gameboy color gameboy advance SP game gear
but out of those 3 gameboy afvance sp easily wins bacause the games were one the best line-up of games the gameing line-up is up there with the ds and ps2 gameing line-up
best gba games
pokemon FR/LG/R/S/E
mario & luigi super saga
robopon cross/ring
final fantasy series
tales of phantasia
sonic advance/battle series and more other amazing games

GBA. So many RPGs and remakes... And backwards compatibility with gb and gbc. It introduced my beloved fire emblem to me. Now I love the series to death!

Gameboy Adcance SP for me.

DS

I will respond again and again in this forum, but I do think the DS lite is a great handheld, but its not really retro.

GBA SP lights , no camera and plenty of action.... Downward compatability X3 best dang system ever made ...Past but not forgotten STILL have mine.

I guess GBA SP♥

Why would that matter?

Your topic says "the past", not "retro". So anything behind current (3DS) works.

As it was basically a handheld version of my all-time favorite console, Super NES, the clear choice is Game Boy Advance. Final Fantasy I, II, IV, V, VI, The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Kart: Super Circuit... the list goes on and on! A juggernaut of a handheld that ended the Game Boy line with a bang!

I had a GBA SP only with crappy tie-in movie games. A lot of spongebob, finding nemo, cars etc. (Don't judge me I was only 7!)

Oh how woeful were my early gaming memories!
At least I will look back fondly to today's gaming memories in 5-10 years time!

GBA SP by far.It really was an amazing console, although when I look back, I couldn't say the same about my games (Cartoon Network: Block Party, anyone?

Let me quote myself, SP.
Its awesome that mostly everyone loves this so much. So glad it was my first handheld. The memories playing all 4 Super Mario Advance games, and Pokemon Ruby.

I'd have to choose the DS Lite over the GBA SP, as the DS Lite will play all the GBA games (in single-player only) plus the awesome library of DS games, and I think GBA games never looked better than on the DS Lite. But the GBA SP was awesome for the time. My SP's built-in light is nowhere near as bright today as it used to be, but my old DS Lite has held up perfectly and it's what I use to play GBA games.

Does anybody remember Doom on GBA?

It does my heart good to see how many GBA fans there are.

Me too Mickeymac, Me too.

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yes it does the gba is the best handheld to ever be realsed with the ds comeing 2nd

GBA SP is going to take first simply because it can play EVERY Gameboy/Gameboy Pocket/Gameboy Color game IN EXISTENCE (INCLUDING new GBA games) and play them with this cool backlight! Second place will have to be Nintendo DS Lite (although I'm still not sure if I'd call the DS a handheld of the past juuuuuust yet).

Honorable mention to the 6 AA battery eater, Game Gear. Couldn't play the thing for more than about 2 hours without the red light coming back on again because it plowed through the brand new Duracell batteries again, but I still liked playing the 2 games I had for it!

The gameboy advance was the best 2D handled system I ever played, I also discovered on the Gba new game genres like the turn-based strategy games like Advance wars, Mini-games genre like Wario ware Inc, and other great Gba titles I can't remember now.

I really need a new GBA SP. Mine's getting old, and I really want the back-lit one, I have the front-lit screen. Also known as, the AGS-001 and not the newer AGS-101 models. I still have a whole list of GBA games I never got, but really am interested in. Too bad Gamestop basically stopped holding onto them, same with Gamecube games. I've had to resort to ebay and Amazon.

dont ever ever buy gba from ebay or amazon because it always deletes the game file looks for a playntrade my gamestop still sells gamecube games and gba games just not that much