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[Panajev2001a]

Super Mario Advance 3 Yoshi Island

Effects were also redone, touch fuzzy get dizzy and the blending effects when you meet the bosses are also redone (and look worse…).

GBA was like SNES graphics chip plus Genesis fast CPU that get together but cart size and lack of sound processor (wasting precious CPU cycles for sound and music) held it back …

 

[Panajev2001a]

The CPU was much more capable but the games were targeting the smaller resolution (240x160 vs 256x224) and the mono speaker. The sound had to be mixed by software using the CPU; the audio quality was at the choice of the game developer.
Someone managed to port Tomb Raider, you wouldn't have that on the super nes without a special co processor on the cartridge.



To adapt to the smaller resolution of the screen, the sprites were transformed, animations had less frames, the colors saturated...
top is Super Nes, bottom is GBA. GBA had to be zoomed more (gba 30x30 sprites, snes 40x40)

Transforming the sprite size I get (and saturating the colors more too as the display was not backlit), but reducing the number of frames would be more of a cartridge space + sprite engine setup limitation (likely the former) not a screen resolution limitation.

 

[tamago84]

Gba advance definitely set the pinnacle of portable gaming with the snes games

 

[mopspear]

Thank you for the research and work you put into this.

 

[diffusionx]

Effects were also redone, touch fuzzy get dizzy and the blending effects when you meet the bosses are also redone (and look worse…).

GBA was like SNES graphics chip plus Genesis fast CPU that get together but cart size and lack of sound processor (wasting precious CPU cycles for sound and music) held it back …

it was far more capable than the SNES graphics chip and the CPU was much more powerful than the 68k. it was full 32-bit and 16.7mhz. I'm also pretty sure that cart sizes got much larger than the normal 1-4MB of the 16-bit systems, just because of time and prices getting cheaper.

But Yoshi's Island used the SuperFX2 chip, that actually ran faster than the GBA CPU, and while the GBA could handle things like scaling and rotation much better than the stock SNES could, it also surely did it differently from how they implemented it in Yoshi's Island with the SuperFX2, which necessitated a compromise.

 

[StereoVsn]

The CPU was much more capable but the games were targeting the smaller resolution (240x160 vs 256x224) and the mono speaker. The sound had to be mixed by software using the CPU; the audio quality was at the choice of the game developer.
Someone managed to port Tomb Raider, you wouldn't have that on the super nes without a special co processor on the cartridge.



To adapt to the smaller resolution of the screen, the sprites were transformed, animations had less frames, the colors saturated...
top is Super Nes, bottom is GBA. GBA had to be zoomed more (gba 30x30 sprites, snes 40x40)

Yeah, the screen resolution and lack of separate sound chip was a miss, but Nintendo wanted to keep prices as low as possible.

There are quite a few ROM hacks now days that fix issues with sound and graphics on some of the GBA games, mainly meant for emulation.

 

[ShirAhava]

Excellent thread!

Final Fantasy 5 Advance is still the best official (some great Super Famicom mods out there) version of the game much better than the PSX version
which would corrupt save data breaking the entire port making it unplayable after a certain point.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Aero the Acrobat

 

[Leopold]

What a great system.

 

[MrCunningham]

The CPU was much more capable but the games were targeting the smaller resolution (240x160 vs 256x224) and the mono speaker. The sound had to be mixed by software using the CPU; the audio quality was at the choice of the game developer.
Someone managed to port Tomb Raider, you wouldn't have that on the super nes without a special co processor on the cartridge.

The GBA's 'AGB' SOC houses an ARM 7TDMI 32bit RISC CPU that runs at 16.8MHz as well as an embedded CGB CPU for Game Boy Colour backwards compatibility. The APU contains two 8-bit PCM channels that can also be used as a DAC for audio streaming. It also has access to the Game Boy Colours audio system. The SOC has access to 256KB's of work RAM.

I'm pretty sure that the GBA's CPU is comparable to the 32bit ARM60 RISC found in the 3DO hardware. The 3DO CPU runs at 12.5Mhz in comparison. But the 3DO does have 36 DMA channels, 2MB system RAM, 1MB VRAM, a dedicated video/ 3D/ animation chip, and a dedicated audio chip. It does have more going for it in terms of support chips.

Here's Open Lara running on the GBA vs 3DO:


Another comparison:
Need For Speed Porsche Unleaded GBA (sorry for using a VCDecide side by side comparison. But it is hard to find this game running on real hardware... GameCube GBA player capture)


The original: Need For Speed: Road and Track (3DO)

To adapt to the smaller resolution of the screen, the sprites were transformed, animations had less frames, the colors saturated...
top is Super Nes, bottom is GBA. GBA had to be zoomed more (gba 30x30 sprites, snes 40x40)

Unfortunately a lot of GBA games had over saturated colours, due to the original unit not being back lit. There were so many complaints from customers that it was hard to see GBA games on the original screen, that Nintendo mandated developers to use over-saturated colours to compensate.

