It’s taken over seven years, but Nintendo has finally decided that the brave, adorable starfish known as Starfy (or Stafi, or even Stafy) is ready to explore new horizons. Nintendo recently announced that the fifth Starfy game, Densetsu no Stafy Taiketsu! Daiiru Kaizokudan, will be released in North America on June 8, 2009 as The Legendary Starfy.

Seems like Nintendo is going back to Starfy’s roots with the title – the original GBA game (which will be reviewed March 6, 2009 in Important Importables) went by the same name.

But who is this mysterious little star/starfish which has inspired a fan following in Japan and such devotion among importers? Let’s look back over the history of Starfy over the past five games. After all, we may never see Densetsu no Stafi 1 – 4. Okay, if The Legendary Starfy does well, then maybe Nintendo would release the DS game Densetsu no Stafi 4 as The Legendary Starfy 2…

It is no secret that the Game Boy Advance is dead or, at the very least, dying a slow death, barely kept alive by games based on popular children’s movies and TV shows. Rather than mourning and casting aside any hope, devoted fans of the system should instead look online for import games.

Due to the demise of the system, many online retailers who still carry import GBA games are reducing the prices of the titles. A game which normally would have cost $40 can be found for a fourth of the price.

When you add to that the fact that GBA games have no region protection and the DS is backwards compatible with those titles, it provides added incentive to see what is out there.

While many of the great GBA games were translated and released outside of Japan, there are still a few popular titles which never made it. Today we’ll look back Mother 1+2, Mother 3, bit Generations: Sound Voyager and Densetsu no Stafi 2. All four of these games would make a fine addition to your game library.