SNES library vs. GBA library

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

5 hours ago, Makar said:

Hmm I've only met 1 person in real life who has ever played or even heard of boktai before I told them about it. The only reason I knew about it was because of the Django chips in the mega man battle network series. 

Anyone played these games? I feel like maybe the reason it's hard to compare libraries is because very few people have dived into the GBA library the same way people have done so for the SNES library. 

https://www.racketboy.com/retro/best-undiscovered-nintendo-game-boy-advance-gba-games

Yeah, Wario Land is a part of the 3DS ambassador program.  And I used to own Sigma and Yggdra.

They're alright.

[Br81zad | 630]

13 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Yeah, that's another interesting thought exercise.

I like Super Metroid more than Fusion, but Zero Mission?  I mean it's basically another Super Metroid, but that's not a bad thing. In fact it's a great thing.

And I dig both SNES Castlevanias, but I'm not sure either can touch Aria of Sorrow.

So then you start thinking.  If Zero Mission or Aria of Sorrow were SNES games, would they be in the top 30?  Top 20?  Top 10?

If Chrono Trigger had originated on GBA, would some people call it the best game on the system?

Where would Phantasy Star III land in top SNES games?  What if it was bundled with parts 1 and 2?

 

If I could read those, I might have a response for you. lol

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

12 minutes ago, Br81zad said:

If I could read those, I might have a response for you. lol

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten2.htm

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten3.htm

Pokemon, but these are the "monsters"

 

[Br81zad | 630]

14 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten2.htm

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten3.htm

Pokemon, but these are the "monsters"

 

 

Yeah, I just watched some gameplay vids. While the monsters are interesting, I can't actually place the games in the same class as the Pokemon series. Walking around the same high school hallways over and over just isn't as interesting to me. 

This seems more like Wizardry than Pokemon

(That's definitely a dick chariot btw. lol)

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

8 minutes ago, Br81zad said:

 

Yeah, I just watched some gameplay vids. While the monsters are interesting, I can't actually place the games in the same class as the Pokemon series. Walking around the same high school hallways over and over just isn't as interesting to me. 

This seems more like Wizardry than Pokemon

(That's definitely a dick chariot btw. lol)

An astute observation.  Calling the MegaTens (at least the early ones) a combination of Pokemon and Wizardry is not far from the truth.  The latter ones not so much.

[Br81zad | 630]

3 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

An astute observation.  Calling the MegaTens (at least the early ones) a combination of Pokemon and Wizardry is not far from the truth.  The latter ones not so much.

Yeah, those are maybe not my style, but I dig me some Atlus games tho. Ogre Battle was 

[Tanooki | 5,085]

19 hours ago, Sumez said:

If you're just picking up a GBA, and ignore the existence of the SNES, then yeah, the GBA SNES ports are great - at least the ones that were handled well (it really is a mixed bag). It's not like they don't matter.

 

I'm sure most people appreciate both platforms, and any direct comparison is done lovingly. The SNES library is massive and as endlessly deep as it is visibly tall, it's hard for any platform to beat that.

Not really I'd call it at worst/best? ag e dependent.  SNES 1991-96, GBA came out on the 10 year anniversary of the system.  Given the gap in time, age of a likely game player, you're looking at two different eras of young gamers jumping in, and also perhaps some who don't do console but do handheld, etc.  They're still on there, they still count.

All I'm saying is, it's to the point of being unfair having to choose one over the other for the reasons well made since my post when I wrote that first comment you replied to.  The SNES library isn't all that bulletproof, though for the time it comes off as much, and it is varied too for the time and even now.  But the GBA just has more quality and quantity releases and new genres sub-genre style stuff that may not have been really explored or even existed a decade earlier.

[Sumez | 3,134]

3 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Given the gap in time, age of a likely game player, you're looking at two different eras of young gamers jumping in, and also perhaps some who don't do console but do handheld, etc.

Sure, but we're just looking at the game libraries here, right? Not talking about how certain individuals potentially might experience the systems differently.

3 hours ago, Tanooki said:

But the GBA just has more quality and quantity releases and new genres sub-genre style stuff that may not have been really explored or even existed a decade earlier.

Now here's a more concrete claim, and I'm really surprised you'd think so.
I'd say that either you're only looking at the top of the iceberg when looking at SNES games, or you know about a ton of interesting GBA games that I've never heard of, and would like to learn about!