Here's a prett7y good comparison of Rock M' Roll Racing on the SNES vs the GBA, the gBA game does retain the same sprite and tile resolution as the SNES game, but everything does look zoomed in due to the lower screen resolution.

 

[awwr999999]

I remember picking up Ghouls n Ghosts for GBA, and there was lot of fresh content. GBA had a lot of gems.

GBA has more games now than it's ever had at any point in the past.
New unlicensed games are better looking than 1st party Nintendo games.
McDonald's put out a free GBC game and it's never been cheaper or easier to make GBC games.
EOL consoles don't die - they get better and less expensive with time and compete against modern consoles for users time.
Abandoning their platforms (GBA, SNES, etc.) as opposed to keeping them open for development is Nintendo's biggest mistake.

 

[Trilobit]

Oh boy, I absolutely loved my SMB2 for GBA. I think it was my most played game on the handheld.

fun fact on this topic.

Rare did not only remake the DKC trilogy for the GBA (yes they are basically remakes under the hood), they also pitched DKC4 to Nintendo, which I think they wanted to either also do on the GBA or on the DS... but Nintendo declined...

I am now enraged with Nintendo. This is Geneva convention material.

 

[MrCunningham]

fun fact on this topic.

Rare did not only remake the DKC trilogy for the GBA (yes they are basically remakes under the hood), they also pitched DKC4 to Nintendo, which I think they wanted to either also do on the GBA or on the DS... but Nintendo declined...

The original prototype for Banjo Pilot always interested me, as it uses a voxel engine for the terrain. To be honest, it looked really good, and didn't suffer from any warping or swimming textures. The chunky voxels work well on the low resolution GBA screen. Maybe they were planning on using voxels for their proposed DK64 GBA port?


The final release of Banjo Pilot used the GBA's Mode 5 (mode 7) 3D playing field:


Speaking of voxels... There was a port of Comanche: Maximum Overkill planned for the SNES that would have had voxel terrain as well. The game would have used the Super FX2 chip. But it was cancelled alongside Star Fox 2 and FX Fighter (SuperFX2 Virtua Fighter clone). It was shown off publicly at E3 1995:

 

[lordrand11]

Hey all,

We all know there were a lot of SNES games ported to the Game Boy Advance, because, well, the GBA was pretty much a portable SNES (minus the awesome sound chip). However, in the midst of all the straight ports, a select few went above and beyond, featuring a lot of new interesting content that you might not know about!

These are their stories:

NOTE: This is not a comprehensive list of ALL the changes and additions the games have, just some of the most notable or interesting ones.

Super Ghouls'n Ghosts
Judging by the name, you'd think this is just a straight SNES port, but it's not. I mean, it does contain the original game (and does it justice, possibly with even more slowdown), but it also includes an Arrange Mode, which adds branching paths with new levels and bosses. It also features a redesigned and better-looking intro and a battery save option.

Basically, if you finish a level wearing the golden armor, you can choose between a high, middle, or low road. The high and low roads contain the same levels as the SNES version, but the middle road features an original level and three remixed levels from the previous two games in the series. Graphically, the levels from Ghosts 'n Goblins and Ghouls 'n Ghosts look gorgeous with SNES-style graphics. A couple of the levels also have original bosses.

Donkey Kong Country
Yeah yeah, I know the graphics and music took a hit, but I'm here to talk about the new stuff!

The GBA version adds a whole new original intro story showing DK's banana hoard getting stolen (which actually comes from the manual of the SNES version). Other than that, all the overworld maps were redone, there are new modes and minigames, and the ending was completely redone too!

Donkey Kong Country 2
Similar to the first game, there's a new intro showing DK getting kidnapped (which also comes from the manual of the SNES version), and the ending was redone as well. Just like before, all the overworld maps were redone, and there are new modes and minigames.

Donkey Kong Country 3
Unlike the previous two games, it doesn't have a new intro, although does feature some minor opening and ending scene differences. There's also a new world called Pacifica and a new boss. The biggest change, however, is to the soundtrack. David Wise didn't have time to properly port the music from the SNES version, so he composed an entirely new soundtrack!

Here's a thread I made comparing the SNES and GBA soundtracks.


Aero the Acrobat
The most notable change is that the GBA version now show a cool intro depicting the origin story of the main bad guy. Also, the ending features a new art piece.

Breath of Fire
I thought this was a straight port, but seems I was wrong. Pretty much all of the game's cutscenes and character portraits were fully redrawn, there's link cable support to trade items, and there's even new ending art teasing the sequel.

