Game Boy (Color) emulators
| |
| The original gray Game Boy | |
| Developer | Nintendo R&D1 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Nintendo |
| Type | Handheld video game console |
| Generation | Fourth |
| Release date | JP: April 21, 1989 NA: July 31, 1989 EU: September 28, 1990 |
| Discontinued | WW: March 31, 2003 |
| Predecessor | Game & Watch Computer Mah-jong Yakuman |
| Successor | Game Boy Color |
| Emulated | ✓ |
| |
| Game Boy Color with Atomic Purple case | |
| Developer | Nintendo Research & Engineering |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Nintendo |
| Type | Handheld video game console |
| Generation | Fifth |
| Release date | JP: October 21, 1998 NA: November 18, 1998 EU: November 23, 1998 AU: November 27, 1998 |
| Discontinued | March 31, 2003 |
| Predecessor | Game Boy |
| Successor | Game Boy Advance |
| Emulated | ✓ |
- For emulators that run on the Game Boy (Color), see Emulators on Game Boy (Color).
The Game Boy (GB) and Game Boy Color (GBC) are 8-bit, fourth-generation handheld consoles released by Nintendo on July 31, 1989, and November 18, 1998, respectively and retailed for $89.95 ($178 in 2026). The Game Boy has a Sharp LR35902 core CPU at 4.19 MHz. It had a monochrome display that could only show four shades of grey, albeit with a olive green tinge on the original. The Game Boy Color uses the same LR35902 core as the original; while it is clocked at 8.38 MHz, it can be underclocked to 4.19 MHz for backwards-compatibility purposes. It was named such from its color screen, but it also had a larger memory size and a faster CPU. The hardware similarities allow cross-compatibility between the two platforms and they are often treated as one. They would both be succeeded by the backward-compatible Game Boy Advance.
Nintendo re-released the console as the Game Boy Pocket in 1996, with a more compact body and a better screen. A front light was added to a special edition of the Pocket in Japan called the Game Boy Light, a feature that wouldn't be seen outside of Japan until the Game Boy Advance SP.
Nintendo released a peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System called the Super Game Boy in June 1994, which was modeled like a cartridge but included its own cartridge slot for Game Boy (Color) games, as well as the hardware needed to translate the games. Many Game Boy (Color) emulators offer at least some of the special features it included, such as added borders, colorization, custom button mappings, and other features. It was possible to link, but without the external port, as well as errors in the CPU, it would not be feasible to the end user. These issues would later be corrected in the Japan-exclusive Super Game Boy 2.
Emulators
Before editing, review the getting involved and recommended pages. See system requirements page for performance demand of the emulators.
See tables for enhancements and hardware features & peripherals.
For more details such as licensing, programming language, emulation method, visit each emulator’s dedicated page.
Because of how relatively easy popular 8-bit consoles are to emulate, tons of Game Boy emulators exist. For a list of open-source projects, see this GitHub query. For a list of accuracy tests, see gbdev.io/GBEmulatorShootout.
