Changes

|type = [[:Category:ConsolesHandheld consoles|Handheld game console]]

|predecessor = [[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy (Color)]], [[Virtual Boy emulators|Virtual Boy]]|successor = [[Pokémon mini emulators|Pokémon mini]], [[Nintendo DS emulators|Nintendo DS(i)]]

 {{for|other emulators that run on GBA hardware|Emulators on GBA}}  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 the 21st of March 212001, 2001; in North America on the 11th of June 11, 2001; and in Australia and Europe on the 22nd of June 22, and retailed for {{Inflation|USD|99.99|2001}}. It has a ARM7TDMI CPU at 16.78 MHz and a Zilog Z80 CPU at 8 MHz and 4 MHz. It has 32KB 288KB of RAM and 96KB of VRAM.

===PC / x86===<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"

! scope="col"|Operating SystemPlatform(s)

! scope="col"|GB[[#Hardware_features_and_accessories|Hardware features<br/GBC>and accessories]]! scope="col"|GBA[[#Enhancements|Enhancements]]! scope="col"|NDSCompatibility! scope="col"|Game Link Support! scope<abbr title="colFree/Libre and Open-Source Software"|[[libretro|Libretro Core]]>FLOSS</abbr>

!colspan|[[mGBA]]<br/><small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/mgba/ mGBA_libretro]</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD|Web}}|[https://mgba.io/builds/1/ Dev builds]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<ref group="10"N>[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/12x3fsm/mgba_0102_released/jhigow4/ endrift confirming the libretro core is tracking the master branch]</ref><br/>[https://mgba.io/downloads.html {{MGBAVer}}]|{{~}} ||{{~}} || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||PC{{✓}}

|[[mGBAVisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]]<br/><small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/vba_m/ vbam_libretro]</small><br/><small><abbr title="VBA Next is a Game Boy Advance emulator based on VBA-M 2011 with backported patches for performance and compatibility improvements.">[https://docs.libretro.com/library/vba_next/ vba_next_libretro]</abbr></small>|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}|[https://mgbanightly.vba-m.com/ Nightly builds]<br/> [http://buildbot.libretro.iocom/nightly/ libretro core'''s'''] <br/downloads> [https://github.html com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m/releases {{MGBAVerVBAMVer}}]|{{✓~}} ||{{✓~}} ||{{✓}}<ref group=N name=medusa>Experimental separate build under the name of medusa.</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}

|[[higanNanoBoyAdvance]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux|macOS, Linux}}|[httphttps://byuunightly.orglink/emulationnba-emu/higanNanoBoyAdvance/ workflows/build/master Dev builds]<br/> [https://github.com/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance/releases {{higanVerNanoBoyAdvanceVer}}]|{{✓n}} ||{{✓~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}

|[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-MSkyEmu]]|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}|[https://github.com/visualboyadvance-mskylersaleh/SkyEmu/pull/321 Dev Builds]<br/>[https:/visualboyadvance-m/github.com/skylersaleh/SkyEmu/releases / {{VBAMVerSkyEmuVer}}]|{{✓n}} ||{{✓~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}

|iDeaS[[ares]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux|macOS}}|[https://webnightly.archive.orglink/ares-emulator/ares/workflows/build/webmaster <abbr title="Latest development build version">git Artifacts</20150311100053abbr>]<br/http>[https://ciacin.site90github.com/ideas.php 1.0.4.0]|ares-emulator/ares/releases {{✗aresVer}} |]|{{✓?}} ||{{✓~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✗~}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux, |macOS (untested)}}|[https://github.com/shonumi/gbe-plus /releases {{GBEVer}}]|{{~}} ||{{?}} || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}|-|[[No$|No$GBA]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|DOS}}|[http://problemkaputt.de/gba.htm {{No$GBAVer}}]|{{~}} ||{{✗~}} || ||{{✗}} ||{{✓~}} [https://problemkaputt.de/gbanew.htm *] ||{{✗~}}

|[https:/[BizHawk]]<br/fms><small>(mGBA 0.komkon10.org0)</VGBA/ VGBA]small>|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}|[https://fmsgitlab.komkoncom/TASVideos/BizHawk/-/pipelines Dev builds]<br/>[http://tasvideos.org/VGBABizHawk/ 5ReleaseHistory.9]|html {{✗BizHawkVer}} |]|{{✓~}} ||{{✗~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗~}}

|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}|<abbr title="Latest development version">git artifacts</abbr><ref group=N>[https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-windows/master CI-Windows] [https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-linux/master CI-Linux] [https://nightly.link/mamedev/mame/workflows/ci-macos/master CI-Macos]</ref><br/>[http://www.mamedev.org/release.html {{MAMEVer}}]|{{?}} ||{{~}} ||[http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/lista_mess.php?software_list_name=gba&compatibility= ?] ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}|-|[https://docs.libretro.com/library/gpsp/ gpSP_libretro]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]|{{~}} ||{{~}} ||[https://docs.libretro.com/library/gpsp/#compatibility ?] ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} |-|[[Mednafen]]<br/><small>[https://docs.libretro.com/library/beetle_gba/ mednafen_gba_libretro]</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}|[{{MednafenURL|releases/}} {{MednafenVer}}]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]|{{? }} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|Meteor[https://hades-emu.org Hades]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[https://github.com/blastrockhades-emu/Hades/releases/tag/meteor 1v1.40.2]|0 {{✗HadesVer}} |]<br/> [https://nightly.link/hades-emu/Hades/workflows/build/master Nightly builds]<br/> [https://github.com/hades-emu/hades Git]|{{✓?}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✗}}

|NanoboyAdvance[[higan]] (火眼)<br/>byuu (謬/view)|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux|macOS}}|[https://github.com/fleroviihigan-emu/higan/releases/nanoboyadvance Git]|tag/v110 {{✗higanVer}} |]|{{✓?}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}}<ref group=N>Superseded by [[ares]].</ref>

|[[No$iDeaS|align=left|No$GBA]]{{Icon|Windows, [[Intel CPUs|DOS]]Linux}}|[https://web.archive.org/web/20150311100053/http://problemkaputtciacin.desite90.com/gbaideas.htm php {{No$GBAVeriDeaSVer}}]|{{?}} || || ||{{✗}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✓✗}} |-|[https://fms.komkon.org/VGBA VGBA]|align=left|{{✓Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}} |[https://fms.komkon.org/VGBA/#Downloads {{VGBAVer}}]|{{?}} || || ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|FatGBAMeteor|N/Aalign=left|{{Icon|Linux}}|[https://github.com/bentokunblastrock/FatGBA Git]|meteor {{✗MeteorVer}} |]|{{✓?}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✓✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|Windows, |Linux|macOS, Linux}}|[http://boycottadvance.emuunlim.org/Downloads.htm 0.2.8]|{{✗BoyCottAdvanceVer}} |]|{{✓?}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}|[https://www.zophar.net/macintosh/gba/playboy-advance.html 1.0]|{{✗PlayBoyAdvanceVer}} |]|{{✓?}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}