Breath of Fire 2
Again, I thought this was a straight port, but it features the same additions as the first game.

Final Fantasy 4 Advance
I'm only mentioning this game because the sequels are on the list. And it shouldn't even be here because it's actually a remake of FF4 and not a port. Well, technically it's a port... of the WonderSwan version of the game, which is itself a remake of the SNES version.

Anyway, FF4A added a TON of new stuff. Aside from the remade graphics and a new translation, there's a new bonus dungeon with new enemies. You can also face the final boss using any character you want (it's no longer fixed like in all the previous versions). The characters even have different ending dialogue too.


Final Fantasy 5 & 6 Advance
These two games feature fewer additions compared to FF44A, but they're still worth mentioning.

FF5A also had a new translation, redesigned graphics, new enemies, new classes, and a new bonus dungeon. FF6A's graphics were left alone, but new bosses, espers, and a bonus dungeon were added.


Tales of Phantasia
This is not a port of the SNES version, but a port of the Playstation version (which itself is an enhanced port of the SNES one). I haven't played this one, but someone called "Elementary" told me the GBA version features "new scenes, new dungeons, a whole extra character, new spells and abilities, some battle system changes and some rebalancing".


Contra Advance: The Alien Wars EX
This is Contra 3, but with a few downgrades (you can only carry one weapon and there are no bombs), but to compensate, Konami removed the two Mode 7 overhead levels and replaced them with levels from the Genesis Contra Hard Corps.

It's so incredibly surreal to play Hard Corps levels with Contra 3 mechanics. There's also a password feature and the end-of-level art was completely redone.

Final Fight One
Like some of the other games on this list, this is not really a port of the SNES game. This was remade completely and this time it includes Guy and the Industrial level, which were left out of the SNES version. It also includes new pre-boss cutscenes and lots of unlockables, most notably, you can unlock the Street Fighter Alpha versions of Guy and Cody.

Super Mario Advance
Again, I'm only mentioning this game because the sequels are on the list. This is not a port of the Super Mario Bros. 2 version found in Mario All Stars, no. This is almost a completely new game with a ton of changes and additions.

But since it's on the list, I might as well show a few of its differences. Most glaringly, world 3 has a new boss called Robobirdo and fsag you can steal birdo's hairbow!

Super Mario Advance 2 Super Mario World
SMW was pretty much left intact, but it does have a new intro showing Mario, Luigi and Peach traveling to Dinosaur Land. Luigi has his floaty jumping physics (which were included in the SMW version found in Super Mario All Stars). The ending also features redesigned art and there's an extra ending if you find all 96 goals.

Super Mario Advance 3 Yoshi Island
YI features redone overworld maps and 6 new bonus levels. If you beat those levels, you get a 2nd ending, one which shows Yoshi coming back to his friends in the forest (the same one shown during the intro).

Super Mario Advance 4 Super Mario Bros. 3
This is a port of the SMB3 verson found in Super Mario All Stars, but it features a lot of premium extra content.

Famously, this game used the ill-fated e-Reader. With it, you could add extra items and levels into the game (similar to what Amiibos do nowadays). You could unlock 30+ new levels accessed via a special world map. Thankfully, you can play the game with all the extra levels already unlocked on the WiiU Virtual Console or the Switch's NSO.

The game also has a new into scene showing one of the koopalings storming the king's castle to steal the wand and Peach receiving a letter from Toad asking for help. Another interesting detail is that after you finish the game, there's a new world map select screen. And if you beat Bowser after using warp whistles (i.e. you didn't face the koopalings), then when you start the second loop and visit a world's castle, you'll see a cutscene showing the respective koopaling stealing the wand and turning the king into a creature. It's a really cool detail that most people probably missed! Here's a video showing all of the cutscenes.

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past / Four Swords
This release came with an original multiplayer game called Four Swords, but I'll only be talking about A Link to the Past.

There are many new additions to this port, for example, the witch's assistant is now Mapple (from the Oracle games). You can burn bushes and grass with fire and you can cut signs with your sword. There's also returning enemy: the shield-eating LikeLikes.

But most notably, there's a whole new extra dungeon called "The Palace of the Four Sword". To access it, you must first beat both games (ALttP and Four Swords). Once you do, the crystals in your item screen will change to the four swords and you'll be able to enter the new dungeon via a hole in the east side of the Pyramid of Power. Beat the boss in this dungeon to get a 2nd ending!

Additionally, that there's a whole sidequest involving a new character: a third lumberjack. He gives you a basket and tells you a riddle and you're supposed to gather an item that corresponds to the answer of the riddle. If you complete his quest, three wood-carved statues will be sent to your home and you'll also get the tornado spin sword technique, which works exacly like the one from Wind Waker.

