I think the GBA is better than the NES

GBA has a lot of solid NES remakes, plus a lot of great games of its own.

It's more difficult to compare the DS and SNES, but I think the GBA and NES are very comparable.

Cold take

I mean, what are we comparing here? Because on a technical level, it's the GBA, no question. It's basically a portable, beefed-up SNES, which is a generation of technology ahead of the NES. The GBA also benefits from a decade and a half(ish) of improvement in games design, so a lot of the games you'll see there outgrew the awkwardness of the 8-bit era. About the only thing you can knock it for is every iteration of hardware had something weird about it (the original didn't have a backlight, the SP didn't have a headphone jack, and the Micro didn't have the Gameboy/GBC backwards compatibility and wasn't compatible with a lot of GBA peripherals). So yeah, if you're talking about a new gamer who has never played either console evaluating which one is better and which they will have more fun with, there's really no credible argument for it not to be the GBA.

But if you're including historical and cultural relevance, that's where the discussion gets more interesting, as the NES was one of, if not THE most influential console of all time, and many of its games - Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, etc. - not only kicked off some of gaming's longest running, best selling, and most recognizable franchises, but also established gaming design conventions that, in some cases, are still being used to this day. The GBA didn't have anywhere near that level of influence on the development of gaming as a medium.

darkknight109 posted...

there's really no credible argument for it not to be the GBA

Small screen.

VioletZer0 posted...

Cold take

This.

The GBA was like a handheld version of the SNES, and got either ports or remakes of many classics. The only time it kinda sucked was for games that needed a larger screen -- like for at least one of the Sonic games.

Other than the shoulder pads losing sensitivity, etc, the GBA-SP might be my all-time favorite system.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Small screen.

GBA Player.

shrug apparently I think its a lot closer than this board does

NES-GBA is a weird comparison because the GBA was the handheld equivalent to the SNES, not the NES. NES-GB/GBC would be more apt.

darkknight109 posted...

GBA Player.

That requires a GameCube, and thus would be beyond the scope of the direct comparison.

The GBA player is outside of the scope of discussing GBA hardware, but within the scope of discussing GBA games.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

That requires a GameCube, and thus would be beyond the scope of the direct comparison.

You can buy a hardware modded gba that does tv output or play in an emulator

ParanoidObsessive posted...

That requires a GameCube, and thus would be beyond the scope of the direct comparison.

Well, again, depends what we're talking about here. The TC didn't really put any scope to this discussion.

If you're doing a direct hardware-to-hardware comparison, sure, it probably wouldn't fall within that purview... but that's also a contest that is a lot more objective and the GBA wins that matchup quite handily by dint of having substantially more powerful hardware (and in a much smaller package to boot) than the NES.

But if you're considering the consoles "in their entirety" - software, hardware, design, sales, impact, etc. - I would argue that peripherals and interfaces with other hardware - Gamecube included - do qualify as a potential selling point and therefore should be considered.

Really, as has been mentioned several times thus far, this is a really weird comparison topic.

NES games haven't aged nearly as well as GBA games

I think they're both great

GBA had one of the best libraries ever

The GBA Player is neat and all but what kinda sucks about it is you have to play GBA games with a gamecube controller, which has a pretty garbage d-pad.

I don't remember, could you hook up a GBA to a Gamecube and use that as a controller while using the GB Player?

ToastyPOP posted...

The GBA Player is neat and all but what kinda sucks about it is you have to play GBA games with a gamecube controller, which has a pretty garbage d-pad.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/3c01e2cd.jpg

Yeah I'm aware of the Hori pad. I don't think they were released outside Japan. They can also be pretty expensive nowadays.

adjl posted...

I don't remember, could you hook up a GBA to a Gamecube and use that as a controller while using the GB Player?

Apparently you can? I definitely wasn't aware of this back then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SvSPu3qGD0

That seems vaguely familiar now that I see it, though it's been nearly 20 years since I used a GB Player (I sold my GC to my friend when I got a Wii shortly after launch). Slightly convoluted, but still an option if you'd rather use the standard controls (provided you're in range to use a wired controller). Nifty.

Tbh, gba>snes

Of course GBA is better than the NES. It is a technically more capable system with more coherent, better designed games.

Metroid Zero Mission is a better game than the NES original Metroid.

Every single Zelda game on the GBA is a more enjoyable experience than the Zelda titles on the NES.

Every Castlevania title on the GBA is better than the NES Castlevania games.

There really isn't a lot to argue here.

Agreed. In my opinion, anything before Gen 4 of consoles is very hard to go back to and very little of it is worth playing outside of small doses.

I understand plenty would disagree and that's great. Lord knows I still enjoy lots of older video game series that some would call dated (classic Tomb Raider, Classic Resident Evil, N64 Platformers, etc.). It's great that there's stuff for everyone in the gaming world.

The Game Boy Advance was underappreciated in hindsight. I didn't explore its library nearly as much as I'd have liked and am excited to finally play what I missed on Nintendo Expansion Pack. I wish Nintendo would release more games in this style. Might be a nice way to keep budgets under control and pleasing longtime fans.

GEKGanon posted...

Of course GBA is better than the NES. It is a technically more capable system with more coherent, better designed games.

Metroid Zero Mission is a better game than the NES original Metroid.

Every single Zelda game on the GBA is a more enjoyable experience than the Zelda titles on the NES.

Every Castlevania title on the GBA is better than the NES Castlevania games.

There really isn't a lot to argue here.

Mega Man 1-6 are better than MMZero and MM and Bass

Count_Drachma posted...

This.

The GBA was like a handheld version of the SNES, and got either ports or remakes of many classics. The only time it kinda sucked was for games that needed a larger screen -- like for at least one of the Sonic games.

Other than the shoulder pads losing sensitivity, etc, the GBA-SP might be my all-time favorite system.

And trying to see the fucking maps in all the castlevania games

Zareth posted...

Mega Man 1-6 are better than MMZero and MM and Bass

Zero is better than MM1 at least, and MM&B was originally an SNES game

Zareth posted...

Mega Man 1-6 are better than MMZero and MM and Bass

Better than MMZ, but not better than MMZ3... although MMZ4 is a toss-up.

Honestly? I might rank them:

MMZ3
MM3
MM2
MMZ4
It stops mattering after this, although MM1 would be near the bottom in terms of gameplay out of these titles.

MistyKnight posted...

And trying to see the fucking maps in all the castlevania games

Yeah, I can see that... when squinting at the screen.