|GameBeanAdvance|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}|[https://github.com/bmchtech/GameBeanAdvance Git]|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}}|-|[[NooDS]]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS/releases git]|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}|}</div> ===Mobile / ARM===<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"|-! scope="col"|Name! scope="col"|Platform(s)!colspanscope="10col"|MobileLatest Version! scope="col"|[[#Hardware_features_and_accessories|Hardware features<br/>and accessories]]! scope="col"|[[#Enhancements|Enhancements]]! scope="col"|Compatibility! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>! scope="col"|Active! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]

|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS|Linux|Pandora}}|[https://mgbagithub.iocom/huhao1987/mGBA_Android unofficial android version]<br/downloads>[https://buildbot.html libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]|{{MGBAVer~}}]||{{~}} || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<ref group|-|[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]]|align=N name=medusa left|{{Icon|Android|iOS|Linux|Pandora}}|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/> libretro core]|{{~}} ||{{✓~}} || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}

|[http://www.explusalpha.com/ GBA.emu[SkyEmu]]<br/><small>(VBA-M r1097 based)</small>|[[align=left|{{Icon|Android emulators|Android]]iOS}}|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.explusalphasky.GbaEmu 1SkyEmu v3.52] (Play)[https://www.amazon.com/SkyEmu-GBC-GBA-NDS-Emulator/dp/B0CGHK8QP5 v3.342] (Amazon)[https://github.com/skylersaleh/SkyEmu git]|{{✗n}} ||{{✓~}} ||{{✗}} ||? ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓~}}

|[[gpSP]]|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS|Pandora}}<br/>{{Icon|Didj|Symbian}}|[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]<br/>[http://allaboutwindowsphonerepo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=package.gpsp.notaz 0.9.2.8 Pandora]<br/>[https://github.com/softwareSummeli/contentgpSP4Cute Symbian]|{{~}} ||{{~}} ||[https:/VBA8_1/docs.php VBA8libretro.com/library/gpsp/#compatibility ?]||{{✓}} ||{{~}}<ref group=N name=gpsp>Libretro Core Only.</ref> ||{{~}}|-|Pizza Boy GBA|Windows Phone align=left|{{Icon|Android}}|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.dbtecno.pizzaboygbapro 2.6.8] (Offline)|{{~}} ||{{~}} || ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}[https://8old.reddit.1com/r/emulation/comments/1b97uus/emulator_pizza_boy_for_gba_and_gbc_removed_from/ *] ||{{~}}|-|[https://www.appx4funexplusalpha.com/xapcontents/15223gba-emu GBA.emu]<br/ ><small>(VBA-M 2.271.4 based)</small>|align=left|{{Icon|Android|Pyra}}|[https://github.com/Rakashazi/emu-ex-plus-alpha/releases/tag/Pre-release Pre-release]<br/>[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.explusalpha.GbaEmu {{.emuVer}}]</br>[https://pyra-handheld.com/repo/apps/75 1.5.46.02 Pyra]|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗~}} |-|[https://sites.google.com/site/fastemulator/ My Boy!]|align=left|{{✓Icon|Android}} |[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fastemulator.gba 2.0.6]|{{? }} || || ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}

|Windows 10/Mobilealign=left|{{Icon|W10P}}

|{{✓?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓~}}|-|GBA_J2ME|align=left|{{Icon|Java}}|[http://oldfag.top/downloads/?act=view&id=168 1.0]|{{?}} || || ||? ||{{✗}} ||{{✓~}}

|[[gpSP]]VGBAnext|Pandoraalign=left|{{Icon|Android}}|[httphttps://repoplay.openpandoragoogle.orgcom/store/apps/details?pageid=detail&app=package.gpsp.notaz 0com.9fms.2.8]|emu {{✗VGBANextVer}} |]|{{✓?}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗✓}} ||{{✓✗}}

|[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-MNooDS]]|Multi-platformalign=left|{{Icon|Android}}|[https://githubplay.google.com/visualboyadvance-mstore/apps/visualboyadvance-m v2details?id=com.hydra.noods 0.1]<br/>[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS/releases git]|{{✓?}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|[https://sites.google.com/site/fastemulator/ My Boy!]GBA4iOS|[[Android emulatorsalign=left|{{Icon|Android]]iOS}}|[https://play.googleiemulators.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fastemulatorgba4ios 2.gba 1.8.0]|{{✓?}}<ref group=N name=myoldboy>Separate paid app called My OldBoy!.</ref> ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.retro.classicbox Retrogaming Emulator]|[[Android emulators|Android]]|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.retro.classicbox 4.14.0]=Consoles===|{{✓}}<ref group=N namediv style=com.retro.classicbox>Multi"overflow-Console Emulator for Android.</refx:auto;width:100%"> ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"

! scope="col"|Name! scope="col"|Platform(s)!colspanscope="10col"|ConsolesLatest Version! scope="col"|[[#Hardware_features_and_accessories|Hardware features<br/>and accessories]]! scope="col"|[[#Enhancements|Enhancements]]! scope="col"|Compatibility! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>! scope="col"|Active! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]

|[[align=left|{{Icon|Wii emulators|Wii]], [[Nintendo Switch emulatorsWiiU|Nintendo Switch]], [[Nintendo 3DS emulators}}<br>{{Icon|Nintendo 3DS]], [[PlayStation Vita emulators|PlayStation Vita]]PSV}}|[https://s3mgba.amazonaws.comio/builds/1/ Dev builds]<br/> [https://mgba.io/mGBA-nightly-latest-wiidownloads.7z Git]|html#homebrew {{✓MGBAVer}} |]<br/>[https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms libretro core]|{{✓~}} ||{{✗~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}

|[[gpSP#PSP_version|TempGBA4PSPNintendo Switch Online]]<small>(Sloop)</small>|[[PlayStation Portable emulatorsalign=left|{{Icon|PlayStation Portable]]Switch}}|[http://www.mediafire.comN/download/41ny5xrwxizalx4/TempGBA4PSP-26750221.zip 26750221]A|{{✗~}} ||{{✓~}} ||{{✗}} [[Wikipedia:List_of_Nintendo_Switch_Online_games#Game_Boy_Advance|Only for selected titles]] ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}

|[[VisualBoy Advance#https://docs.libretro.com/library/vba_next/ VBA-GX|VBA GX]Next]|[[align=left|{{Icon|NGC|Wii emulators|Wii]], [[GameCube emulatorsNX}}<br/>{{Icon|PS3}}<br/>{{Icon|PS4}}<br/>{{Icon|Vita}}<br/>{{Icon|Xbox|GameCube]]Xbox360}}|[https://gbatempwww.net/threads/new-vba-gx-fork-2-3-0retroarch.371284com/ 2.3.2?page=platforms libretro core]|{{✓?}} ||{{✓~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<ref group=N>As VBA-Next.</ref> ||{{✗}} ||{{✗✓}}

|[[PlayStation Portable emulatorsalign=left|PlayStation Portable]]{{Icon|0.9DC|PSP}}<br/>{{✗Icon|PS2|NGC|Wii}} <br/>{{Icon|3DS|{{✓Vita}} |[https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms libretro core]<br/>[[GpSP#PSP_Version|TempGBA4PSP]]|{{✗~}} ||{{✗~}} ||[https://docs.libretro.com/library/gpsp/#compatibility ?] ||{{✓}} ||{{✗~}} <ref group=N name=gpsp></ref> ||{{✗✓}}