Standalone emulators
| Name | Platform(s) | Active? | Latest version | License | Compatibility | libretro core | Mappers support level | Recommended? (overall) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC | ||||||||
| BGB |  |
✓ | 1.6.6 | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| SameBoy |     |
✓ | 1.0.3 | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ? | ✓ | |
| ChillyGB | |
✓ | 0.3.2 | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| Coffee GB | |
✓ | 2.1.5 | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| Gambatte | |
~[note 1] | libretro core | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ? | ~ | |
| GameRoy | |
✓ | 0.3.1 | Dual licensed (Permissive) (Apache 2.0 or MIT) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| GBC.emu |  |
✓ | 1.5.46.02 Pyra | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| GBCC | |
✗ | git | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| Gearboy |     |
✓ | libretro core | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ? | ~ | |
| hhugboy | |
✓ | 1.4.2 | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | Unlicensed | ~ | |
| Ironboy | |
✓ | git | ? | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| KevBoy | |
✓ | 0.3.1 | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| PyBoy | |
✓ | 2.7.1 | LGPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| SkyEmu | |
✓ | Dev Builds | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| VBA-M | |
✓ | Nightly builds 2.2.3 | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ? | ~ | |
| Azayaka | |
✗ | git | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| BDM | |
~ | Demo | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| dmgemu | |
✓ | 3.1 | Public domain equivalent | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| Gamebert | |
✓ | git | ? | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| GiiBiiAdvance | |
✗ | git | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| hdmg | |
✓ | git | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| KiGB |  |
✗ | 2.05 | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| KocoBoy | |
✗ | git | ? | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| MetroBoy | |
~ | 1.02 | ? | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| NoobBoy | |
✓ | git | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| ProjectDMG | |
✗ | 0.51 | ? | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| rew. |  |
✗ | rew12stx | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| SenBoy | |
✗ | 1.1 | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| Simple-Boy | |
✓ | git | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| stargb | |
✓ | 1.1.4 | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| TGB Dual | [note 2] |
✗ | 1.2 | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| TinyBoy | |
✓ | git | ? | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| UGE | |
✓ | 1.0.11 | Public domain equivalent | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| VGB | |
✓ | 6.0 | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| DoubleCherryGB | |
✓ | git | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ? | |
| jgb | |
✓ | git | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ? | |
| Mobile | ||||||||
| Gambatte_libretro |   |
✓ | libretro core | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ? | ✓ | |
| Game Play Color | |
✗ | 2.6.2 | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| GBC.emu | |
✓ | 1.5.85 ($) | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| SameBoy |   |
✓ | 1.0 (iOS App Store) | MIT (Permissive) | ✓ | ? | ✓ | |
| GameRoy | |
✓ | 0.2.0 | Dual licensed (Permissive) (Apache 2.0 or MIT) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| GBA4iOS | |
✗ | 2.1
git (new fork) |
GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| GBCC | |
✗ | beta41 (source) | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ~
Must be compiled from source due to binaries going offline and has been surpassed in terms of general use, but is still Recommended for its exceptional Printer and | |
| Linkboy | |
✓ | 3.11.2 (Play Store) | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| MeBoy |  |
✗ | 1.6 | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| mGBA | |
✓ | libretro core | MPL 2.0 (Copyleft) | ✓ | Unlicensed | ~ | |
| My OldBoy! | |
✓ | 2.0.0 | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| SkyEmu | |
✓ | git | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| 8-Bit Wonders | |
✓ | 0.8.6a (F-Droid)
0.8.6a (Play) 0.8.6a (Amazon) |
GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | roadmap | |
| John GBC | |
✓ | 3.93 | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| KocoBoy | |
✗ | git | ? | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| Pizza Boy C Pro | |
✓ | 6.7.3 | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ! | |
| Console | ||||||||
| Gambatte_libretro |          |
✓ | libretro core | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ? | ✓ | |
| Game Boy Interface | |
✓ | main | Proprietary | ✗ | Uses real GBA Hardware (Requires Game Boy Player hardware) | ✓
