Arriving in 2001, Nintendo's successor to the Game Boy Color and the first 32-bit handheld gaming device, the Game Boy Advance sold 80.72 million units worldwide (including its later redesigned GBA SP and Micro versions). A technological leap forward from the handheld video game consoles of the 1990s, the GBA, along with the Nintendo GameCube, introduced the concept of "connectivity", as in using a handheld system as a console controller, with a handful of popular games using this feature (most notably Animal Crossing, Pac-Man Vs., Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle).
1501 games were released for the Game Boy Advance, with 39 of them selling more than one million copies worldwide. We've rounded up the ten biggest selling Game Boy Advance games of all time below. How many of them did you play?...
1. Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
After having such massive success with the Pokémon titles released on the Game Boy/Color there was no way Nintendo wasn't going to attempt to replicate that on the Game Boy Advance, and so the first installments in the third generation of the Pokémon video game series, also known as the "advanced generation" arrived in Japan in late 2002 and internationally in 2003. Nintendo certainly couldn't be upset with the reception as 16,220,000 copies were sold, meaning about 1 in 5 GBA owners had themselves a copy.
2. Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
Pokémon FireRed Version[a] and Pokémon LeafGreen Version[b] are enhanced remakes of the 1996 role-playing video games Pokémon Red and Blue (the first enhanced remakes of previous games within the franchise), released in Japan in January 2004 and in North America and Europe in September and October 2004 respectively. Bearing in mind many players would've already had these titles in their original format it didn't stop them selling a total of 12 million copies!
3. Pokémon Emerald
The third of three Pokémon games featured in the Game Boy Advance top ten biggest selling titles of all time, and the third biggest selling title for the handheld gaming device, was released in September 2004. Pokémon Emerald came on an emerald coloured cartridge and also available bundled with a limited edition emerald coloured GBA SP. The game was once again an enhanced version of a previous release, in this case Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, but as we've seen with the Pokémon franchise that doesn't seem to affect sales one bit, and so 7,060,000 copies were added to GBA owners collections.
4. Mario Kart: Super Circuit
It was Pokemon that took the top three spots of biggest selling Nintendo Game Boy Advance games of all time, and it's Mario that fills out the middle of the list. The first of which was also the debut Mario Kart game for a handheld device (and the third in the Mario Kart series). Mario Kart: Super Circuit was released for the GBA across 2001 in all territories to almost universal acclaim, and very strong sales figures of 5,910,000.
5. Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
Just as Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen had enhanced and repackaged older Pokémon games for the new GBA device, Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 was a port of the Super Nintendo's 1990 best-seller Super Mario World. the game features the same number of levels as the original (albeit with a toned down difficulty), and offered Game Link Cable support for four players, plus the ability to save. Even though there was a strong chance you already had the original, it didn't stop 5,690,000 players buying a copy after it was released in December 2001.
6. Super Mario Advance
A release title for the Game Boy Advance, one of which that like the game above was included in an optional bundle with the device, and also like the game above was an enhanced port of a previous Mario game. In fact, two of them. Based on the All-Stars remake, Super Mario Advance contains a remake of Super Mario Bros. 2 and Mario Bros. The version of Super Mario Bros. 2 includes several new features such the addition of the enemy Robirdo, a robotic Birdo, replacing Mouser as the boss of World 3; the addition of the Yoshi Challenge, in which players may revisit stages to search for Yoshi Eggs; and a new point-scoring system. Graphical and audio enhancements appear in the form of enlarged sprites, multiple hit combos, digital voice acting, and such minor stylistic and aesthetic changes as an altered default health-meter level, boss-order, backgrounds, the size of hearts, Princess Toadstool being renamed to the now-standard "Princess Peach", and the inclusion of a chime to announce Stars. 5,570,000 copies were sold.
7. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
The fourth straight Mario title in the top 10 of biggest selling Game Boy Advance games of all time does exactly what it says on the tin. The July 2003 release of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 brought the old NES favourite to a new handheld gaming audience. Once again the release was ported from the Super Mario All Stars remake, but that didn't trouble any of the 5,430,000 who parted with the hard earned cash for some retro gaming fun. Talking of retro gaming fun...
8. Namco Museum
2001s Namco Museum gave GBA owners the chance to relive some early 1980s arcade classics including; Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Pole Position, and Dig Dug, and 2,960,000 of them did. Noticeably absent from the Namco Museum collection was a title that appeared on both the Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast releases, perhaps because Pac-Man received its own Game Boy Advance release...
9. Pac-Man Collection
Arriving in July 2001, a month after Namco Museum, Pac-Man Collection included four titles from the Pac-Man series; the original Pac-Man (1980), Pac-Mania (1987), Pac-Attack (1993), and Pac-Man Arrangement (1996). Each game includes customisable features such as the ability to alter the number of starting lives or difficulty, with all being stripped of multiplayer features. This retrotastic collection sold a hefty 2,940,000 copies.
10. Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
After the original, number 2 and 4, if you thought we'd forgotten Super Mario Advance 3 then fear not as that 2002 title completes the top 10. The Game Boy Advance version of the classic Super Nintendo game Yoshi's Island is a direct port of the original, apart from using the Yoshi voice from a later Yoshi game and an extra six bonus levels. The visible area was also reduced to fit the handheld's smaller screen. Did that bother any of the 2,830,000 people who purchased a copy? Certainly not!
And there you have it, the 10 biggest selling Nintendo Game Boy Advance games of all time. How many did you play? Let us know in the comments below...
Previously
The Million Selling Nintendo Game And Watch Games
The 10 Biggest Selling Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Games Of All Time
The 10 Biggest Selling Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) Games Of All Time
The 10 Biggest Selling Nintendo 64 (N64) Games Of All Time
The 10 Biggest Selling Nintendo GameCube Games Of All Time
The 10 Biggest Selling Nintendo Wii Games Of All Time
The 10 Biggest Selling Nintendo Wii U Games Of All Time
The 10 Biggest Selling Nintendo Game Boy Games Of All Time
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