|[[Wii U emulatorsalign=left|{{Icon|Wii U]], [[Nintendo 3DS emulators|Nintendo 3DS]]WiiU}}

|{{✓~}} ||{{n}} <small>||[[Wikipedia:Virtual_Console#Titles_2|Only for selected titles (Nintendo 3DS only)]]<smallbr/> [[Wikipedia:Virtual_Console#Titles_3|Only for selected titles (Wii U)]] ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}|-|Game Boy Player|align=left|{{Icon|GCN}}||{{~}} ||{{n}} || ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}|-|ReGBA|Align=left|{{Icon|PS2}}|[https://www.ps2-home.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1332 v1.45.5 revision 3]|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}|-|[https://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Enhanced_mGBA emGBA]|align=left|{{Icon|GCN|Wii|WiiU}}|[https://files.extremscorner.org/gamecube/apps/mgba/latest git]|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}|-|[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-GX|VBA GX]]|align=left|{{Icon|GCN|Wii|WiiU}}|[https://github.com/dborth/vbagx/releases git]|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} <small>||{{~}}|-|Gbaemu4DS|align=left|{{Icon|NDS}}|[https://ichfly.github.io/gbaemu4DS Alpha 2 fix 4][https://github.com/ichfly/gbaemu4DS git]|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-|[[GBARunner2]]|align=left|{{Icon|NDS|3DS}}|[https://github.com/Gericom/GBARunner2/releases/tag/v20200812-131430_6e4ce45 2020/08/12] |{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-|[[gpSP|UO gpSP Kai]] (Wii U onlyUO gpSP改)<small> |align=left|{{Icon|PSP}}|3.4 test 4 build 230|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-|[[NooDS]]|align=left|{{Icon|Switch|Vita|WiiU}}<br/>{{Icon|PSP}}|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS git]<small>(Pokemon onlySwitch/Vita/WiiU)</small> <br/>[https://github.com/Xiro28/NooDS_PSP git] <small>(PSP port)</small>|{{?}} ||{{✗}} ||? ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}

;[[mGBA]]:Aims for accuracy, speed, Free and features. For its accuracy, it's gradually becoming the best at that. It's actively developed and has features VBAopen-M lacks such as a Tilt Sensor, source Game Boy/Color and more recently Game Boy Camera supportAdvance emulator developed by endrift.;Being written from scratch, it aims for speed, [[VisualBoy AdvanceEmulation Accuracy|Visual Boy Advance (VBA)accuracy]]:The original , and portability. As of yet, it's the most complete GBA emulator. Discovered to have an ACE vulnerability detailed below.:;emulation effort with [[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-MEnhancements|Visual Boy Advance-M (VBA-M)enhancements]]:A fork with additional improvements. It is behind in terms of accuracy and performance compared to mGBA.::;VBA-Next:A [[RetroArch#Hardware_features_and_accessories|feature support]] fork from an , passing the older revision of project VBA-M with added speedhacks and tweaks, making it useful for lower-end devicesits forks. A bit less accurate in some respects, but fixes It is also available as a few games such as Advance Wars 2Libretro core for RetroArch.;[[gpSP]]:Its last official version was As of 0.9. There are0, 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]. gpSPmGBA with a stripped-J down GUI has superior compatibility, while gpSPmod has more options been integrated into Dolphin recently for customization (full screen, cheats, etc). Both are superior to Kai.;games supporting [[higan#Hardware_features_and_accessories|connectivity features]]:Its GBA core is cycle-accurate as of v095, but it is behind in terms of performance compared to mGBA and VBA-M.;[[MAME]]:Has a <code>gba</code> driver markup as working but both graphics and sound are "imperfect".

'''NOTE;[[NanoBoyAdvance]]:''' There's a ''huge'' Highly [[Emulation_accuracy|accurate]]<abbr title="Arbitrary Code Execution"ref>ACE[https://github.com/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance/blob/master/docs/ACCURACY.md mGBA suite comparison]</abbrref> vulnerability affecting VBA and most of its forks, except Game Boy Advance emulator. It aims for VBA[[Emulation Accuracy|cycle-M. The function for adding GameShark codes accurate]] emulation when possible ("Import > Gameshark code file"CPU, DMA, timers, PPU and Game Pak prefetch) 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 mindwhile also offering enhancements such as improved audio quality. There is good news; VBA-M still doesn't do a sanity check for those filesVery high compatibility, but it just crashes instead including games that require emulation of letting the code wreak havoc. So, depending on your use case, avoid using[https:# Cheat code files bigger than 1024Kb that you got online from untrustworthy sources//github.# The import code files featurecom/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance/blob/master/docs/ACCURACY.md# The old emulator altogether, and settle for other options like mGBA or VBAGame-compatibility peculiar hardware edge-Mcases]. All Unfortunately, following the release of them support the same SRAM save data next major update, developer "[https://github.com/fleroviux fleroviux]" will step down from actively developing the cartridge usesproject.[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/1auz9c9/nanoboyadvance_180_is_released_plus_announcement/]

'''List of recommended GBA emulators for Android:'''* ;[[httpsVisualBoy Advance|Visual Boy Advance (VBA)]]://wwwThe original GBA emulator.androidauthority.comDiscovered to have an <abbr title="Arbitrary Code Execution">ACE</best-game-boy-emulators-for-android-368530/ 10 best Game Boy Advanced, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy emulators for Android] (SEPTEMBER 2, 2018abbr> vulnerability detailed below. Includes some emulators not found in above charts. Reviews may be subjective.)

==:;[[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|Visual Boy Advance-M (VBA-M)]]:A fork with additional minor improvements. It is behind in terms of [[Emulation issues==Accuracy|accuracy]] compared to mGBA or other recommended GBA emulators, but is still useful for its robust debugging features and sound interpolation that reduces hissing.

===Oversaturation===[[File:1406913527173:;VBA-1-.png|400px|thumb|right|'''Left:''' The default game.<br/>'''RightNext:''' The "Gameboy Colors" mode on A [[VisualBoy Advance#RetroArch]] fork from an older revision of VBA-M|VBAwith added speedhacks and tweaks, making it useful for lower-M]]end devices.]]The screen on the original Game Boy Advance is not backlit and can be hard to see A bit less accurate 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 screensrespects, saturation is not an issue so this can look jarring and undesirable for gameplay. Some but fixes a few games made after 2003 may have also taken the such as Advance SP model into account since its screen is actually backlitWars 2. For everything else though, emudevs have given some solutions:

====No$GBA====Under "Emulation Options";[[SkyEmu]]:Low level Game Boy, select "GBA Mode"Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance emulator. There are four modesIts 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.

;GBA (no backlight)[[higan]] / [[ares]]:Strong desaturation;GBA SP [[Emulation Accuracy|Accuracy]] wise it is behind compared to NanoBoyAdvance, SkyEmu (backlightand maybe mGBA):Strong desaturation;Nintendo DS but it has dot-based instead of scanline-based renderer and doing better job compared to VBA-M. Also it is behind in GBA mode:Some desaturation;VGA Mode (poppy bright):No desaturationterms of compatibility compared to mGBA, NanoBoyAdvance and SkyEmu, but Ares stands out being [[Multi-system_emulators|multi-system emulator]] and supports some useful [[#Enhancements|enhancements]] like shaders/filters and simple debug features.