Multiple versions available. Pick the version that fits best with your specific setup. | |
| GameYob 3DS | |
✗ | 1.0.8 | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| GameYob DS |  |
✗ | git | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| GBEmu |  |
✗ | 0.1 | ? | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| mGBA | |
✓ | 0.10.5 | MPL 2.0 (Copyleft) | ✓ | Unlicensed | ✓ | |
| Nintendo Classics (Hiyoko) |  |
✓ | N/A | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| PlutoBoy |    |
✗ | git | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| RIN | |
✗ | git | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| Super Game Boy |  |
✗ | N/A | Proprietary | ✗ | Uses real Game Boy hardware | ✓
Uses real hardware on the cartridge. Super Game Boy 1 runs slightly faster than real hardware without a mod and does not have a link port. The Japanese-only Super Game Boy 2 has a link port and runs at the correct speed. Both SGBs support game borders, palettes, and SGB-enhanced games. | |
| VBA GX | |
✓ | nightly-builds | ? | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| Virtual Console | |
✗ | 8.10 | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
| Game Boy Player Boot Disc | |
✗ | Proprietary | ✗ | Uses real GBA Hardware (Requires Game Boy Player hardware) | ~
Game Boy Interface is recommended instead. Limited to a filtered, 480i output with a slight amount of input lag. | ||
| RealBoy Vita | |
✗ | 1.2 | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| ShuBoy |  |
✗ | 1.0 | ? | ✗ | ? | ~
32x required. | |
| aGBe | |
✗ | SF | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| Hu-Boy |  |
✗ | 0.30621 | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✗
SuperGrafx or CD-ROM² hardware required. | |
| Browser | ||||||||
| binjgb |  |
✓ | 0.1.11 | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| ChillyGB | |
✓ | 0.3.2 | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| Gambatte | |
~[note 1] | libretro core | GPLv2 (Copyleft) | ✓ | ? | ~ | |
| GameRoy | |
✓ | 0.3.1 | Dual licensed (Permissive) (Apache 2.0 or MIT) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| Ironboy | |
✓ | git | ? | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| KevBoy | |
✓ | 0.3.1 | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| SkyEmu | |
✓ | Dev Builds | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ~ | |
| BDM | |
~ | Demo | Proprietary | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| KocoBoy | |
✗ | git | ? | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| SenBoy | |
✗ | 1.1 | MIT (Permissive) | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |
| Firmware | ||||||||
| PlutoBoy |  |
✓ | git | GPLv3 (Copyleft) | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
Comparison
- For accuracy tests comparison of these emulators, see Emulation accuracy#Further reading.
Game Boy-only emulators
- SameBoy
- One of the most accurate Game Boy emulators currently. The UI is simple and easy to use. It includes open source bootroms, although these can be replaced with real ones. Has debugging features and also emulates the Game Boy Camera and Game Boy Printer.
- BGB
- A closed-source emulator for Windows (and Wine) with solid Game Boy and Game Boy Color accuracy, as well as near flawless link support. It has a wealth of options for color palettes. Mostly used for its advanced debugger.
- Gambatte
- Pretty accurate open-source Game Boy (Color) emulator. It has a good range of options and features, though not quite as much as some other emulators. The main fork is not in active development, but the libretro core is still active.
- hhugboy
- A Windows-only Game Boy (Color) emulator based on GEST with a focus on bootleg and unlicensed games. It is capable of detecting and correctly emulating the mapper on a number of games that are otherwise broken on other emulators, but some ROMs require manually selecting the mapper on the Unlicensed Compatibility Mode menu. Besides the usual raw dumps, it also supports the footered GBX ROM format, which correctly informs the emulator which mapper to run regardless of what the internal headers say.
- GameRoy
- A Game Boy emulator, dissasembler and debugger written in Rust. It has high 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.
- KiGB
- An old and obsolete emulator which boasted its accuracy but was proven to be full of game-specific hacks. It has a wide selection of features, but other emulators have caught up and are already doing much better.
- 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 accurate timing.
- MetroBoy
- Extremely accurate Game Boy simulator which being written in a subset of C++ that's designed to to be mechanically translated into Verilog HDL.
- Ironboy
- A very recent and promising emulator written in Rust for WebAssembly which is focus only on the original Game Boy (DMG) to achieve the highest degree of accuracy. Unfortunately, it only supports monochrome Game Boy games.
- binjgb
- A GB + GBC emulator for both desktop and WebAssembly, developed by Ben "binji" Smith since 2016. Most famously used by McDonald's in 2023 to publish Grimace's Birthday as a browser game.
