Editing Game Boy Advance emulators

|successor=[[Pokémon mini emulators|Pokémon mini]], [[Nintendo DS emulators|DS]] / [[Nintendo DSi emulators|DSi]]

{{for|other emulators that run on GBA hardware|Emulators on GBA}}  

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|Pizza Boy GBA

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|[[Nintendo Switch Online]]<br/><small>(Sloop)</small>

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===Comparisons===

;[[NanoBoyAdvance]]:Highly [[Emulation_accuracy|accurate]]<ref>[https://github.com/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance/blob/master/docs/ACCURACY.md mGBA suite comparison]</ref> Game Boy Advance emulator. It aims for [[Emulation Accuracy|cycle-accurate]] emulation when possible (CPU, DMA, timers, PPU and Game Pak prefetch), while also offering enhancements such as improved audio quality. Very high compatibility, including games that require emulation of [https://github.com/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance/blob/master/docs/ACCURACY.md#Game-compatibility peculiar hardware edge-cases].

;[[SkyEmu]]:Low level Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance emulator. Its primary focus is to provide a [https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/ybejxv/skyemu_v2_release/itutt2h/ good user experience] through a good mixture of tradeoffs of [[Emulation_accuracy|accuracy]]<ref>[https://github.com/skylersaleh/SkyEmu#accuracycompatibility SkyEmu: Accuracy and Compatibility], [https://github.com/skylersaleh/SkyEmu/blob/dev/docs/Accuracy.md SkyEmu: Accuracy on Difficult to Emulate Games].</ref>, performance, features and usability. Capable of full instruction pipeline, prefetch emulation and per pixel PPU Implementation capable of both scan line and mid scan line effects.

;[[MAME]]:Has a <code>gba</code> driver markup as working but both graphics and sound are [http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=gba "imperfect"] as of version 0.261.

;[[gpSP]]:Originally made for the PSP, its last official version was 0.91. There are, however, two forks of interest: [http://dl.qj.net/psp/emulators/gpsp-mod-20090720.html gpSPmod], and [http://filetrip.net/psp-downloads/homebrew/download-gpsp-j-12-06-16-f29570.htmlgpSP-J gpSP-J]. gpSP-J has superior compatibility, while gpSPmod has more options for customization (full screen, cheats, etc). Both are superior to Kai. TempGBA is another good fork. For other platforms there's a libretro port of gpSP with fast x86 and ARM dynarecs. While it's behind the best GBA emulators in terms of accuracy, its great performance makes it a viable option for old/underpowered machines or for using extreme fast-forward in games.

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| colspan=13 | For emulation of 2D systems, the resolution can only be upscaled, making the pixels more apparent.

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|{{N}}[https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/issues/2833 *]

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|{{Y}}[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/8nw23h/gba_emulator_w_overclock_support/e02nnn6/ *]

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| rowspan=4 | Post-Processing

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| [[Wikipedia:Comparison_gallery_of_image_scaling_algorithms|Post-rendering scaling]]<br/><small>(Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and FSR 1)</small>

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|{{Y}}<ref group=N3 name=ExStandalone>Exclusive to standalone version.</ref>

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|{{Y}}[https://docs.mamedev.org/plugins/inputmacro.html *]

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| rowspan=5 | Quality of life

| colspan=13 | Exclusive to [https://docs.libretro.com/guides/crtswitchres/ libretro cores] and [[GroovyMAME]] at the moment.

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| colspan=2 | [[Netplay|Netplay]]<br/><small>You can use either Yuzu/Ryujinx for playing GBA games online via netplay.<br/>This enhancement shouldn't be confused with GBA connectivity features emulation.</small>

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|{{Y}}[https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/game-boy-advance-nintendo-switch-online-switch/ *]

| colspan=2 | [https://github.com/ipatix/gba-hq-mixer High Quality Audio Mixer]<br/><small>HQ audio mixer for games which use Nintendo's MusicPlayer2000 sound engine</small>

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| colspan=2 | [https://retroachievements.org/gameList.php?c=5 RetroAchievements]

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|{{N}}[https://github.com/skylersaleh/SkyEmu/issues/36 *]

