VisualBoyAdvance-M

VisualBoyAdvance-M

Developer(s)	ZachBacon, rkitover, VBA-M Team
Latest version	2.2.3 [+]
Active	Yes
Platform(s)	Windows macOS Linux Android (RetroArch) iOS (RetroArch)
Emulates	Game Boy Advance Game Boy/Color
Website	VisualBoyAdvance-M.org
Support ($)	GitHub Sponsor
Programmed in	C++, C
License	GPLv2
Source code	GitHub
Issue tracker	GitHub

VisualBoyAdvance-M is an open-source Game Boy/Color and Game Boy Advance emulator.

Downloads

	VisualBoyAdvance-M Official releases
	VisualBoyAdvance-M Dev Builds Compiled by emucr
	VisualBoyAdvance GX
	Snapcraft package
	VBA Link e-Reader
	VisualBoyAdvance
	VisualBoyAdvance IRIX Port
	VisualBoyAdvance 360

Review

VBA in its VBA-M incarnation is a fine emulator that runs most of the library for the GB, GBC, and GBA very well. However, its history as an extremely old project with multiple forks has made it a bloated and inefficient emulator which now receives only minor updates. mGBA has replaced it for most uses today, as it is both faster and more accurate. Even Dolphin's GBA connectivity, which was formerly tied to VBA-M, now uses an internal mGBA instance.

Please note that the original VBA and most of its forks (excluding VBA-M) have an ACE vulnerability related to cheat loading, and thus users should either avoid loading external cheats or avoid using the emulator entirely.

Versions

VBA

Developed by Forgotten & the VBA Team. The original VBA emulator is ancient and ceased development in 2004. VBA-M begun as a multiplayer branch of it to become ever since a continuation of VBA, as it is regularly updated.

VisualBoyAdvance 1.8.0 is the latest version of the original emulator. While still very useful and functional, and including emulation for tilt controls in Kirby Tilt'n Tumble (GBC), it doesn't emulate some features of special cartridges with solar or gyroscopic controls (those need ROM patches to function for that version), and doesn't include Link cable emulation (VBA-M originally was a multiplayer branch) or e-Reader emulation (earlier mods for 1.7 and 1.6 versions tried to, but only covered standalone e-Card emulation, not linked e-Card/GBA game or linked e-Card/GC game).

Be sure you have "vba-over.ini" in the same folder as VBA to avoid save type issues. Current VBA-M builds come with this by default. libretro versions of VBA have this baked into the binary, but also output a different save format that needs to be converted with a tool to be used with standalone VBA.

VBA Link e-Reader

Project Pokémon made a version of VBA 1.73 that adds both e-Reader and Link Cable support. While they were once available separately, this version permits the use of battle e-cards.

Using the e-Reader functionality requires a ROM of the Nintendo e-Reader. Load the ROM, then navigate to "Scan Dot Code." The emulator will ask for a dump of the e-Reader card barcode. Choose one that you had previously downloaded from your computer. (You can download the raw dumps as No-Intro's e-Reader set)

VBA-M

The newer open-source active GBA emulator. Includes Link cable emulation between two GBA gamepacks, and as of v0956, Joylink GCN/GBA emulation, which saw a huge compatibility overhaul in early 2015 (fixing notably Navi Trackers and Wind Waker). e-Reader emulation is being slowly added too (none of the emulators so far emulate all three types of e-Reader connectivity - e-Reader only, e-Reader/GBA cartridge, and e-Reader/GameCube). Still doesn't emulate gyroscopic sensor. VBA-M is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, BeOS, GameCube,Wii and Wii U(Via vWii).

VBA-Next

VBA-Next is an optimized version of an older revision of VBA-M with speedhacks and is available as a libretro core for RetroArch, making it recommended for Wii (over VBA-GX, from a speed perspective) and Android. There is also a libretro version of the latest VBA-M, which is slower but has fewer compatibility issues and regressions.

VBA-GX

Wii-exclusive VBA-M optimized port (though less optimized than the VBA-Next core of RetroArch). Supports various Wii controllers and also offers special Wii controls.

It is the only version of the emulator to support solar sensor emulation (Boktai series) and gyroscopic sensors (WarioWare Twisted, Yoshi's Universal Gravitation) as well as the tilt sensors for Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, but requires clean ROMs of these as their emulation ROM patches break their proper functionality here. They are controlled using the Wiimote. As for the solar sensor games, pointing the Wiimote skyward charges the Gun deSol while pointing it to the ground blocks sunlight. Has other optional motion-based Wiimote controls for other notable games.

Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators(edit)

• Windows: ares • BGB • BizHawk • Gambatte • GBE+ • Gearboy • Mesen • mGBA • SameBoy • VBA-M
• Linux: ares • BizHawk • Gambatte • GBE+ • Gearboy • Mesen • mGBA • SameBoy • VBA-M
• macOS: ares • Gambatte • GBE+ • Gearboy • Mesen • mGBA • SameBoy • VBA-M
• BSD: ares • Gearboy • mGBA • SameBoy • VBA-M
• Android: Gambatte_libretro • Game Play Color • mGBA • SameBoy • SkyEmu
• iOS: Gambatte_libretro • mGBA • SameBoy • SkyEmu
• Web browsers: Gambatte • SkyEmu
• GameCube: Gambatte_libretro • VBA-GX
• DS:
• Wii: Gambatte_libretro • mGBA • VBA-GX
• 3DS: Gambatte_libretro • mGBA • Virtual Console
• Wii U: Gambatte_libretro • mGBA • VBA-GX
• Switch: Gambatte_libretro • Hiyoko • mGBA
• Switch 2: Hiyoko
• PSP: Gambatte_libretro
• PS3: Gambatte_libretro
• PS Vita: Gambatte_libretro • mGBA

Game Boy Advance emulators(edit)

• Windows: ares • BizHawk • GBE+ • Mesen • mGBA • VBA-M • NanoBoyAdvance • No$GBA • SkyEmu
• Linux: ares • BizHawk • GBE+ • Mesen • mGBA • VBA-M • NanoBoyAdvance • No$GBA • SkyEmu
• macOS: ares • GBE+ • Mesen • mGBA • VBA-M • NanoBoyAdvance • SkyEmu
• BSD: ares • mGBA
• Android: gpSP • mGBA • VBA-M/VBA-Next
• iOS: gpSP • mGBA • VBA-M/VBA-Next
• MS-DOS: No$GBA
• Symbian: gpSP
• Web browsers: mGBA • SkyEmu
• Didj: gpSP
• Pandora: gpSP • mGBA
• Dreamcast: gpSP
• GameCube: gpSP • VBA-Next • VBA-GX
• DS: GBARunner3
• Wii: VBA-GX • mGBA
• 3DS: gpSP • mGBA • Virtual Console
• Wii U: mGBA • Virtual Console • VBA-GX
• Switch: mGBA • VBA-Next • Sloop
• Switch 2: Sloop
• PS2: gpSP
• PSP: gpSP
• PS3: VBA-Next
• PS Vita: gpSP • mGBA • VBA-Next
• PS4: VBA-Next
• Xbox: VBA-Next
• Xbox 360: VBA-Next