It should go without saying that not every game will be picked up by history. There are a lot of reasons why something may fall through the cracks and be forgotten through time. The easy answer for this is quality. For example, why bother remembering the dozens of copycat Mario platformers that plagued the 80s and 90s.
There are still plenty of platformers still worthwhile next to Mario though. The point is every system is going to have a plethora of games, good or bad, that will be lost through the ages, even game sequels from giant franchises. In celebration of the Game Boy Advance’s 20th anniversary, let’s see what unknown sequels were left behind on it.
10 Boktai 3: Sabata's Counterattack
The first two Boktai games released in the West but for whatever reason this one didn’t. There could be an obvious answer in that by 2005, most had moved onto the DS. However, DS systems had a GBA player built in so that’s not a great excuse. The more plausible reason is that the sales in the West just couldn’t justify localizing this third entry. Thankfully fans have since patched it into English for those curious.
9 F-Zero: Climax
This was the last game to ever release in the F-Zero franchise on its own. It released for the GBA in Japan in 2004. There was nothing really extraordinary about this sequel that would have turned anyone away. It’s not like it was a new genre of racing games. That actually may be why it never made it over here for lack of ambition even though it is still a good game.
8 Gunstar Super Heroes
The original Gunstar Heroes released in 1993 for the Sega Genesis in North America. While praised for being one of the best games on the system it would not get a sequel until this game twelve years later.
That’s 2005 for those that don’t want to handle the math. Unfortunately some may have missed out on it since it was a portable game which does come with some stigma.
7 Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars
2001 marks the 20th anniversary of the Zone of the Enders franchise as of March. Most people may think there were only two PS2 games followed by a canceled third that never really got off the ground. However, in-between those two releases was this tactical RPG. It should be noted though that it plays more like the Super Robot Taisen games than something like Final Fantasy Tactics.
6 Onimusha Tactics
This spinoff came after the second game on PS2 in 2003. This tactical RPG actual does fall more in line with Final Fantasy Tactics, specifically the GBA game. That is to say it is a bit more kid friendly. 2003 was also the year this franchise saw the fighting game spinoff, Onimusha Blade Warriors. Another fun fact is that this series also celebrates twenty years as of this past January.
5 Tomb Raider: The Prophecy
This game released in 2002 on GBA and is an exclusive. Rather than be another 2D adventure, like other portable Tomb Raider games, this opted for a top-down perspective. It is very much in line with the console games sans the 3D. It even locks onto enemies when weapons are drawn which is very useful.
4 Altered Beast: Guardian Of The Realms
The original game launched in 1988 before receiving a numerous amount of ports. It would not be until 2002 until it got a sequel via this game. It is another brawler that auto scrolls and by all accounts did not do much new to revolutionize the series. There was a third and final game released in 2005 on PS2 that was more like God of War. In Japan it was released as Juoki: Project Altered Beast and just Altered Beast in Europe. It never released in North America despite plans to.
3 Metal Slug Advance
This exclusive to the GBA was released in 2004. It plays a lot like the main arcade games in that it is a run and gun 2D shooter. Players can choose between two characters and weapons will drop while in the levels.
What makes it different is the health bar instead of getting killed in one hit. That did not make it any easier though. Thankfully this game does have cheats to mirror that of plugging in another quarter for lives.
2 Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu No Star Medal
This is the last original Klonoa game in the series with the 2008 remake on Wii being the very last release altogether. It launched only in Japan though in 2002. There is some good news though as it has been mostly patched into English by fans. It is quite different from the rest of the series in that it is a top-down action RPG.
1 Rockman EXE 4.5 Real Operation
Mega Man Battle Network 4 released as a dual set of games in 2004 in North America. Also in that year, but only in Japan, was this spinoff. Despite the number of 4.5 being in the title, it is not like a half step up similar as to how Pokemon games like a Pokemon Emerald were released. It is instead a more gameplay focused entry without much of a story if any. It has an English fan patch that is complete for those curious.