The Gameboy Advance was released in 2001 and was the follow up to the incredibly successful Game Boy line which included the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, and Game Boy Color. The Game Boy Advance saw a few redesigns in its lifetime including the Gameboy Advance SP which gave the portable a look similar to a mini laptop that also had a backlight and the Game Boy Advance Micro which had the best screen of all of the Gameboy Advances but was very small and could not play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games.

The massive library of Game Boy Advance covered many genres and had many great exclusive titles so as a way of looking back at the final Game Boy, here are 10 of the best games on the system based on their Metacritic score - one game per franchise for variety’s sake.

10 Fire Emblem (Metascore: 88)

While Fire Emblem would appear to be the first game in the series due to its name and because it is the first game to be released in North America, the series has been going on since the days of Famicom, the Japanese Nintendo Entertainment System, since 1990.

The Fire Emblem games are tactical role-playing games set in medieval times that typically have a perma-death mechanic, meaning that once a character is dead, they are dead for good and cannot be revived. The perma-death feature persists in even the most recent of games in the franchise but players are now given the option to play without it.

9 Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (Metascore: 88)

The Tactics Ogre is a series of tactical role-playing and real-time strategy games that started on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System with Tactics Ogre: March of the Black Queen in 1995.

Like previous games in the series, in Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis you control a team fighting in tactical battles on an isometric playing field similar to the Final Fantasy Tactics games. Characters are hired to be used in combat with different classes that are useful in certain situations making team synergy an important part of the game.

8 WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! (Metascore: 89)

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! is the first game in the WarioWare series. The WarioWare series of games are collections of very quick mini-games that are thrown at you in rapid succession. You must complete a set amount of mini-games without losing 3 times to progress to the next stage.

Each set of mini-games in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! is hosted by a color character with the games reflecting their personality. For example, there is a video game fan that gives you a set of mini-games all centered around classic Nintendo games.

7 Golden Sun (Metascore: 91)

Developed by Camelot, Golden Sun centers around a group of magically gifted adepts who must prevent the destructive power alchemy from creating chaos as it had done in the past. Golden Sun is a turn-based role-playing game with a heavy emphasis on story and puzzles.

Golden Sun has two sequels, Gold Sun: The Lost Age for the Game Boy Advance and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, there have been no talks of a fourth game in the series and the first 3 have yet to be re-released either physically or digitally.

6 Final Fantasy VI Advance (Metascore: 92)

Final Fantasy VI Advance is a Game Boy Advance port of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Final Fantasy VI. The Game Boy Advance is often affectionately called the portable Super Nintendo, partially because its graphics look similar to the 16-bit consoles but also because it has a lot of releases from Nintendo’s second home console like this one.

Final Fantasy VI Advance is about a young woman named Terra and her friends who are trying to prevent a war from breaking out among humans and an ancient civilization of magic users.

5 Metroid Fusion (Metascore: 92)

Metroid Fusion is a follow-up to the amazing Super Metroid on the Super Nintendo and is often referred to as Metroid 4. Rather than the somewhat cryptic nature of previous Metroid titles, Metroid Fusion assists you in where you have to go next through a computer A.I. named Adam.

In Metroid Fusion, Samus is badly injured and infected by a virus known as X. Metroid DNA is splice with her to save her which causes her suit to become one with her body. Before leaving her body, the X virus took some of her DNA and created an exact replica of Samus which Samus encounters and must fight in the game.

4 Advance Wars (Metascore: 92)

Similar to the Fire Emblem series, the Advance Wars series started long before it was released on the Game Boy Advance. The first game in the series, Famicom Wars, was released for the Famicom, the Japanese Nintendo Entertainment System, in 1988.

Advance Wars is an overhead tactical turn-based strategy game where you command an army to invade enemy forces while slowly building up your team and positioning yourself in favorable positions throughout the map. Advance Wars received many sequels and a series of spin-off games called Battalion Wars.

3 Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Metascore: 94)

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 is a port of Super Mario Bros. 3 with updated visuals, new levels, and Nintendo e-Reader support which let you import even more into the game with 32 extra levels to play through.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 offers you one of the best side-scrolling Super Mario Bros. games ever. There is plenty of challenge and power-ups to play with as you make your way through the Mushroom Kingdom to once again save Princess Peach from the evil King Koopa Bowser.

2 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (Metascore: 95)

Back in the early 2000s, the Tony Hawk games were absolutely massive and ported onto any system that could handle it, including the Game Boy Advance. Instead of attempting to directly port the Dreamcast, Playstation and Nintendo 64 games, they decided to make an entirely new isometric game.

Though not as deep as the console ports, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 offers a unique experience with some of the same goals found in the original game like collecting the letters of SKATE and getting a high score within a set amount of time.

1 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Metascore: 95)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Game Boy Advance includes the classic Super Nintendo game and a side multiplayer game called Four Swords which requires 2 copies of the game, 2 Game Boy Advances, and a Game Boy Advance Link Cable.

Another addition is that a copy of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Game Boy Advance allows you to play multiplayer in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure for the Game Cube. If you have 4 copies of the game, 4 Game Boy Advances, 4 Game Boy Advances Link Cables, and a Game Cube, you can play The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure with 4 players.