Genji Glove with Illumina would have been pretty pointless anyway since you could only have one Illumina in the old SNES version. Sure you could have another sword in there, but it's not like you need the most powerful sword in the game to decimate opponents.

Anywho, I always took the Esper in the SNES version and I would be even happier taking it in the GBA version. Getting the Esper was always faster than uncursing the cursed shield, and Gem Box+Gold Hairpin/Economizer+Quick+Ultima will pretty much never fail to kill everything on the battlefield.