====VBA-M====;[[MAME]]:''Has a <smallcode>Only applies to Windows.gba</smallcode>''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.

Under Options > Gameboy;[[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, you will find there's a libretro port of gpSP with fast x86 and ARM dynarecs. While it's behind the options: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.

;"Real Colors"[[Nintendo Switch Online]] (Sloop)* GBA support was added to Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack in February 2023, alongside GB games exclusive to the normal tier;* Users are [[Wikipedia:List_of_Nintendo_Switch_Online_games#Game_Boy_Advance|limited to the selection of games]] Nintendo chooses to make available on the service;* Can support Local Play with other Switch Online users (up to 4 players, Local Play must be with individual Switch systems);* [https:No desaturation//twitter.com/LuigiBlood/status/1624005571815899136 Accurate enough] at the point of being able to pass any of the ''AGB Test Cartridge'' (v10) tests without a single failure;* Video filters can be applied;* Allows exchange of regional variants in the International version of the app (USA and/or European versions);"Gameboy Colors"* Allows rumble support for games that had such function back when played in a Game Boy Player (''Super Mario Advance 4:Strong desaturationSuper Mario Bros. 3'', ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'')* Different games between regions (Japan and International)

'''NOTE:''' There's a ''huge'' <abbr title====higan====Under Settings "Arbitrary Code Execution">ACE</abbr> Video Filtervulnerability 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:# Cheat code files bigger than 1024Kb that you will find got online from untrustworthy sources.# The import code files feature.# The old emulator altogether, and settle for other options like mGBA or VBA-M. All of them support the same SRAM save data the "Color Emulation" checkboxcartridge uses.

;Color Emulation off'''List of recommended GBA emulators for Android:No desaturation''';* [https://www.androidauthority.com/best-game-boy-emulators-for-android-368530/ 10 best Game Boy Advanced, Game Boy Color Emulation on:Gamma correction , and adjusted color rangeGame Boy emulators for Android] (SEPTEMBER 2, 2018. Includes some emulators not found in above charts. Reviews may be subjective.)

==Enhancements==Shaders<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;width:100%"|- style="font-weight:bold;"! colspan=2 | Name! mGBA! VBA-M! No$GBA! SkyEmu! NanoBoyAdvance! Game Boy Player! Virtual Console! BizHawk! ares! GBE+! gpSP! Pizza Boy GBA (Pro)! MAME! Nintendo Switch Online (Sloop)Cg |-| rowspan=3 | Graphics| [[Shaders Resolution|Resizable Internal Resolution]]| colspan=14 | For emulation of 2D systems, the resolution can only be upscaled, making the pixels more apparent.|-| [[Texture_packs#Sprite_Replacement_.282D.29|Sprite Replacement]]|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|-| [[Widescreen_hacks#Emulators_.282D.29|Widescreen Hack]]|||||||||{{N}}||||||-| rowspan=2 | Performance| [[Overclocking|Overclock]]|{{N}}[https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/issues/2833 *]|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{?}}[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/65j3c3/can_a_emulated_game_run_better_then_the_actual/dgau7ck/ *]|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{Y}}[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/8nw23h/gba_emulator_w_overclock_support/e02nnn6/ *]|{{N}}|-| [[30/60_FPS_cheat_codes|Internal Framerate Hack]]||||||{{N}}|{{N}}||{{N}}|||||{{N}}|-| rowspan=6 | Post-Processing| [[Wikipedia:Category:Anti-aliasing_algorithms|Post-rendering AA]]<br/><small>(FXAA, TXAA and MLAA/SMAA)</small>| {{Y}}||||||||||{{Y}}||||-| [[Wikipedia:Comparison_gallery_of_image_scaling_algorithms|Post-rendering scaling]]<br/><small>(Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and [[Wikipedia:GPUOpen#FidelityFX_Super_Resolution|FSR 1]])</small>|{{Y}}||||||||||{{Y}}||{{Y}}||-| [[Shaders_and_filters|Filters]]|{{Y}}|{{Y}}|||{{Y}}||||{{Y}}||{{Y}}|{{Y}}|{{Y}}|{{Y}}|-|[[Shaders_and_filters#AI-powered filters|AI-powered filter compatible]]<br/><small>([https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/gfecnt/nvidia-freestyle-ansel-enhancements-geforce-experience-article/ Freestyle])</small>| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{N}}| {{N}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{N}}|-| [[Shader_Presets|Shader Chain]]|{{~}}<ref group=N3 name=lrExclusive></ref>|{{~}}<ref group=N3 name=lrExclusive></ref>|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{Y}}|{{N}}|{{Y}}|{{N}}|-|[[High_dynamic_range#Inverse_tone_mapping|Inverse tone mapping compatible]]| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{N}}| {{N}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{N}}|-| rowspan=5 | [https://tasvideos.org/Emulatorresources/Features TAS features]| [[Wikipedia:Macro_(computer_science)|Macros/Scripts]]/[https://tasvideos.org/LuaScripting Lua]|{{Y}}<ref group=N3 name=ExStandalone>Exclusive to standalone version.</ref>||||{{N}}|{{N}}|{{?}}|{{N}}|{{Y}}|{{N}}|||{{Y}}[https://docs.mamedev.org/plugins/inputmacro.html *]|{{N}}|-| Rewind|{{Y}}|||{{Y}}|||||||{{Y}}|{{Y}}||{{Y}}|-| Fast-Forward/Turbo Speed|{{Y}}||||||||||{{?}}|{{Y}}|||-| Savestates|{{Y}}|||{{Y}}|{{Y}}||||||{{Y}}|{{Y}}|||-|shaders[https://tasvideos.org/Movies Movie recording/playback]| {{?}}[https://forums.mgba.io/archive/index.php?thread-4910.html] can be used ||||||||||{{?}}||||-| rowspan=1 | Controls| [[Input_lag|Input lag-mitigating technique]]|{{~}}<ref group=N3 name=lrExclusive></ref>||||||||||{{?}}|||{{N}}|-| rowspan=6 | Quality of life| Built-in [http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,106405 Custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes]<br/><small>For using this on Windows OS you need [OpenEmuhttp://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1009#p1009 CRT Emudriver].<br/>Another option is using EDID editor tool such as "Custom Resolution Utility".</small>| colspan=13 | <small>Exclusive to [https://docs.libretro.com/guides/crtswitchres/ libretro cores] or and [[RetroArchGroovyMAME]] that adjust at the colors moment.<br/>Also there is a [https://github.com/psakhis/Groovy_MiSTer project] for achieving software emulators like libretro cores and GroovyMAME send the raw RGB data over a network to those of a real GBA screencore running on MiSTer, as well as other screen typesit basically turns the MiSTer into a GPU for the emulator allowing for easy setup and use with CRT TVs/Arcade monitors. These are available </small>| {{N}}|-| Built-in GLSL[[Cheats_and_patches|Cheat Manager]]|{{Y}}||||||||||{{?}}|{{Y}}|{{Y}}||-| [[Save_disk_space_for_ISOs#Game_Boy_Advance_.2F_Nintendo_DS_.2F_Nintendo_3DS|Streamable compression format]]|{{Y}}||||{{Y}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{Y}}|||{{?}}|{{Y}}|{{Y}}|{{N}}|-| Per-Game Profiles|||||||||||{{Y}}||{{Y}}||-| Command Line Options|||||||||||{{Y}}||{{Y}}|{{N}}|-| [[Frontends#Graphical_User_Interfaces_.28GUIs.29|Big Picture Mode]]||||||||||||||{{Y}}|-| rowspan=5 | Misc| [[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>|[https://mgba.io/faq.html#glossary WIP]|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{Y}}[https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/game-boy-advance-nintendo-switch-online-switch/ *]|-| [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>|{{~}}||||{{Y}}||||{{N}}||{{?}}|||{{N}}|-| [[Virtual_reality#VR_game_room_simulations|EmuVR support]]| colspan=14 | Exclusive to [https://www.emuvr.net/wiki/Installation_Guide#Downloads libretro cores] at the moment.|-| [https://retroachievements.org/gameList.php?c=5 RetroAchievements]|{{~}}<ref group=N3 name="GLSL"lrExclusive>Exclusive to libretro core. There is also a [https://github.com/libretroRetroAchievements/glslRAVBA modified version of VBA-shadersM] for RetroAchievement support. [https:/tree/mastergithub.com/handheldmgba-emu/shadersmgba/colorissues/2232 Feature request: RetroAchievements integration in mGBA standalone].</ref> for OpenGL, and Slang|{{~}}<ref group=N3 name="Slang"lrExclusive></ref>|{{N}}|{{N}}[https://github.com/libretroskylersaleh/SkyEmu/issues/36 *]|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|{{Y}}[https://retroachievements.org/slangdownload.php#bizhawk *]|{{N}}||{{Y}}|{{Y}}|{{N}}|{{N}}|-shaders| [[Wikipedia:Category:Debugging|Debug Features]]|{{Y}}[https://mgba.io/tree2021/master03/handheld28/shadersmgba-0.9.0/color#more-debugging-improvements *]|{{Y}}|{{Y}}||{{Y}}||||{{Y}}|||||{{N}}|}</refdiv><references group=N3/> for Vulkan.

