Game Boy Advance games

Game Boy Advance: history and collecting

Launched in 2001, the Game Boy Advance succeeded the Game Boy Color and brought handheld gaming into the 32-bit era. Backward-compatible with Game Boy cartridges and later offered as the SP and Micro models, it sold more than 80 million units. Its power let it host both fresh creations and ports worthy of the Super Nintendo.

Its library is remarkably dense: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission, Golden Sun, Advance Wars and Fire Emblem (the series' first Western release) sit alongside the Pokémon phenomenon and the Castlevania entries. It also holds Mother 3 and Final Fantasy VI Advance, among the most prized RPGs on the system.

For collectors, the Game Boy Advance is highly sought after. Complete, sealed Pokémon games reach high values, while rarities such as Mother 3 (never released outside Japan) change hands for a lot. Beware, though, of the many counterfeit cartridges, Pokémon in particular: authenticity and condition weigh heavily on value. On RomWize, every Game Boy Advance game is retested and re-rated for 2026, with its rarity index and collector value (loose, complete and new) by region, to tell the essentials from the mere curiosities.