So, how many of these additions did you know about? Did you skip playing some of these games thinking they were mere SNES ports?

I played them on GBA but never really finished them enough to pay attention to the differences between the original SNES games and the ports. The thread was also wonderfully written!

 

[kevboard]

I am now enraged with Nintendo. This is Geneva convention material.

Nintendo absolutely undervalued Rare.
first they didn't want to buy them, so Microsoft did.
then even under Microsoft they supported their handhelds with DKC, Banjo Pilot, Diddy Kong Racing DS, Viva Pinata...

 

[Ceadeus]

The thread looks insane good work here ++

 

[nordique]

What an awesome thread.

thank you OP

 

[Midway-AGNC-]

fun fact on this topic.

Rare did not only remake the DKC trilogy for the GBA (yes they are basically remakes under the hood), they also pitched DKC4 to Nintendo, which I think they wanted to either also do on the GBA or on the DS... but Nintendo declined...

That's one of the many reasons why I've always thought selling Rare was a mistake by Nintendo. "Oh, but after they went to Microsoft, they became terrible," "they were in a downward spiral"—yes, the first part is true, the second, not so much. But either way, Nintendo has never, to this day, managed to find anything even remotely close to fill the gap that Rare left behind. Many say Retro did that, but it doesn't even come close. At its peak, Rare was releasing two to three games a year and, at the same time, knew exactly how to cater to the older audience segment that Nintendo, on its own, just couldn't reach. To this day, they still haven't found anything even remotely close to a substitute for the FPS genre (Metroid Prime isn't anywhere close to GoldenEye and Perfect Dark in a more traditional FPS gameplay mechanics), among others that Rare used to cover.

 

[kevboard]

That's one of the many reasons why I've always thought selling Rare was a mistake by Nintendo. "Oh, but after they went to Microsoft, they became terrible"—yes, that's true, but even so, Nintendo has never, to this day, managed to find anything even remotely close to fill the gap Rare left behind. Many say Retro filled that space, but it doesn't even come close. At its peak, Rare was able to release two to three games a year and, at the same time, catered really well to the older audience segment that Nintendo, on its own, just couldn't reach. So much so that they've never managed to find anything even close to a substitute for the FPS genre, among others that Rare used to cover.

Nintendo didn't sell Rare, Rare never belonged to them. they were part owners, with the option to buy them fully by the year 2000.
Rare wanted to be bought by Nintendo, but Nintendo had no interest which meant they looked for other buyers, which is where Microsoft jumped in and bought Nintendo's stock and the rest of the studio. it was between Microsoft and Activision btw. so I think we lucked out.
also Rare didn't become bad once they were at Microsoft, in fact they continued making games for and with Nintendo up until 2008. Rare only started to decline once Microsoft tried turning them into their premier Kinect studio in 2010.

as for the FPS stuff, well, the main team behind Perfect Dark left Rare before they were bought by Microsoft (before Perfect Dark was even out I think) and formed Free Radical, where they made what was essentially the sequel to Perfect Dark with Time Splitters (specifically TS2).

that latter thing could maybe have been prevented to happen if Nintendo bought them.

 

[Midway-AGNC-]

Nintendo didn't sell Rare, Rare never belonged to them. they were part owners, with the option to buy them fully by the year 2000.
Rare wanted to be bought by Nintendo, but Nintendo had no interest which meant they looked for other buyers, which is where Microsoft jumped in and bought Nintendo's stock and the rest of the studio. it was between Microsoft and Activision btw. so I think we lucked out.
also Rare didn't become bad once they were at Microsoft, in fact they continued making games for and with Nintendo up until 2008. Rare only started to decline once Microsoft tried turning them into their premier Kinect studio in 2010.

as for the FPS stuff, well, the main team behind Perfect Dark left Rare before they were bought by Microsoft (before Perfect Dark was even out I think) and formed Free Radical, where they made what was essentially the sequel to Perfect Dark with Time Splitters (specifically TS2).

that latter thing could maybe have been prevented to happen if Nintendo bought them.

Nintendo owned 49% of Rare's shares, and Rare offered a full buyout, which Nintendo declined, as you already mentioned. The sale I'm referring to is of the shares Nintendo owned in Rare, so yes, this made Nintendo a major player in the company. Yes, Rare kept with Nintendo for portables but their relationship were anymore the same like it was previously to the departure.

About the FPS stuff, I'm aware of the Free Radical situation, but that wasn't my point. My point was that Nintendo has never really managed, even to this day, to properly fill the gap left by Rare's departure when it comes to appealing to the more traditional FPS audience, regardless of when exactly the PD/GE team left and later formed Free Radical.

 

[Serena!]

I didn't know LttP has an enhanced GBA port. Appreciate the thread.