For ==Hardware features and accessories==<div style="overflow-x:auto;width:100%">{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;width:100%"|- style="font-weight:bold;"! colspan=2 | Name! mGBA! VBA-M <br/>[[VisualBoy_Advance#VBA_Link_e-Reader|VBA 1.73 Mod]]! No$GBA! SkyEmu! NanoBoyAdvance! Game Boy Player! Virtual Console! BizHawk! ares! GBE+! gpSP! Pizza Boy GBA! MAME! Nintendo Switch Online (Sloop)|-|colspan=2 | [https://www.copetti.org/writings/consoles/game-boy-advance/#operating-system GBABIOS]|{{Y}}|{{Y}}|{{Y}}|{{Y}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{Y}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{Y}}|{{?}}|{{Y}}|-|colspan=2 | [[#GB.2FGBC_backwards_compatibility_emulation.2FEnhanced_Mode|GB/GBC backwards compatibility emulation/Enhanced Mode]]|{{?}}|{{?}}[https://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=21831.0 *]|{{n}}|{{?}}|{{n}}|{{?}}|{{?}}<abbr title="3DS only">*</abbr>|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{X}}<abbr title="Plays GB/GBC games through a separate app">*</abbr>|-| colspan=2 | [[#Game_Boy_Advance_Video|Game Boy Advance Video]]|{{y}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{n}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|-|rowspan=5 | [[#Connectivity|<abbr title="There are five different kinds of connectivity, there is support varying by game.">Connectivity<code/abbr>]]|[https://squallsnake.com/blog-gba-colorsingle-pak-multiplayer-game-list/ Single Pak]|{{✓}}<ref group=N2 name=libretro>Does not work on Libretro core. Feature Requests: [https://github.com/libretro/vbam-libretro/issues/114 GBA Game Link Support], [https://github.com/libretro/vbam-libretro/issues/87 e-Reader support] for for VBA-M libretro core.cg</coderef>|{{✗}}[https://github.com/visualboyadvance-m/visualboyadvance-m/issues/831 *]|{{✓}}|{{✗}}[https://github.com/skylersaleh/SkyEmu/issues/44 *]|{{✗}}|{{y}}|{{~}}<abbr title="Pokemon only">*</abbr>|{{✓}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|-|[[#GBA_Multi_Pak_Link_Multiplayer_.281.7E4GBA.29|Multi Pak]]|{{✓}}<refgroup=N2 name=libretro />|{{✓}}|{{✓}}|{{✗}}[https://github.com/libretroskylersaleh/SkyEmu/issues/44 *]|{{✗}}|{{y}}|{{~}}<abbr title="Pokemon only">*</commonabbr>|{{✓}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|-shaders|[[#Connectivity|Wireless]]|{{✗}} [https:/blob/mastermgba.io/handheldtimeline.html#IN+THE+FUTURE *]|{{~}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{y}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{?}}|{{~}}|{{Y}}[https://www.davidgf.net/2024/shaders01/color13/gba-colorwireless-adapter/ *]|{{Y}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|-|[[#GameCube Connectivity|<abbr title="The Nintendo GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable (model DOL-011) is a link cable that links the GameCube to the Game Boy Advance, the Game Boy Advance SP, the e-Reader, or even a second GameCube via the Game Boy Player.cgThe Game Boy Micro is not compatible due to its different connector. The Wii, however, is compatible with the cable due to the Wii's backwards compatibility with GameCube games and controllers.">GameCube communication</abbr>]]|{{✓}}<ref group=N2 name=libretro />|{{✓}}<refgroup=N2 name=libretro />, |{{✗}}|{{✗}}[https://old.reddit.com/r/EmuDev/comments/vvdqyk/release_of_skyemu_10/ifjfj7a/ *]|{{✗}}|{{y}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|-|[[Wikipedia:Game_Link_Cable#Third_generation|<abbr title="The third generation started with the release of the Game Boy Advance which simulates was released alongside its own link cable called the color profile Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable (model AGB-005). It features yet another new type of link cable port which is used on the Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP and Game Boy Player. The e-Reader also uses the third generation link cable port, but since it is incompatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, it is not backwards compatible with the second generation Game Link Cable. Another option is Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter (model AGB-015) for Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, and Game Boy Player.">Link Cable</abbr>]]|{{✓}}<ref group=N2 name=libretro />|{{✓}}<ref group=N2 name=libretro />|{{✓}}|[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/15pvssg/the_skyemu_v3_gbgba_and_newly_nds_emulator_is_now/jw1785m/ WIP]|{{✗}}|{{y}}|{{✗}}|{{✓}}|{{?}}|{{✓}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|-| rowspan=3 | [[GBA_e-Reader_emulators|e-Reader]]| [[GBA_e-Reader_emulators#Emulators|e-Reader Alone]]|{{✓}}<ref group=N2 name=libretro /> |{{~}}|{{✓}}|{{TBD}}|{{✗}}|{{y}}|{{~}}<abbr title="Wii U only">*</abbr>|{{TBD}}|{{?}}|{{TBD}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|-| [[GBA_e-Reader_emulators#Emulators|e-Reader/GBA Game]]|{{✓}}<ref group=N2 name=libretro />|{{~}}<ref group=N2 name=e-Reader-GBAGame>incomplete: this emulator will not recognize the games they're connected to. Normally, after choosing "Connection/to Game Boy Advance", the e-Reader should have "(Game Name) Game Data" pre-loaded in its internal EEPROM memory and appearing in a tiny black box on-screen, but this can't happen in either No$GBA screen under an external light source more accurately than , VBA-M , or No$VBA e-Reader mods. Without this step done, scanning e-Cards will just yield an error message. e-Reader/GBA color optionsgame pack emulation in this emulator can be still reached by ripping a save game from real e-Reader hardware, with this step already done. If you prefer Using this save with the darker color options e-Reader BIOS, it's possible to connect to the GBA game pack, and scan e-Cards... though it's a very less-than-ideal solution and there are only pre-baked e-Reader save files for Super Mario Advance 4 (U), Pokémon Emerald (J), LeafGreen (J) and FireRed (J)."</ref>|{{~}}<ref group=N2 name=e-Reader-GBAGame></ref>|{{TBD}}|{{✗}}|{{y}}|{{✓}}|{{TBD}}|{{?}}|{{TBD}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{~}}<abbr title="SMA4 only">*</abbr>|-| [[GBA_e-Reader_emulators#Emulators|e-Reader/GCN Game]]|{{✓}}<ref group=N2 name=libretro />|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{y}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{?}}|{{✗}}|-|rowspan=3 | Inputs|Rumble Feature| {{y}}| {{tbd}}| {{tbd}}| {{tbd}}|| {{tbd}}|||| {{y}}[https://github.com/shonumi/gbe-plus#read-the-manual *]|| {{y}}|| {{~}}<abbr title="Allows rumble support for games that those emulators havehad such function back when played in a Game Boy Player (Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, then Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)">*</abbr>|-|[[#Inputs|Solar Sensor]]| {{~}}<ref name=manual-switch group=N2>Only the Nintendo Switch port allows use of the Switch's light sensor.</ref>| {{~}}<coderef name=manual group=N2>vba-colorOnly manual configuration. No automatic detection via light sensor/camera input/weather forecast/GPS location/other.cg</coderef>| {{~}}<ref name=manual group=N2 />| {{~}}<ref name=manual group=N2 />| {{~}}<ref name=manual group=N2 />||||| {{~}}<refname=manual group=N2 />|| {{y}}|||-|Motion Control| {{y}}| {{y}}<ref group=N2 name=RetroArch>Motion Control support present on RetroArch VBA-M core.</ref>| {{n}}| | {{n}}||||| {{y}}[https://github.com/libretroshonumi/gbe-plus#read-the-manual *]|| {{y}}|||-|rowspan=11 | [[#Special_hardware|Special hardware]]|Battle Chip Gate| {{y}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{y}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-|Soul Doll Adapter| {{y}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{y}}| {{?}}| {{?}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-|Multi Plust On System| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{y}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-|Turbo File Advance| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{y}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-|Power Antenna & Bug Sensor| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{y}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-|Official Nintendo Infrared Adapter| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{y}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-|Jukebox| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{y}}[https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art31.html *]| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-|Virtureal Racing System| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{y}}[https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art24.html *]| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-|Play-Yan| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{~}}[https://shonumi.github.io/articles/commonart32.html *]| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-shaders|Campho Advance| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| [https://blobold.reddit.com/masterr/handheldemulation/shaderscomments/color141mm66/vbaglucoboy_found_and_dumped/jn0p5jr/ (WIP)]| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|-color|Glucoboy| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{y}}[https://shonumi.github.io/articles/art33.cghtml *]| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}| {{n}}|}</div><references group=N2/ref> instead.

