10: Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow / Circle Of The Moon / Portrait Of Ruin (DS/GBA)
Firstly, the amazing Dawn of Sorrow for the DS (... see what they did there...). Dawn of Sorrow was the first game for the DS, and is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow for the GBA, another impressive entry into the series. DS was a huge game which benefited greatly from being on the DS with a permanent map on the second screen, something the GBA games sorely needed!
Portrait of Ruin is the second game in the DS trilogy and introduced the ability to enter new areas by jumping through portals in paintings around the castle, (much like Mario 64) Meaning there was much more variety in the graphics and environments. The game is a bit more linear however and the overall areas aren't as big to explore as Dawn of Sorrow. Order of Eclessia is also worth playing but is more similar to the NES games being a mostly linear experience with more emphasis on its mission based progression system and new abilities to access new locations.
The last game I chose is the first GBA entry, Circle of the Moon. Although Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of sorrow may look better, its Circle of the moon that really captivated me from start to finish. I'm not sure why but this is a game I could play for hours on end and never get bored.
These days the series has been completely ruined by the need to have 3D graphics and constant action. The newer titles seem to be more based on something like God Of War, than Castlevania. Such a shame because its extremely rare to see these kinds of exploration platformers any more...
Zero mission on the other hand was a remake of the very first Metroid game for the NES, and what an amazing remake it was! forget all these new "HD Remasters"... THIS is how you bring an old game back into the limelight! It is completely revamped and uses many of the newer elements in the metroid series such as a very useful map and fantastic graphics that really are among the best on the GBA. The game is a million times more playable than its NES counterpart and even includes a new section at the end of the game which was the first playable appearance of the fan favourite, Zero Suit Samus, who went on to star in the much loved Smash Bros series (and subsequently some dodgy parts of Deviant Art... >.< )
8: Metal Slug 1st Mission / Gunstar Future Heroes (NGP / GBA)
I haven't played Metal Slug Advance so I can't comment on how that holds up compared to this one. I also haven't played 2nd Mission for the Pocket either, but I expect its just as good, if not better! Time to make a visit to eBay I think...
The other game I added on this spot is Gunstar Future Heroes. Originally I wasn't going to include this, but I think this incredible GBA game deserves a mention, even if it is more of a straight up action game than a platformer. It's pretty similar to metal slug, with many crazy weapons and some insane boss fights, as you'd expect from the developer Treasure!
7: Sonic Advance 2 (GBA) / Sonic Rush (DS) / Sonic Pocket Adventure (NGP)
Sonic advance 2 took everything that made the first Sonic Advance so great and ran with it! literally. SA2 is my favourite of all the hand-held sonic games, it's really fast and fun, theres loads to collect and the music is fantastic! Theres several different character to play as including the new character Cream the Rabbit, who uses a Chao creature as an attack, sending it to fight enemies in her place. I feel sega kind of missed the mark with Sonic Advance 3 by making it too complicated with huge levels and controlling multiple characters at once. SA2 is simple and fun and just the way a sonic game should be!There's one more that I'd like to quickly mention, that is Sonic Pocket Adventure for the NGP. Kind of a remake of Sonic 2, or it takes inspiration from it. This was the first proper entry in the sonic series that wasn't on a Sega console... (Sonic Blast on Game.Com doesn't count!) Once again it goes to show just how capable the Neo Geo pocket was! it's a fantastic entry in the series with very colourful graphics and great controls. It's a bit easy but that doesnt stop you from enjoying it.
Theres clearly no shortage of Sonic fun to be had on handhelds, as Sega also had their own GameGear back in the early 90's there was a plethora of Sonic games released for the system, many of them were ports of the Master System titles that came out at the time, as well as a few exclusives. The best of the bunch for me, is also the first. Although its extremely basic, It was a great alternative to the MegaDrive / Genesis version, and sometimes, I actually prefer it. It has fantastic music and levels and is fast and fun, and much bettere than the 2nd one for Gamegear...