Though I probably don't agree with @Reed Rothchild on certain specific games, I think his approach is the only viable one. Make a top 200, or a top 500, or whatever it takes to go through all the games that are somehow interesting and enjoyable to play on one platform, and then compile a list of the same amount of games on the other platform and compare the quality of each game in relation to their position on their list.

Now I'm not crazy enough to actually do so , and it goes without saying that at the end of the day these things are always going to be very subjective. But based entirely on my overall insight into each of these, I'd say both platforms have a super strong top 10 with the SNES still coming out on top, and the further into the list you dig, the bigger its lead is going to be, until you end up with forgettable and mediocre shovelware GBA stuff facing obscure but probably silly and super enjoyable Super Famicom titles.

Edited October 16, 2020 by Sumez

[phart010 | 1,779]

On 10/16/2020 at 2:26 AM, Sumez said:

Though I probably don't agree with @Reed Rothchild on certain specific games, I think his approach is the only viable one. Make a top 200, or a top 500, or whatever it takes to go through all the games that are somehow interesting and enjoyable to play on one platform, and then compile a list of the same amount of games on the other platform and compare the quality of each game in relation to their position on their list.

 

I’ve already done this. Top 200 (or so) GBA games in my opinion. Greyed out games are ports. Also missing a few good ones I’ve found out about more recently:

Edit: a couple of games probably don’t belong on this list, I just put them on there because I happened to have them

Edited March 15, 2023 by phart010

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

Well done.  I'd add stuff like Wolfenstein and Rebelstar, and omit stuff like the Castlevania Double Pack, but that's nitpicking.

[phart010 | 1,779]

34 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Well done.  I'd add stuff like Wolfenstein and Rebelstar, and omit stuff like the Castlevania Double Pack, but that's nitpicking.

Rebelstar looks interesting, never seen this one yet before.  Always another rock to turn over

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

For comparison, here are the top 200 US SNES titles in my opinion.  And then 50 SFC games off the top of my head

(*Dragon Quest V and VI)

[Tanooki | 5,085]

15 hours ago, Sumez said:

Sure, but we're just looking at the game libraries here, right? Not talking about how certain individuals potentially might experience the systems differently.

Now here's a more concrete claim, and I'm really surprised you'd think so.
I'd say that either you're only looking at the top of the iceberg when looking at SNES games, or you know about a ton of interesting GBA games that I've never heard of, and would like to learn about!

Though I probably don't agree with @Reed Rothchild on certain specific games, I think his approach is the only viable one. Make a top 200, or a top 500, or whatever it takes to go through all the games that are somehow interesting and enjoyable to play on one platform, and then compile a list of the same amount of games on the other platform and compare the quality of each game in relation to their position on their list.

Well yes, and no.  It's actually really down to what people potentially might experience.  A lot of people would not see them as ports but a new game having never had or touched by some means the SNES or even PC conversions on the system so they'd be new games.  So if they are considered top 200 or 300 titles or whatever, they're fair game.

I wouldn't get crazy and make a list like that either, I mean I could, I could take an evening and go nuts using the wikipedia as a reference to remind me of things, but then looking just below to quote #2, I like his idea of the gray bar for stuff that was in some form on another device.  Even then I think some of those may deserve an asterisk given.   In the end I think percentage wise they have a pretty equal amount of excellent to good to crap/shovelware ratio if one really wanted to dig.  The more I watch the SNES rating project it kind of cements how much garbage there was.
 

3 hours ago, phart010 said:

I’ve already done this. Top 200 (or so) GBA games in my opinion. Greyed out games are ports. Also missing a few good ones I’ve found out about more recently:

Edit: a couple of games probably don’t belong on this list, I just put them on there because I happened to have them

Nice list, I like your style with the gray bars for ported stuff it makes sense, but even then some of it kind of does still deserve the gray like Double Dragon and River City Ransom as they are just conversions yet beefd up with a little (RCR) or a lot more stages (DD) to them.  You also did miss some, like Breath of Fire 1 and 2, and tehre are others.

You know I think it would be fun given the larger library and ratios of great, good, to garbage on the system a top 200 made by many people would be fun for a topic on the GBA, perhaps DS after given it has even more cards to throw around.  I can see some holes I'd fill in that list of yours while pulling out a few too.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

The problem is most people have played just the same few games.  So you end up with Pokemon...uh White (or whatever) at #1, and Henry Hatsworth is outside the top 200.  Because most people grew up with one game, and have never heard of the other

I don't know how you solve for that without having a bunch of people who have played through hundreds of games.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,042]

Ok so which one of you is making and maintaining a top 200 tread? Cuz we need it.