There ===GB/GBC backwards compatibility emulation/Enhanced Mode===Game Boy Advance is also <code>nds-color.cg<backwards compatible with GB/code><ref>GBC, resulting in some of the [https://githubcheapergamer.comco.uk/libretro/commongba-shaders/blob/master/handheld/shaders/color/ndsenhanced-color.cg</ref> and <code>pspgbc-color.cg<games/code><ref>https:GB//githubGBC games enhanced if you play on GBA].com/libretro/common-shadersHaving said that, this shouldn't be confused with [[Game Boy/blobGame Boy Color emulators|Game Boy/masterGame Boy Color emulation]] or [[Super_Nintendo_emulators#Hardware_features_and_accessories|Super Game Boy 1/handheld/shaders/color/psp-color2]].cg</ref>, which simulates the color profiles Some of the original Nintendo DS frontlit screen multicore emulators supports both GB/GBC and the PSP-1000GBA emulation, however they do not have support for "backwards compatibility/PSP-2000 backlit screen, respectivelyGBA mode" emulation.

===Save formatsGame Boy Advance Video===Originally, when saves :''See also: [[Wikipedia:Game Boy Advance Video|Game Boy Advance Video]] on Wikipedia''GBA Videos were implemented, nobody settled officially released cartridges with movies/shows on them for viewing on a format, so the Visual Boy Advance devs made its ownGBA hardware. Because other Most recommended GBA emulators often went with raw datashould be able to play this type of cartridge if its 32MB, having to exchange different saves caused problemsalthough [https://youtu. The original Visual Boy Advance tries to figure out which format a given save is but often fails at be/o9XmB43bN5w?t=540 not all of itsupports 64MB ones].*[https://old. By explicitly telling the emulator to read it as a specific type using a file called <code>vba-overreddit.ini<com/r/Gameboy/code>, VBA compliescomments/byos8r/watching_gameboy_advance_video_on_a_gamecube/ Game Boy Player is not compatible with this feature]*mGBA support both 32MB and 64MB video cartridges. VBA-M includes :See [[Home_Media_Player#Emulators|this config file by default, but older revisions like VBA 1dedicated page]] for more information about home media playback support for emulation softwares.7.2 and VBALink do not:See [[Ripping_games|Dumping/ripping]].

The VBA-Next and VBA-M cores in Libretro have the file baked into the binary so that it can load raw .sav files, but converts the format to its own derivative at exactly 136 KB every time, with save type info contained within the file. This completely avoids the previous issues at the cost of incompatibility with standalone VBA and most others. To solve this incompatibility, Libretro devs created a [https://github.com/libretro/vbam-libretro/blob/master/src/libretro/gbaconv/gbaconv.c command-line tool] to convert .srm save files made from these cores to raw .sav save data for other emulators. It takes standard input (i.e. just drag and drop the .srm onto the executable) and outputs accordingly. It can also be done in reverse. A 64-bit binary of this tool for Windows can be found [https://www.mediafire.com/?6bg8ag0bjs1b7ng here]. ===Connectivity=======GBA Multi Pak Link Multiplayer (1~4GBA)====

;No$GBA:No information about how Set the number of Emulated Gameboys in the Emulation setting to get it working at this timebe 2 or more, but and the functionality also works with DS emulationLink Gamepaks Options to Gamepak in all GBAs. '''Note''': 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 that's how users can check out P4 by connecting the incomplete multiplayer Wi-Fi implementationpurple end to a purple midsection.<ref>https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/agblink.pdf</ref>

====GBA Wireless Multiplayer====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''.