6: Megaman Maveric Hunter X (PSP) / Megaman IV (Gameboy)
The other Megaman game I have chosen to mention is the Gameboy version of Megaman 4, or IV as the Gameboy calls it. This was a huge step up from the previous games in the Gameboy series, and actually contains a mix of robot masters from both megaman 4 and 5. The game plays just as well as the NES counterparts and is even more precise thanks to some grat controls and tight level designs! I actually did an entire let's play of it a few years ago! you can watch it all here (actually its a let's play of Megaman III not IV, but they are very similar...)
5: LocoRoco / LocoRoco 2 (PSP)
The idea of the game is to roll around and collect berries that make your Locoroco blob bigger, and therefor able to get to more places and ultimately grow big enough to split into many smaller blobs, which each begin to sing and add to the already intoxicating cute atmosphere! You can use all these smaller Locoroco's to solve puzzles and wake up a giant tree at the end of each stage.
4: Super Mario Land / Super Mario Land 2 / Wario Land (Gameboy/GBA)
As for Super Mario Land 2, it is a much bigger game, and many people would say its also a much better game too. I still prefer the first one though. This one had loads of cool new powerups that haven't been seen since, including bunny ears which let you hover, a space suit for a few moon based levels and even a bubble which lets you float above the level for a short time! This is definitely a very unique game in the Mario series, as, like the first game, this is not set in the mushroon kingdom and has such strange areas as a Lego land, a land set inside a bees nest, a Halloween themed area and the inside of a turtle to name a few! It also introduces Wario for the first time, who would soon go onto star in his own game, Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land.
3: Klonoa Empire Of Dreams / Moonlight Museum (GBA / Wonderswan)
2: Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (DS)
1: Kirby's Dream Land / Dreamland 2 / Nightmare In Dreamland / Super Star Ultra / Mouse Attack / Triple Deluxe (Gameboy / GBA / DS / 3DS)
Every main kirby game is pretty much the same... so why not include all of them! Starting on the original gameboy, the very first Kirby game ever, Dream Land, did not include a whole lot of anything... You could fly and... well thats about it. There were no abilities to be gained from the enemies, instead you could just suck them up and spit them out. The game was incredibly short, clocking in at under 20mins for a full playthrough! Despite all these shortcomings though, it was a fantastic game, loved by many for its simple gameplay and very cute style.
The second game in the dreamland series greatly improved on every single aspect of the first game, giving you a range of enemies to eat and transform into, as well as taking a leaf out of Kirby's Adventure's book and giving the game a proper hub world. This made for a much larger and better game.
Next in the hand-held line of kirby games was a GBA game, a remake of the NES and Famicom game, Kirby's adventure. This was a brilliant update with fantastic graphics and remixed music! You could even play the whole game through as Metaknighgt once you completed it! Unfortunately I've lost this one and the price of the cart is getting excedingly expensive each time I look... I'll skip over the next GBA entry as it's one of the only Kirby games I don't enjoy. It was called Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.
The next proper hand held kirby game came on the DS in the form of Kirby's Mouse Attack, (or Squeak Squad if you're from America) This game was more of the same, with a few new enemies to eat. The main difference in this game was the inclusion of a band of naughty mice, called the Squeak Squad! They run around stealing treasure and it's up to kirby to chase them down and get it back! The only reason Kirby's interested in chasing down these mice is because they ran off with his strawberry shortcake! Clearly Kirby has no interest in the millions of kirby dollars he could get from all that treasure!
After this came another Re-Make in the form of Kirby Super Star Ultra. I wrote a post on this a while ago, so here you go!
The latest new game in the series is on the 3DS, called Kirby Triple Deluxe. It makes great use of the 3D effect as the game plays out on two planes at once, so you can move into the background and foreground. Theres also a really fun game hiding behind this cool mechanic, and it's one of the best and most replayable kirby games to date! With loads to find and collect in each stage and amazing unlockable keychains! I wish they were real! :(Once again that ended up being much more than 10 games! Never mind.
Thanks for reading!
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