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The '''[[wikipedia:Game_Boy_Advance|Game Boy Advance]]''' (often shortened to GBA) is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001. It has a ARM7TDMI CPU at 16.78 MHz and a Zilog Z80 CPU at 8 MHz and 4 MHz. It has 288KB of RAM and 96KB of VRAM.

==Emulators==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col"|Game Link Support

! scope="col"|e-Reader

! scope="col"|[[Emulation Accuracy|Accuracy]]

! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}

|[https://mgba.io/downloads.html {{MGBAVer}}]

|-

|[[higan]]

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}

|-

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

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}

|[https://github.com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m/releases {{VBAMVer}}]

|-

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}

|-

|iDeaS

|[https://web.archive.org/web/20150311100053/http://ciacin.site90.com/ideas.php 1.0.4.0]

|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||? ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|-

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

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}

|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||? ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|-

|Meteor

|[https://github.com/blastrock/meteor 1.4.2]

|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||Low-Mid ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|-

|[[No$|No$GBA]]

|Pizza Boy GBA

|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}

|{{✓}}<ref group=N name=pizzaboygbc>Separate app called Pizza Boy GBC.</ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||Mid ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}

|-

|align=left|{{Icon|Android|Pyra}}

|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.explusalpha.GbaEmu {{.emuVer}}][https://github.com/Rakashazi/emu-ex-plus-alpha git]</br>[https://pyra-handheld.com/repo/apps/75 1.5.46.02 Pyra]

|[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]]<ref group=N name=libretro />

|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS|Linux|Pandora}}

|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||? ||{{✓}} ||? ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|-

|align=left|{{Icon|3DS|WiiU}}

|8.10

|-

|[https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Enhanced_mGBA emGBA]

|-

|[[GBARunner2]]

|[https://github.com/Gericom/GBARunner2/releases/tag/v20200812-131430_6e4ce45 2020/08/12]

|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||Low-High ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|? ||? ||? ||? ||{{✗}} ||? ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|}

<references group=N />

===Comparisons===

;[[mGBA]]:Aims for accuracy, speed, and features. For its accuracy, it's gradually becoming the best at that. It's actively developed and has features VBA-M lacks such as a Tilt Sensor, and more recently Game Boy Camera support. It currently does not have an official Android build.

;[[VisualBoy Advance|Visual Boy Advance (VBA)]]:The original GBA emulator. Discovered to have an <abbr title="Arbitrary Code Execution">ACE</abbr> vulnerability detailed below.

:;[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|Visual Boy Advance-M (VBA-M)]]:A fork with additional improvements. It is behind in terms of accuracy and performance compared to mGBA.

::;VBA-Next:A [[RetroArch]] fork from an older revision of VBA-M with added speedhacks and tweaks, making it useful for lower-end devices. A bit less accurate in some respects, but fixes a few games such as Advance Wars 2.

;[[gpSP]]: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.

'''NOTE:''' There's a ''huge'' <abbr title="Arbitrary Code Execution">ACE</abbr> vulnerability affecting VBA and most of its forks, except for VBA-M. The function for adding GameShark codes ("Import > Gameshark code file") doesn't check if the file's size is within 1024 kilobits, meaning cheat code files from dubious sources can be engineered with malware in mind. There is good news; VBA-M still doesn't do a sanity check for those files, but it just crashes instead of letting the code wreak havoc. So, depending on your use case, avoid using:

* '''Color Emulation off:''' No desaturation

* '''Color Emulation on:''' Gamma correction and adjusted color range.

====Shaders====

===Horrible Sound Quality===

There were [https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/881/ tools] made to extract the internal high-quality music (as midi files plus a sound font, to be played on foobar2000), however, interest remains limited in implementing its playback in real-time on emulators. It's worth noting it exists as a very experimental feature on [[mGBA]] (nightly versions) under Enhancements as "XQ GBA Audio", but very buggy and still limited to games using the standard sound engine, the so-called "Sappy" engine, which is still a big part of the GBA's software library.

*Nintendo DS

Purple end in GBA means player 1, while a grey end in GBA means P2, P3, or P4. Daisy-chaining up to three cables will set up the additional P3 and P4 by connecting the purple end to a purple midsection.<ref>https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/agblink.pdf</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

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|[[DeSmuME]]

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===GBA Multi Pak Link Multiplayer (1~4GBA)===

;VBA-M: This doesn't work with old VBA versions.

Notable games that work:

*[https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Final_Fantasy_Crystal_Chronicles Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles]

*[https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Billy_Hatcher_and_the_Giant_Egg Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg]: You can download games to your GBA. Amusingly, a RAM dump from VBA-M can be opened as a functional GBA ROM.

===GBA/DS Connectivity===

===e-Reader===

! GBE+

! mGBA

! VBA-M

! No$GBA

! My Boy!

! Pizza Boy GBA

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| Solar Sensor

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

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| Multi Plust On System

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| Turbo File Advance

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| Power Antenna & Bug Sensor

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| Official Nintendo Infrared Adapter

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