Game Boy (Color) emulators: Difference between revisions

!Name

!Platform(s)

!Latest version

![[Licensing|License]]

!Compatibility

!libretro core

![[#Mappers|Mappers support level]]

|-

! colspan="9" |PC

|-

|[[BGB]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[[SameBoy]]

| ||{{Ya}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[https://chillygb.arci.me/ ChillyGB]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[Gambatte]]<br><small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/gambatte/ Gambatte_libretro]</small>

| ||{{Ya}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|GameRoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[https://www.explusalpha.com/contents/gbc-emu GBC.emu]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[https://gbcc.dev GBCC]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[GBE+]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[Gearboy]]

| ||{{Ya}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[https://hhug.me/?tags=hhugboy hhugboy]

| ||{{Na}}  

|[http://hhug.me/dump/ Unlicensed] ||{{~}}

|-

|Ironboy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|KevBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[mGBA]]

| ||{{Ya}}  

|[https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/blob/master/README.md#game-boy-mappers Unlicensed] ||{{~}}

|-

|PyBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[SkyEmu]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]]

| ||{{Ya}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[Azayaka]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|[https://mattcurrie.com/bdm/ BDM]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|[[dmgemu]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|Gamebert

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|GiiBiiAdvance

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|hdmg

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|[[KiGB]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|KocoBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|MetroBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|NoobBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|[[Pantheon]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|ProjectDMG

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|[[rew.]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|Simple-Boy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|stargb

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|[[TGB Dual]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|TinyBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|UGE

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|[https://fms.komkon.org/VGB VGB]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|DoubleCherryGB

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Dunno}}

|-

|jgb

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Dunno}}

|-

|[https://docs.libretro.com/library/gambatte Gambatte_libretro]

| ||{{Ya}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[[Game Play Color]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[https://www.explusalpha.com/contents/gbc-emu GBC.emu]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[[SameBoy]]<br><small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/sameboy SameBoy_libretro]</small>

| ||{{Ya}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|GameRoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|GBA4iOS

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[https://gbcc.dev GBCC]

| ||{{Na}}  

|-

|[https://pixelrespawn.com/ Linkboy]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|MeBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[mGBA]]

| ||{{Ya}}  

|[https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/blob/master/README.md#game-boy-mappers Unlicensed] ||{{~}}

|-

|[https://my-oldboy-free-gbc-emulator.en.uptodown.com/android My OldBoy!]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[SkyEmu]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[https://eightbitwonders.gitlab.io/app 8-Bit Wonders]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||roadmap

|-

|John GBC

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|KocoBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|[[Delta]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Dunno}}

|-

|[[Folium]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Dunno}}

|-

|[[Manic EMU]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{TBD}}

|-

|[[Provenance]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Dunno}}

|-

|Pizza Boy C Pro

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{R}}

|-

! colspan="9" |Console

|-

|[https://docs.libretro.com/library/gambatte/ Gambatte_libretro]

| ||{{Ya}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[https://gbatemp.net/threads/gameyob-3ds-gb-c-emu.372523/ GameYob 3DS]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[http://gbatemp.net/threads/gameyob-a-gameboy-emulator-for-ds.343407 GameYob DS]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-  

|GBEmu

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[[mGBA]]

| ||{{Ya}}  

|[https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/blob/master/README.md#game-boy-mappers Unlicensed] ||{{Ya}}

|-

|[[Nintendo Switch Online|Nintendo Classics]] <small>(Hiyoko)</small>

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|PlutoBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|RIN

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|Super Game Boy

| ||{{Na}}  

|-

|[[VisualBoy_Advance#VBA-M|VBA GX]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[[Virtual Console]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|Game Boy Player Boot Disc

| ||{{Na}}  

|-

|RealBoy Vita

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|ShuBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|aGBe

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Na}}

|-

|Hu-Boy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{X}}

|-

! colspan="9" |Firmware

|-

|PlutoBoy

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|}

===[[Multi-system emulators]]===

!Emulator(s)

!Platform(s)

!Latest version

![[Licensing|License]]

!Compatibility

!libretro core

![[#Mappers|Mappers support level]]

|-

! colspan="9" |PC

|-

|[[Emulicious]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Ya}}

|-

|[[ares]]

|{{Emulator compatibility|link=https://ares-emu.net/compatibility|2149|3003}}||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[MAME]]

| ||{{Ya}}

|[http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_mess.php?machine_name=gameboy Unlicensed] ||{{~}}

|-

|[[Mesen|MesenCE]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{~}}

|-

|[[higan]] (火眼)<br>byuu (謬/view)

| ||{{Ya}}

|-

|[[jgenesis]]

| ||{{Na}}  

| ?||{{Dunno}}

|}

==Comparison==

;GameRoy:A Game Boy emulator, dissasembler and debugger written in Rust. It has high [[Emulation_accuracy|accuracy]] and accurate clock frequency. It is more suited for debugging uses for now.