- Nintendo Switch Online (Hiyoko)
- GB support was added to Nintendo Switch Online in February 2023, alongside GBA games exclusive to the Expansion Pack tier;
- Users are limited to the selection of games Nintendo chooses to make available on the service;
- Supports online and Local Play (up to 2 players, Local Play must be with individual Switch systems);
- Supports tilt controls through gyroscope or normal controllers (e.g.: Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble);
- Supports infrared emulation (e.g.: Pokémon Trading Card Game);
- Palette styles can be applied (original GB, Pocket, and GBC);
- No Super Game Boy features supported (it always runs games in GBC mode);
- Allows exchange of regional variants in the International version of the app (USA and/or European versions);
- Different games between regions (Japan and International)
List of recommended GB/GBC emulators for Android:
- 10 best Game Boy Advanced, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy emulators for Android (SEPTEMBER 2, 2018. Includes some emulators not found in above charts. Reviews may be subjective.)
GB/C emulation on GBA emulators
This shouldn't be confused with actual backwards compatibility on GBA emulation.
- mGBA
- Primarily emulates the Game Boy Advance but it also includes GB/C support much like the original system. It's a solid implementation, with most of the library working perfectly.
- GBE+
- An emulator that has a large effort in preserving the functions of a multitude of obscure accessories that other emulators don't focus on. It can also load custom tiles in games, including colorized tiles for original Game Boy titles.
- VisualBoy Advance-M (VBA-M)
- Used to be the go-to for Game Boy Advance emulation and even included solid GB/C emulation. It's now behind mGBA on both fronts.
- higan/ares
- Because it started out as a SNES emulator (its original name was bsnes), it was the first one that properly emulated all of the Super Game Boy's features, such as SPC sound chip utilization, which requires the SNES and Game Boy to be emulated simultaneously so it's demanding.
- BizHawk
- Uses a modified Gambatte core. It provides speedrunning tools.
- MAME
- Has solid Game Boy emulation through its
gameboydriver despite the sound being imperfect, as well as slightly worse Game Boy Color compatibility through itsgbcolordriver (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_. - Mesen
- Game Boy (DMG) and Game Boy Color (CGB) games can also be played on Mesen 2, but only Game Boy Color can play CGB games. For DMG games, you can choose either Game Boy or Game Boy Color, or run the game in Super Game Boy mode by loading the Super Game Boy BIOS (1 or 2) into the SNES core.
Mappers
Much like the NES, the Game Boy (and by extension, the Game Boy Color) used Memory Bank Controllers (MBC) (called MMCs on the NES) and also known informally as mappers, to go beyond the restrictive initial hardware specifications. Nevertheless, Nintendo was much more careful to standardize their specifications to just a small number of possible mappers. Moreover, Game Boy ROMs now included an official internal header mandated by Nintendo that included the correct MMC type. This meant that for the officially licensed games, these mappers proved to be rarely a problem... with some notable unimplemented exceptions: Net de Get's MBC6 that offered downloadable content off the internet, and the MMM01 footer used for some official multi-cart games, among others.
However, it doesn't get better when it comes to unlicensed games, since they didn't necessarily respect Nintendo's specifications about how a given mapper type should handle its memory and behave in general, and internal headers were often filled with erroneous data to hinder dumping and emulation efforts. Some emulators like MESS/MAME and hhugboy try to emulate that behavior with various degrees of success (see the compatibility list, noting that it has not been updated in years; for more recent information, consult MAME’s XML data or this website). The hhugboy project also proposed a similar solution to iNES for this mapper problem, as the gbx ROM format that appends a footer with extra information needed for some unlicensed games. However, this format, much less unlicensed hardware quirks, isn't widely adopted aside from tentative mGBA support.