No emulator The libretro core of [[gpSP]] has currently successfully emulated the wireless adapter<ref>https://www.davidgf.net/2024/01/13/gba-wireless-adapter/</ref>. [[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. The only project whose developers put Support of this add-on its roadmap is currently on [[mGBA]]'s roadmap.

====GameCube Connectivity====[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 isn't has now been emulated as of yet, but thanks to mGBA. [[Dolphin]] supports connectivity through rudimentary joybus emulation made in parallel with VBA-M. Because this emulator has fallen behind, the Dolphin team is currently rewriting the feature from scratch was recently added to better interface with [[mGBA]], a more accurate emulatorsemulator. They showcased early higan support in a video, but nothing has been released as of yet.

=====Dolphin/mGBA or VBA-M=====:''Requires mGBA 0.9.0 or newer or VBA-M r947 or newer.''

# * Reduce your volume. You won't want it to be high, especially with headphones.# * Open Dolphin and mGBA/VBA-M. Make sure neither are blocked by your firmware.# * In Dolphin, launch the game and navigate to the area where you're asked to connect the GBA. Then, under the controller options, assign the GameCube controllers as "GBA" for whichever you need.# * If you are using mGBA, open up the File menu, and click Connect to Dolphin. * In the dialog box that appears, press Connect. mGBA will boot up the GBA BIOS if no rom has been selected.* If you are using VBA-M, uncheck Pause When Inactive in Options > Emulator. Then, under Options > Link > Joybus Options, Make make sure to the "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>.# * Dolphin will freeze.# * Open the GBA BIOS in VBA-M as if it were a regular GBA ROM. The regular splash screen will stutter a bit.# * In either emulator, Dolphin should recognize the Joybus Link by then , and the GC game will detect that a GBA was connected.# * To connect other units, open another VBA-M emulator instance and repeat its process.

*[https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Four_Swords_Adventures The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Adventures]: Both two modes are available for the US/PAL version work. The third Japan-only Navi Trackers mode works as well, but the game crashes after the naming screen due to a bug in the GC/GBA connectivity.

==Special Hardware=Inputs=Most of these have not been emulated as of yet. There used to be patches that could be applied to GBA ROMs with a utility like Lunar IPS (mostly from [http://bubbz.pocketheaven.com/?system=gba&section=patch No Frills]), but they're for the most part lost to time nowadays. Your best bet is to use Action Replay to emulate those. ===;Solar Sensor=======1. Emulation====: This feature has been emulated in mGBA, VBA-M, No$GBA 2.6 onwards, and My Boy!:* mGBA: In the shortcuts editor, shortcuts can be configured to raise/lower the solar level incrementally or to set any particular brightness level. The Nintendo Switch port of mGBA also allows use of the Switch's light sensor.

* My Boy! : This emulator uses a button combination or the devices device's light sensor to check the brightness level. You can change this under Settings -> Input -> Cartridge Features -> "Solar Emulation By" menu.* Pizza Boy GBA: Uses the device's light sensor to check the brightness level.

====2. ROM Patches====: Fixes applied directly to the ROM by various scene release groups to make it compatible with any emulator/flashcard, making the in-game brightness level controllable with L+Left/Right. It's argued this makes for a better experience actually, but sadly not all releases are covered.

===;Motion Control===1. Emulation: This feature has been emulated in mGBA, VBA-M has an option for Motion controls "Input, Set, Motion". It currently works with all versions of My Boy! and Pizza Boy:* mGBA includes full motion control support using the GBC title Kirby Tilt'n Tumble, which also was a special cartridge with a motion sensor built-present in to control movement in-game. But VBA-M does not support motion controls for GBA games yetcontrollers like DualShock 4, DualSense and Switch Pro Controller.====Emulation====

* mGBA supposedly VBA-M core on RetroArch includes motion control support by using a controller stick (left or right)* My Boy! uses the device's accelerometer to emulate this feature. You can change the sensitivity under Settings -> Input -> Cartridge Features -> "Motion sensitivity" menu.* Pizza Boy GBA also used the device's accelerometer to emulate this feature but key remapping for tilt sensors is not present in the latest buildsgames like WarioWare: Twisted and Yoshi's Universal Gravitation.====2. ROM Patches====: Fixes applied directly to the ROM (with the Lunar IPS utility, or at runtime using mGBA or VBA-M and naming them the same as the ROM in the same directory) by various scene release groups to make it compatible with any emulator/flashcard. D-Pad controls substituting motion controls don't work as well here as they tilt it "too much" at times to be very playable.