;[[TGB Dual]]:An ancient emulator that supports link cable emulation. It also supports [[netplay]], but it requires a VPN. The libretro port supports local multiplayer using player 2's controls.

;[https://github.com/AntonioND/giibiiadvance GiiBiiAdvance]:Pioneered full GB Camera emulation, including webcam support. Aside from that, it's an unfinished emulator with the basics set up, but its promising future currently on hiatus. It has very [[Emulation_accuracy|accurate]] timing.

;[https://github.com/aappleby/MetroBoy MetroBoy]:Extremely [[Emulation_accuracy|accurate]] Game Boy simulator which being written in a subset of C++ that's designed to to be mechanically translated into Verilog HDL.

===[[Multi-system emulators]]===

;[[BizHawk]]:Uses a modified Gambatte core. It provides speedrunning tools.

;[[MAME]]:Has solid Game Boy emulation through its <code>gameboy</code> driver despite the sound being imperfect, as well as slightly worse Game Boy Color compatibility through its <code>gbcolor</code> driver (where both the graphics and sound are imperfect). Despite its setbacks, it aims to feature compatibility with obscure mappers that other emulators usually ignore, like Wisdom Tree games or MMM01 multicarts. Accuracy was improved upon with contributions by Judge_.

|[[Input_lag|Input lag-mitigating technique]]

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|[https://docs.retroachievements.org/general/tutorials/turbo-button.html Turbo button]

|Built-in [[Cheats_and_patches|cheat manager]]

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|{{Enhancements/Quality of life/Built-in custom resolution}}

|Built-in Game Boy sound player

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|Built-in [[Mods,_hacks_and_fan-translations#Built-in mod editor and manager for emulators|mod editor and manager]]

|[[Netplay#Game_Boy|Netplay]]<br><small>Should not be confused with Game Boy (Color) online features or link cable emulation. See [[#Hardware features and peripherals|hardware features and peripherals]].</small>

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|[[RetroAchievements]]

|{{Dunno}}

|-

|Rich Presence (RPC)<br><small>Allows the emulator to share real-time game session details (e.g., current game title, level, boss, playtime, or custom status) with external applications. This enables features such as displaying what you're playing on your profile, inviting friends to spectate, or triggering join-in-progress functionality where supported.</small>

| colspan="3" |You can use [https://docs.libretro.com/guides/ai-service/ RetroArch's AI Service] or the standalone offline [https://github.com/bquenin/interpreter bquenin's Interpreter].

|}

==Hardware features and peripherals==

|{{Na}}

|{{Dunno}}

|{{Ya}}

|-

|{{Ya}}

|{{Na}}

|{{Ya}}

|-

|-

| colspan="2" |[[#Accessories|WorkBoy]]||{{Dunno}}

|{{Ya}}

|-

| colspan="4" | <small>There is no emulator currently includes built-in cartridge tilting simulation. As a workaround, you can try the external [https://github.com/redscientistlabs/RTCV Real-Time Corruptor (RTCV)] tool. It is a real-time memory/data corruption tool for inducing glitches during emulation, which might mimic some effects of cartridge tilting (e.g., visual/audio artifacts or crashes). However, it is not a true "cartridge tilting" simulator, as it works on live memory rather than simulating cartridge read errors.</small>

|}

===Infrared===

Each model is compatible with the single-prong version '''YC-485''' foot controller. The IZEK was unique in that it came bundled with a specially coloured Game Boy and a cartridge for interfacing with the machine.<ref name="IZEK_1">{{YouTubeVideoTime|AlhJKMXU7tg|325|Game Boy Part 2 - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Jake of Vsauce3}}</ref><ref name="IZEK_2">{{YouTubeVideo|K-Epj2_eJdA|IZEK Digital Sewing Machine - Game Boy Color Controller (Game Boy Color) Review}}</ref> Their support has been added in a GBE+ release.<ref>[https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art22.html Edge of Emulation: Game Boy Sewing Machines]</ref>

* '''Suzuki Pocket Dash Diagnostic System''' and '''Aprilia DITECH Interface''': A series of diagnostic cartridges used for Suzuki and Aprilia scooters respectively, developed by Orbital Technologies in the early 2000s. Both were used to interface with a supported motorcycle's engine control unit (ECU) in a similar manner to OBD tools for automobiles. The diagnostic cartridges were only made available for use by motorcycle dealerships and were not licensed by Nintendo. No dump of either cartridge exists as of {{CURRENTYEAR}}.

==References==

==External links==