Enhancements
| Name | BGB | Emulicious | SameBoy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controls | Input lag-mitigating technique | ? | ? | ~[note 3] |
| Turbo button | ? | ? | ? | |
| Graphics | Remove sprite limit The Game Boy can only display 10 sprites per row (from 40 sprites in total). – this limitation is indirectly responsible for some of the flickering seen in games at times and different strategies must be used to achieve certain game design elements. When this option is enabled, the limit is disabled, allowing more sprites to be drawn on the same line. |
✓ | ? | ? |
| Resizable internal resolution | For emulation of 2D systems, the resolution can only be upscaled, making the pixels more apparent. | |||
| Sprite replacement | Exclusive to GBE+ emulator at the moment. | |||
| Widescreen hack Possible with technique called WideGB which uses a similar technique as WideNES. |
Exclusive to SameBoy WideGB fork at the moment. | |||
| Performance | Overclock | ? | ? | ? |
| Post-processing | AI-powered filter (Freestyle) |
? | ? | ? |
| Filters | ? | ? | ✓ | |
| Inverse tone mapping | ? | ? | ? | |
| Shader chain | ? | ? | ? | |
| Quality of life | Automatic updater | ? | ? | ? |
| Big Picture Mode | ? | ? | ? | |
| Built-in cheat manager | ? | ? | ~[note 4] | |
| Built-in custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes For using this on Windows, you need CRT Emudriver. Another option is using EDID editor tool such as "Custom Resolution Utility". |
Exclusive to libretro cores and GroovyMAME at the moment.
Also there is a project for achieving software emulators like libretro cores and GroovyMAME send the raw RGB data over a network to a core running on MiSTer, it basically turns the MiSTer into a GPU for the emulator allowing for easy setup and use with CRT TVs/Arcade monitors. | |||
| Built-in Game Boy sound player | ? | ? | ~[note 4] | |
| Built-in mod editor and manager | ? | ? | ? | |
| Built-in patch manager | ? | ? | ? | |
| Command-line options | ? | ? | ? | |
| Pause/Resume emulation | ? | ? | ✓ | |
| Per-game profiles | ? | ? | ? | |
| Portable and stealth Useful enhancement feature for non-personal computer use or plug-and-play scenarios. However, the software may still require the necessary prerequisites and dependencies for your operating system if it is not statically linked. |
? | ? | ? | |
| Streamable compression format | ? | ? | ✓ | |
| TAS features | Fast forward/Turbo speed | ✓ | ? | ✓ |
| Frame step (forwards and backwards) |
? | ? | ? | |
| Macros/Scripts/Lua | ? | ? | ? | |
| Movie recording/playback | ? | ? | ? | |
| Rewind | ✓ | ? | ✓ | |
| Save states | ✓ | ? | ✓ | |
| Misc. | Audio filters and presets Simulation of characteristic playback limitations and coloration of vintage consumer audio hardware, such as CRT television speakers, arcade cabinets, handheld consoles, early PC sound outputs, and low-fidelity integrated speakers. These filters are not intended to be perfectly accurate recreations, but rather to evoke the tonal qualities, distortion, bandwidth limits, resonance, and compression associated with 8-bit and 16-bit era devices. Examples include mono or narrow stereo output, reduced frequency response, speaker cone distortion, mild saturation, aliasing, and preset lo-fi profiles inspired by classic TVs, portable game systems, radios, and retro multimedia hardware. |
Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment. | ||
| Debug features | ✓ | ? | ✓ | |
| EmuVR support | Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment. | |||
| Netplay Should not be confused with Game Boy (Color) online features or link cable emulation. See hardware features and peripherals. |
? | ? | ~[note 3] | |
| RetroAchievements | ? | ? | ~[note 3] | |
| Rich Presence (RPC) 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. |
? | ? | ? | |
| Screen translator Using optical character recognition (OCR) and other techniques, this feature can provide live translation of in-game text, text-to-speech for visually impaired users, and more — either on demand or automatically. |
You can use RetroArch's AI Service or the standalone offline bquenin's Interpreter. | |||
Hardware features and peripherals
| Name | BGB | Emulicious | SameBoy | GBE+ | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware features | Cartridge | Built-in IR ports[note 5] | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Built-in speakers[note 6] | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Game Boy Advance-enhanced mode | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ? | |||
| On-cartridge save batteries | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Real-time clock | ? | ? | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Rumble | ✗ | ✗ | ~ RetroArch only. |
✓ | |||