[phart010 | 1,779]

10 minutes ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

Ok so which one of you is making and maintaining a top 200 tread? Cuz we need it.

I’ve got running lists of top games for all systems, less the more obscure ones. GBA just happened to be one with around 200 games. 

[Sumez | 3,134]

21 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

and Henry Hatsworth is outside the top 200.  Because most people grew up with one game, and have never heard of the other

To be fair, Henry Hatsworth is a really terrible game  

Edited October 17, 2020 by Sumez

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

17 minutes ago, Sumez said:

To be fair, Henry Hatsworth is a really terrible game  

"Terrible?"

That's one hell of a strong take

[Sumez | 3,134]

Nah if you've played it I'm sure you get it. It's one of those games that look like a fun idea, with charming graphics, but then you play it and none of it works. It feels like the people who made the platforming parts have never seen a platform game before

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

Disagree.  But I do understand how someone could think the game has room for improvement in both segments, and scoring it as a 6 or 7/10 kinda deal.

I recently noticed that NintendoLife has been publishing user top 50 lists.  It's going strictly off user score, which appears to give better, broader results than some sort of voting system.

[Sumez | 3,134]

"room for improvement" is such a nice way of putting it XD

[Makar | 2,062]

On 10/16/2020 at 2:50 PM, phart010 said:

I’ve already done this. Top 200 (or so) GBA games in my opinion. Greyed out games are ports. Also missing a few good ones I’ve found out about more recently:

Edit: a couple of games probably don’t belong on this list, I just put them on there because I happened to have them

Nice list! What happened to mega man battle network 6? What about the first Zelda port? And if we're including japanese games, you should include the first rocket slime. 

5 hours ago, Sumez said:

Nah if you've played it I'm sure you get it. It's one of those games that look like a fun idea, with charming graphics, but then you play it and none of it works. It feels like the people who made the platforming parts have never seen a platform game before

Is this like when people told me years ago that locks quest and zookeeper were hidden gems on the DS? Both are awful games. Never played Henry hatsworth. Never really had the desire either. Nothing about it really grabs me. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,909]

*shrug*

It's all subjective.  Most people rather like H. Hatsworth.  Kinda like how most people are rather nonplussed about the Battle Network series.  But there's always exceptions to the rule.

Who is correct?  Nobody.  We all just play the games and form our own experiences.

[phart010 | 1,779]

48 minutes ago, Makar said:

Nice list! What happened to mega man battle network 6? What about the first Zelda port? And if we're including japanese games, you should include the first rocket slime. 

I made these lists some time ago when I was actively collecting GBA.. since then I’ve become aware of some others that are definitely worth getting, but just have not revised the list. Actually have not gotten into playing the Battle Networks yet, so Im not well versed on the numbers of those (ironically I actually do have Battle Network 6 though)..

Theres 1 or 2 games on the list that are trash, they just accidentally didn’t get deleted. So you’ll have to exert at least some effort
 

I think its still a good starter list for anyone looking to experience GBA. 

Edited October 18, 2020 by phart010

[Makar | 2,062]

22 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

*shrug*

It's all subjective.  Most people rather like H. Hatsworth.  Kinda like how most people are rather nonplussed about the Battle Network series.  But there's always exceptions to the rule.

Who is correct?  Nobody.  We all just play the games and form our own experiences.

Fair point. To each their own. I can't judge henry hatsworth since I've never played it. The battle network series is really good. Star force series is trash though. Network transmission is a hidden gem. 

1 minute ago, phart010 said:

I made these lists some time ago when I was actively collecting GBA.. since then I’ve become aware of some others that are definitely worth getting, but just have not revised the list. Actually have not gotten into playing the battle networks yet, so I not well versed on the numbers of those (ironically I actually do have Battle Network 6 though)..

Theres 1 or 2 games on the list that are trash, they just accidentally didn’t get deleted. So you’ll have to exert at least some effort
 

I think its still a good starter list for anyone looking to experience GBA. 

Gotcha. It definitely is a solid starter list. I was just confused why you had 1-5 on there but not 6. Imo the series really got great starting with mmbn3. Oh, if you want a GBA no one really talks about that I definitely think should be in the top 200, check out Yu-Gi-Oh dungeon dice monsters. It's a very different game. Top 10, no way, but top 200, definitely.