And so, 12 years after the arrival of the original Game Boy, they released the Game Boy Advance. Finally, portable systems were no longer confined to their historic nature as technically subpar and unable to recreate console experiences, all the while selling at a reasonable price. It also still fit in your pocket, had longer-lasting battery power, two new shoulder buttons, and a much wider, clearer screen (as compared to those on the original, Pocket, and Color). Nintendo's Japanese wizardry was also able to fit the system's relatively large games on carts half as long as the old Game Boys'. Much the same way the Game Boy Color could recreate and expand on the 8-bit experience, GBA could do so for 16- and 32-bit, allowing for countless remakes and revivals of fan-favorite games and genres from the SNES era. Plus, it remained backwards-compatible with all other Game Boy games ever made (so you wouldn't have to throw away your Pokémon Red just yet). Is there such thing as a better deal?

It didn't take long for the idea of the Game Boy Advance to take off, attracting developers and gamers alike all over the globe. The system's early games, such as Golden Sun and Mega Man Battle Network, already showed signs that developers were wanting to resuscitate the 2D gaming market while at the same time creating fresh new franchises. In the larger picture, this meant that the system was a canvas for ideas which no one dared try on Game Boys in the past. Upstart software companies could once again create full-fledged games at low costs. The portable market turned a corner with the GBA and has not yet looked back.

Alas, the original model of the Game Boy Advance wasn't without its minor faults. One that stuck out like a sore thumb right from the start was the extremely dark screen (built to conserve battery usage). While Worm Lights and overhead lamps helped, they could get in the way, and certainly added glare to the experience. The most successful and popular method in 2002 was to get an Afterburner backlight installed professionally, but this was expensive and could sometimes scratch-up the inside of the screen cover.

Nintendo answered in the first weeks of 2003 by announcing a new model for the GBA, the Game Boy Advance SP. Unbeleivably, the system became even smaller and more portable than the original Game Boy Advance (when folded up), and not only featured an official backlight (well technically, a frontlight), but a new AC adapter port for its rechargable battery pack as well, ending Nintendo's long love affair with AA batteries. It played the same games in just the same way, and was fully compatible with all GBA game link cables, so unlike some of Nintendo's moves in the past, this release didn't leave non-SP players out of the game.

2003 saw the Advance's largest wave of important critical and commercial successes. From the unstoppable Pokémon sequels to the charming Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga and the fantastically original Wario Ware, Inc., the system truly blossomed, generating instant classics every few months. It seemed like it could do no wrong when all the sudden it was left behind. 2004 rolled around and players were already starting to talk about the next generation of portable games. Little over 3 years had passed and the GBA was treated like an outdated relic. Remakes and rereleases became the system's most popular games until finally, we were all preoccupied with the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo's own DS handheld, which, whether it were intended to or not, all but made the Game Boy a thing of the past.

At E3 in 2005, with the new systems already exacting their fury on the North American market, Nintendo thought it wise to unveil their reupdate for the GBA case. Now smaller than ever, the Game Boy Micro set itself apart from the DS as a dedicated Game Boy machine, rather than a next-gen piece of hardware. But would the redesign be enough to push the system's lifetime even further into the era of 3D handhelds? If great releases like 2005's Wario Ware Twisted! are any indicator for the future of non-3D handheld gaming, the GBA still has a few hit points remaining.

Players of the Game Boy Advance here at NGEB have enjoyed it immensely, mainly because it's ushered in the reality we're already starting to take for granted - that portable gaming systems can indeed offer the full video game experience. Also, as we've seen so many SNES- and NES-era games being rereleased for the GBA, we're quite happy reliving our childhoods - some of this nostalgia is even projected a second time onto the GBA itself. This is a time for fun, and the second generation of Game Boys has known how to have it.