| Super Game Boy[note 7] | Additional players | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ? | ||
| Borders | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ? | |||
| Custom audio | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ? | |||
| Custom palettes | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ? | |||
| Hardware support | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ? | |||
| Tilt sensor[note 8] | ~ Motion Control does not support controller accelerometer. Supports only remapping to keyboard/gamepad. |
? | ✓ | ? | |||
| Infrared (Game Boy Color) | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ? | |||
| System BIOS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ? | |||
| Peripherals | Barcode scanner | Barcode Boy | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ✓ | |
| Barcode Taisen Bardigun | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ✓ | |||
| Connectivity | 4-Player Adapter | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ✓ | ||
| Link Cable[note 9] | ✓ | ? | ~ SameBoy's libretro core supports Link Cable, standalone does not. |
✓ | |||
| Mobile Adapter GB | ✓ | ? | ✗ | ✓ | |||
| Full Changer accelerometer | ? | ? | ? | ✓ | |||
| Game Boy Printer | ✗ | ? | ~[note 4] | ✓ | |||
| Special cartridges | Game Boy Camera | ✓ | ✗ | ~[note 4] | ✓ | ||
| Special hardware | GB Kiss Link IR modem | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ||
| GB Pocket Sonar | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ✓ | |||
| Power Antenna & Bug Sensor | ? | ? | ? | ✓ | |||
| Sewing Machines | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ✓ | |||
| Turbo File GB | ? | ? | ? | ✓ | |||
| WorkBoy | ? | ? | ~[note 4] | ✓ | |||
| Unlicensed/unreleased | 16-Player Adapter | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ||
| Alleyway Controller | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | |||
| Game Genie | ? | ? | ? | ? | |||
| Pocket Printer Color | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||
| Pro Action Replay | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ? | |||
| Sakura Taisen TV Adapter/Barcode Scanner | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||
 WORLD PORT |
✗ | ? | ✗ | ✗ | |||
| Virtual pet toy | Pocket Sakura | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
| Pokémon Pikachu 2 GS | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ? | |||
| Misc. | Cartridge hot swapping[note 10] | ? | ? | ✓ | ? | ||
| Cartridge tilting[note 11] | There is no emulator currently includes built-in cartridge tilting simulation. As a workaround, you can try the external 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. | ||||||
Infrared
The Game Boy Color had an infrared transmitter and receiver. Generation II Pokémon games made use of this feature through Mystery Gift. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe could send high scores to another cartridge. GBE+ had basic IR emulation back in July 2016 but it then only worked with Pokémon games. Now, as of April 2018, it has full IR emulation for most IR-enabled games (Hudson Soft's HuC-1's IR capabilities need to be emulated for Japanese Pokémon TCG).
Game Boy Camera
The Game Boy Camera is an official Nintendo accessory for the Game Boy and was released in 1998. Users can take pictures and modify them with stickers and frames, as well as play several included minigames. In addition to the original model, there was a US-exclusive Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time edition that included different stamps.
The first emulator to have some capability of emulating the Game Boy Camera was a modified version of an old emulator called Hash. This version, named Hashcam, can still be found on the author's website. While there were some efforts to run the Game Boy Camera ROM in BGB unofficially, the author didn't show much interest in it. However, it is fully emulated with webcam support in a lesser-known emulator called GiiBiiAdvance.
As of version 0.7.0, or any dev builds post 0.6.0, mGBA can emulate this accessory by either using the PC's webcam or sending a BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, or other image format to the game, as if it was coming from the camera itself.[2] The camera is also functional on the 3DS port. To enable the PC webcam, go to Game Boy under settings and switch the camera driver to Qt Multimedia, or by editing qt.ini and setting cameraDriver=1 under [General].
Game Boy Printer
Game Boy Printer is a thermal printer accessory released by Nintendo in 1998 used in conjunction with the Game Boy Camera and also used to prints images from compatible GB games such as Pokémon Gold and Silver, Pokémon Crystal, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, Donkey Kong Country and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.
