American Idol is not a terrible GBA game, but it’s mostly because it tries so little that it would be hard to screw up. It definitely lacks the pomp of the show; there’s no crowd or much visual indication that?? you’re not just locked in a room with three judges.

Actually, now that I have run through the details, I realize that American Idol is a ??terrible game. I’m perfectly okay pressing buttons; it just loses some of its appeal when it warbles Livin�La Vida Loca at me.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post American Idol on GBA ????condenses talent down to two buttons appeared first on Destructoid.

Industry-wide effects are putting an extra bump on Analogue Pocket price tags

The Analogue Pocket will soon be shipping ??for those who pre-ordered it, and Analogue is looking at reopening orders too. But when the Pocket goes back on sale, the price will be a little bit higher for the handheld.

Analogue announced that the Pocket will be available to purchase again on Dec. 14 at 8 a.m. PT.? Their goal, they say, is to ensure that everyone who wants an Analogue Pocket will be able to secure an order.

The first part of this means a fulfillment protocol, pushing orders into groups on a first-come, first-serve basis. ?Group A will get their Pockets in Q1 2022, Group B will receive them in Q4 2022, and Group C?? will have to wait until 2023.

//twitter.com/analogue/status/1469336147922989061

The other part of this is that the industry-wide component price increase, the Analogue Pocket itself will bump up to $219. All of the Pocket accessories, however, will stay the same price. There will also be a limit ??to two Analogue Pocket units per customer, and orders can be cancelled for a full refund at any time before shipment.

If you already have an Analogue Pocket pre-order, well, there's some good news for you. All current ?pre-orders will start shipping this coming Monday, Dec. 13. Analogue has also upgraded every order to FedEx two-day shipping, in order to get Pockets to folks as?? quickly as possible.

With the global pandemic and supply chain woes still affecting gaming, Analogue's move on both the Pocket price and fulfillment groups is pretty understandable. The Playdate, another boutique handheld, had to make a similar move for its own fulfillment.

For t?hose looking to get their hands on one of these tuned-up handhelds before 2023, you might want to set some alarms and mark some calendars fo??r Dec. 14. Analogue will open a new round of Pocket orders at 8 a.m. PT, so brew some coffee too.

The post An??alogue Pocket orders will reopen soon, with a pri??ce increase appeared first on Destructoid.