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|{{Y}}[https://retroachievements.org/download.php#bizhawk *]

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| colspan=2 | [[Wikipedia:Category:Debugging|Debug Features]]

|{{Y}}[https://mgba.io/2021/03/28/mgba-0.9.0/#more-debugging-improvements *]

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|{{Y}}[https://www.davidgf.net/2024/01/13/gba-wireless-adapter/ *]

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| {{y}}[https://github.com/shonumi/gbe-plus#read-the-manual *]

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|Motion Control

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| {{y}}<ref group=N2 name=RetroArch>Motion Control support present on RetroArch VBA-M core.</ref>

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Game Boy Advance is backwards compatible with GB/GBC, resulting some of the [https://cheapergamer.co.uk/gba-enhanced-gbc-games/ GB/GBC games enhanced if you play on GBA]. Having said that this shouldn't be confused with [[Game_Boy/Game_Boy_Color_emulators|Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulation]] or [[Super_Nintendo_emulators#Hardware_Features_and_Accessories|Super Game Boy 1/2]]. Some of the multi core emulators supports both GB/GBC and GBA emulation however they do not have support for "backwards compatibility/GBA mode" emulation.

:''[[Wikipedia:Game_Boy_Advance_Video|Wikipedia - Game Boy Advance Video]]''

The [[Wikipedia:Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter|wireless adapter]] has the ability to connect five players<ref>https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/agbwireless_trilingual.pdf</ref> to each other and includes its own software to download a subset of another player's game that runs when no cartridge is inserted. ''Pokémon Fire Red'' and ''Leaf Green'' came bundled with this accessory but it can also work with ''Pokémon Emerald'' and the ''Classic NES Series''.

[[GBE+]](in v1.6) and VBA-M partially implemented the support of this add-on, though it's still a work-in-progress, and can only access menus. Support of this add-on is currently on [[mGBA]]'s roadmap.

[https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Game_Boy_Advance_to_Nintendo_GameCube_Link_Cable#List_of_Supported_Games The Game Boy Advance can also connect to the GameCube].<ref>https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/agbgcncable.pdf</ref> e-Reader functionality with GC games has now been emulated thanks to mGBA. [[Dolphin]] supports connectivity through rudimentary joybus emulation made in parallel with VBA-M. Because this emulator has fallen behind, the feature was recently added to [[mGBA]], a more accurate emulator. They showcased early higan support in a video, but nothing has been released as of yet.

* If you are using VBA-M, uncheck Pause When Inactive in Options > Emulator. Then, under Options > Link > Joybus Options, Make sure to "Enable Joybus Connection" is on and set "IP/Hostname" to use default settings, that is <code>127.0.0.1</code> or <code>localhost</code>.

* In either emulator, Dolphin should recognize the Joybus Link by then and the GC game will detect that a GBA was connected.

* '''Glucoboy:''' An obscure medical peripheral designed to monitor a child's blood glucose levels and reward them for keeping tabs on their condition. [https://assemblergames.com/threads/glucoboy-for-gameboy-is-this-the-rarest-game-accessory-for-gameboy-advance.41853/page-2 Bayer Healthcare destroyed all unsold stock] making it hard to find. It's emulated in GBE+ as of Nov 25 2023, but the last release was in April 2023 so you'll have to compile the source code yourself.

The screen on the original Game Boy Advance is not backlit and can be hard to see in some conditions. To compensate, game developers often used oversaturated colors by default so that the result would look normal on hardware. On standard computer screens, saturation is not an issue so this can look jarring and undesirable for gameplay. Some games made after 2003 may have also taken the Game Boy Advance SP <abbr title="AGS-001">model</abbr> into account since its screen was actually <abbr title="A newer model, AGS-101, was released in 2005 that was actually backlit">frontlit</abbr>. For everything else though, emudevs have given some solutions:

For Game Boy Advance shader presets see the "Shader Presets" page;

The [[mGBA]] emulator added an Enhancements menu where you can change the resolution of those graphical effects, for a smoother effect. The graphical render engine will need to be OpenGL for those to take effect. It won't work on games where those effects are done in software instead of the hardware scaling features (like the 3D environment in Asterix & Obelix XXL)