VisualBoy Advance (including its forks), GBE+ and mGBA have Game Boy Printer support that turn the signals into a bitmap form of the image.
Game Boy Printer Color
Game Boy Printer Color alternatively known as Pocket Printer Color is an unreleased successor to the Game Boy Printer. See here. It would have connected to the Nintendo 64DD via Mario Artist: Paint Studio using the 64GB Cable and possibly an MBC4 GB Printer Cartridge.
Motion Control (Tilt Sensor)
Two Game Boy Color games featured a built-in tilt sensor: Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble and Command Master. These games cannot be played without support for this feature. VBA and KiGB have a "Motion Sensor" option to map four directional keys to emulate the cartridge tilting, but the controls aren't analog. BGB can emulate the tilting features with the use of the mouse. SameBoy allows to use the mouse, as well as a joystick, and on the Cocoa frontend, is supporting controller's motion controls. mGBA supports controller's motion controls and allows to assign stic's X an Y axes. Hiyoko, the official GBC emulator for Nintendo Switch Online, emulates motion controls for Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble by translating gyroscope input either from the console itself (when playing in portable mode) or from a detached Joy-Con or Switch Pro Controller (when playing in docked mode).
Rumble
A good number of cartridges came with a built-in rumble that required an AAA battery to power, such as Pokémon Pinball, but the feature is optional. So far, only VBA-GX emulates rumble in these games, including games that have their rumble feature dummied out (one being Tarzan).
Alleyway Controller
It's another unreleased accesory, the unknown device which is speculated to be a Vaus-like Paddle controller for Alleyway which still retains in-game code for communicating with it.
Multiplayer
- Link Cable: BGB, KiGB, some versions of VBA-M and TGB-Dual supports link cable. It can also be used for Netplay on the corresponding RetroArch core. Two-player games via the Game Link Cable list.
- 4-Player Adapter: Currently only GBE+ and DoubleCherryGB supports it.
- Faceball 2000 16-Player Link Cable: There is a 16-Player adapter as well, but it went unreleased outside of unused code in some games, but it is emulated by DoubleCherryGB emulator and allows to play Faceball 2000 in local splitscreen and via netplay.
- Multiplayer Hacks: DoubleCherryGB emulates virtual link-cable devices that allow Tetris Battle Royal and Kwirk Multiplayer up to 16 players on local splitscreen and via netplay.
Online features
Mobile Game Boy Adapter
There is a Japan-only accessory that communicates with Mobile Golf and Japanese Pokémon Crystal. It was bundled with Mobile Trainer cartridge which allowed the player to use e-mail as well as browse Nintendo's website. It saw use on some Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games, but support was limited to Japan, and the servers went offline by 2002.
It is possible to partially emulate its feature for Pokémon Crystal by using BGB's scripting capability, and GBE+ can at least reach the title screen of Mobile Trainer and made some progress in July 2018, but otherwise, no emulators (except for a recently leaked at time of writing internal emulator) properly support this accessory.
Hudsonsoft GB Kiss Link IR modem
This accessory both allowed IR communications between 2 Game Boys before the Game Boy Color existed with its IR port and with a modem, it allowed users to download exclusive content by them from Hudsonsoft's website. GBE+ supports this. Resources about this super obscure accessory include this and this.
GB Memory Cartridge
The Game Boy Memory Cartridge, also referred to as the GB Memory Cartridge is an official Nintendo flash cartridge Game Pak for the Game Boy or Game Boy Color. As with most Game Boy games, a Game Boy Advance or Game Boy Advance SP can also be used to run the cartridge and play the game(s) inside.
The cartridges were designed for the Japan-only Nintendo Power cartridge service and come with special sticker spaces for the player to make note of the games they installed onto the cartridge. The Super Famicom Memory Cassettes were released for the same service.
