GBA trumpets. That's it, that's the legacy. But seriously, Hoenn's soundtrack pushed the hardware into territory that sounded like a full band crammed into a cartridge. "Littleroot Town" opens with this breezy innocence that immediately tells you the tropics replaced Johto's countryside.
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The Team Magma/Aqua battle themes go surprisingly hard for a kids' game, all urgency and distorted brass samples. "Petalburg Woods" does creepy-ambient on hardware that shouldn't be able to pull it off. Route 104 is sunshine converted directly into sound.
Diving underwater and hearing the music muffle was a moment. The GBA's sample-based audio gave everything this crunchy, warm quality that aged better than anyone expected. Come for the trumpets, stay for everything else.