===;Rumble Feature===

* '''Game Boy Player Rumble:''' Many regular GBA games, shipped on regular cartridges, enable rumble during gameplay when played on GB Player hardware (which is essentially GBA hardware). These include Super Mario Advance 4, Summon Night Hajimari no Ishi, Mario & Luigi 1: Superstar Saga, Shikakui Atama wo Marukusuru Advance (both releases), Pokémon Pinball, as well as Drill Dozer which disables its original cartridge rumble scheme and enables this one instead. None of the emulators support this, though it's being under development for the mGBA emulator. ===Special hardware===Emulation of these is spotty, apart from GBE+, which supports almost all GBA peripherals. ;Turbo File AdvanceThe Turbo File Advance was a peripheral for the GBA which allowed certain games to write data to it, acting as an external memory card. Developed by Sammy Corporation, it was compatible with only 2 games, RPG Tsukuru Advance and Derby Stallion Advance. GBE+ supports this add-on. ;Power Antenna & Bug SensorThe Power Antenna & Bug Sensor were small plastic peripherals that interfaced with the GBA's serial port and contained LEDs that flashed in response to certain events within Keitai Denjuu Telefang 2, the only supported GBA game. GBE+ supports this add-on.  ;Official Nintendo Infrared AdapterAs the GBA did not have native infrared connectivity, Nintendo released an official IR adapter called the AGB-006 to restore this functionality. However, it only saw use in Cyber Drive Zoids: Kiju no Senshi Hyuu to control specific Zoid toy models. GBE+ supports this add-on. ;Figurine ReadersSome GBA games/series had figurine reader add-ons, essentially precursors to the likes of Skylanders and Amiibo.* '''Soul Doll Adapter''' (Legendz: Island of Ordeal/Sign of Nekuromu)* '''Multi Plust On System''' (Bouken Yuuki Pluster World: Plust Gate/EX/Pluston GP)GBE+ has support for both the Soul Doll Adapter and Multi Plust On System, while mGBA supports the Soul Doll Adapter. ;Battle Chip GateA peripheral device by Capcom and Takara compatible with ''Mega Man Battle Network 4'' (Japanese edition). It can be connected to the Game Boy Advance and allow the player to transmit real-life toy Battle Chips to the NetNavis in the game. It's also compatible with toy Advanced PETs and ''Rockman.EXE 4.5 Real Operation''. It can also unlock minigames in ''Mega Man Zero 3''. [[mGBA]] and [[GBE+]] support this add-on. ;GlucoboyAn 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. ==Emulation issues=====Oversaturation===[[File:1406913527173-1-.png|400px|thumb|right|'''Left:''' The default game.<br/>'''Right:''' The "Gameboy Colors" mode on [[VisualBoy Advance#VBA-M|VBA-M]].]]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: ====Emulator Options===='''No$GBA:''' Under "Emulation Options", select "GBA Mode". There are four modes. * '''GBA (no backlight):''' Strong desaturation* '''GBA SP (backlight):''' Strong desaturation* '''Nintendo DS in GBA mode:''' Some desaturation* '''VGA Mode (poppy bright):''' No desaturation '''mGBA:''' Under Tools > Settings > Shaders > Load New Shader, select "gba-color.shader" '''VBA-M:''' (nightly only): Under Options > Game Boy Advance, you will find the option, '''LCD Filter'''. '''higan:''' Under Settings > Video Filter, you will find the "Color Emulation" checkbox. * '''Color Emulation off:''' No desaturation* '''Color Emulation on:''' Gamma correction and adjusted color range.'''NanoBoyAdvance''': Enabled by default. Under Config > Video > Color Correction > GBA '''SkyEmu''': Color Correction is set by default to 1.00 force in this emulator, and there are 2 types of desaturation methods. The first one is named SkyEmu and is selected by default, and the other one is named Higan and, as it's name suggests, is based on higan's color correction. Change the desaturation type by pressing the ≡ button, then select GBA Color Correction Type. You can also change the intensity of the desaturation: slide the slider to 0.00 to brighten the screen a tad bit. ====Shaders====Cg [[Shaders and Filters|shaders]] can be used in [[OpenEmu]] or [[RetroArch]] that adjust the colors to those of a real GBA screen, as well as other screen types. These are available in GLSL<ref name="GLSL">https://github.com/libretro/glsl-shaders/tree/master/handheld/shaders/color</ref> for OpenGL, and Slang<ref name="Slang">https://github.com/libretro/slang-shaders/tree/master/handheld/shaders/color</ref> for Vulkan. For GBA, there is <code>gba-color.cg</code><ref>https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/handheld/shaders/color/gba-color.cg</ref>, which simulates the color profile of a GBA screen under an external light source more accurately than VBA-M or No$GBA color options. If you prefer the darker color options that those emulators have, then use <code>vba-color.cg</code><ref>https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/handheld/shaders/color/vba-color.cg</ref> instead.  There is also <code>nds-color.cg</code><ref>https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/handheld/shaders/color/nds-color.cg</ref> and <code>psp-color.cg</code><ref>https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders/blob/master/handheld/shaders/color/psp-color.cg</ref>, which simulates the color profiles of the original Nintendo DS frontlit screen and the PSP-1000/PSP-2000 backlit screen, respectively. For Game Boy Advance shader presets, see the "Shader Presets" page;{{Main|Shader_Presets}} ===Horrible Sound Quality===As a handheld rushed to the market (because of the WonderSwan Color competition), the Game Boy Advance had some cut corners. The sound hardware was affected the hardest: while it could play Game Boy Color sound in addition to samples and sequenced music like what would be heard on the SNES, the actual playback quality is awful compared to the sound samples stored internally in the ROM.

===Figurine Readers===* '''Figurine Add-on:''' Legendz: Isle Of Trials, Legendz: Sign Of Necromu, Plaston Gate (There were [httphttps://www.advansceneromhacking.comnet/htmlutilities/Releases881/dbreleases.php?id=1020 Fixtools]made to extract the internal high-quality music (as midi files plus a sound font, to be played on foobar2000), Plaston Gate DX (however, interest remains limited in implementing its playback in real-time on emulators. It's worth noting that NanoBoyAdvance includes [httphttps://www.advanscenegithub.com/htmlipatix/Releases/dbreleases.php?id=2006 Fixgba-hq-mixer High Quality Audio Mixer] and there's a very experimental feature exists on [[mGBA]](nightly versions). The addunder Enhancements as "XQ GBA Audio", but it's very buggy and still limited to games using the standard sound engine, the so-on called "Sappy" engine, which is essentially Skylanders before it became popularstill a big part of the GBA's software library.

===GlucoboyHigh Resolution Affine Transformation Graphical Effects===An obscure medical peripheral designed Similar to monitor a child's blood glucose levels and reward them for keeping tabs the scaling effects used on their condition. No the Super NES known emulator supports this so farcommonly as "Mode 7" graphics, especially given the niche nature of this accessoryGame Boy Advance has affine transformation effects for some backgrounds and individual sprites that can be done in hardware. Not Due to mention that [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 findGBA's lower resolution, some detail may be lost.

===BattleChip Gate===An peripheral device by Capcom and Takara compatible with The [[mGBA]] emulator added an Enhancements''Mega Man Battle Network 4'' (Japanese edition). It menu where you can be connected to change the Game Boy Advance and allow the player resolution of those graphical effects, for a smoother effect. The graphical render engine will need to transmit real-life toy Battle Chips be OpenGL for those to the NetNavis in the gametake effect. Itwon's also compatible with toy Advanced PETs and ''Rockman.EXE 4.5 Real Operation''. It can also unlock minigames t work on games where those effects are done in software instead of the hardware scaling features (like the 3D environment in ''Mega Man Zero 3''.Asterix & Obelix XXL)

===Save formats===Originally, when saves were implemented, nobody settled on a format, so the Visual Boy Advance devs made their own. Because other emulators often went with raw data, having to exchange different saves caused problems. The original Visual Boy Advance tries to figure out which format a given save is but often fails at it. By explicitly telling the emulator to read it as a specific type using a file called <code>vba-over.ini</code>, VBA complies. VBA-M includes this config file by default, but older revisions like VBA 1.7.2 and VBALink do not. The VBA-Next and VBA-M cores in Libretro have the file baked into the binary so that it can load raw .sav files, but converts the format to its own derivative at exactly 136 KB every time, with save type info contained within the file. This completely avoids the previous issues at the cost of incompatibility with standalone VBA and most others. To solve this incompatibility, Libretro devs created a [https://github.com/libretro/vba-next/blob/master/libretro/gbaconv/gbaconv.c command-line tool] to convert .srm save files made from these cores to raw .sav save data for other emulators. It takes standard input (i.e. just drag and drop the .srm onto the executable) and outputs accordingly. It can also be done in reverse. A [mGBAhttps://thysbelon.github.io/gbaconv-web/ website version of this tool can be found here]. For more information about Game Boy Advance hardware and reverse engineering; <br/>* Rodrigo Copetti: [https://www.copetti.org/writings/consoles/game-boy-advance/ Game Boy Advance Architecture Practical Analysis] partially supports this add* MVG: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R43k-p9XdIk The Story of Quake on the Game Boy Advance], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qqg4VCZ0k8 How the Game Boy Advance knew it was running a Game Boy Game], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GVSLcqGP7g Tomb Raider on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance is incredible], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpNWEbZdXNw How Graphics worked on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance]* martin korth: [https://problemkaputt.de/gbatek-contents.htm gbatek]* [https://akkera102.sakura.ne.jp/gbadev/ akkera102.sakura gbadev (available in dev channel onlyJapanese)]* [https://gbadev.net/gbadoc/ gbadev - gbadoc]* [https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/GBA_Development/Resources WikiBooks - GBA Development Resources]

[[[[Category:Sixth-generation video game consoles]]