See Early online services#Nintendo Power (SNES .2F Game_Boy) page and niwanetwork's dedicated page for more information.
Accessories
There are a few accessories that the Game Boy and Game Boy Color had. Due to their very small and game-specific use, most emulators don't bother with them at all, save for GBE+.
- Game Boy Pocket Sonar: Japan only cartridge released by Bandai. It is a sonar-enabled device used for fishing with a fishing game included. Only GBE+ supports this feature. A similar cartridge was released for the WonderSwan (still unemulated).
- Barcode Boy: An obscure Japan-only barcode-scanning device released by Namcot (then-Namco's consumer division) in 1992. A total of 4 games were released to utilize this accessory. KiGB and GEST claim support for this device, but they only feed random data to Game Boy until the game accepts it as a valid barcode. GBE+ has proper emulation with the ability to read barcodes from binary files. DoubleCherryGB also has full support. All barcodes are hardcode. After each scan the next barcode is loaded.
- Barcode Taisen Bardigun: Another Japan-only barcode-scanning device with the dedicated game. GBE+ supports this accessory.
- Sakura Taisen TV Adapter/Barcode Scanner: Unreleased hardware which connects to the GBC link port and is used to scan barcodes shown on TV by the Dreamcast Sakura Taisen game in order to unlock extra content in the GBC Sakura Taisen game, where support is still out there hidden in game's code.
- Sewing Machines: There is link cable support the compatible sewing machines of 3 models:
- Singer IZEK-1500: Released for Singer's 150th anniversary. Has a compartment near the back to hold the Link Cable. Nearly identical to the Jaguar JN-100 in all physical aspects. Unlike the JN-2000, the IZEK 1500 lacks a connection for an embroidery arm. The power cable is also detachable.
- Jaguar JN-100: Nearly identical to the Singer IZEK-1500 in all physical aspects. Unlike the JN-2000, the JN-100 lacks a connection for an embroidery arm. The power cable is built-in.
- Jaguar JN-2000: Different body style from the JN-100 or IZEK-1500. Very similar to the Jaguar SP-3000 series or the Singer CE-200. Link Cable is not inside a compartment. It sits as part of a slot where the Game Boy is supposed to rest. Power cable is built-in. Comes with an embroidery arm, the EM-2000.
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.[3][4] Their support has been added in a GBE+ release.[5]
- 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 2026.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Libretro core is still active.
- ↑ On Linux as an SDL port (and the libretro core is based on this version).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Input lag mitigation technique and RetroAchievements exclusive to libretro cores. Also netplay enhancement exclusive to SameBoy libretro core.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 For macOS only.
- ↑ Some games like Nectaris for GB (monochrome GBs have no IR port at all, IR functionality is completely new to them) or Pokémon Trading Card Game and the Japanese edition of Robopon for GBC feature on-board IR transmitters/receivers on their cartridges instead of relying on the Modile Adapter GB or GB Kiss Link IR modem or Link Cable functionality. This feature is sometimes called GB Kiss (i.e. cartridges "kiss" each other).
- ↑ Embedded audio speakers present on cartridges employing TAMA5 and HuC1 mappers: Game de Hakken!! Tamagotchi - Osutchi to Mesutchi (aka Tamagotchi 3), Robot Poncots (Robopon outside of Japan) and Pocket Family game series.
- ↑ Most features can only work on the Super Nintendo's hardware.
- ↑ Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble and Command Master use biaxial/4-way accelerometer.
- ↑ Super Game Boy for SNES supports only on the Japan-exclusive Super Game Boy 2.
- ↑ It was sometimes possible to apply cheats (such as a player having infinite lives) and other temporary software alterations to games by hot swapping cartridges, even though the cartridges were not designed to be hot swappable.
- ↑ Cartridge tilting is an action performed on cartridge-based systems to create otherwise impossible glitches. Cartridge tilting is not a glitch, but rather the process which creates glitches.
References
External links
- Game Boy Development Wiki – Information about the Game Boy
