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Game Boy Advance emulators

2,644 bytes added, 2 April
Undo revision 83541 by 162.158.154.118 (talk) See Recommended_emulators page.
|discontinued = 2010
|predecessor=[[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy (Color)]], [[Virtual Boy emulators|Virtual Boy]]
|successor=[[Pokémon mini emulators|Pokémon mini]], [[Nintendo DS emulators|DS family(i)]]
|emulated = {{✓}}
}}
==Emulators==
===PC / x86===
<div style="maxoverflow-x:auto;width:100%; overflow:auto;">{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
|-
! scope="col"|Name
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
|[{{MednafenURL|releases/}} {{MednafenVer}}]<br/>[https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/ libretro core]
|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://hades-emu.org Hades]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/hades-emu/Hades/releases/tag/v1.0.0 {{HadesVer}}]<br/> [https://nightly.link/hades-emu/Hades/workflows/build/master Nightly builds]<br/> [https://github.com/hades-emu/hades Git]
|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://www.zophar.net/macintosh/gba/playboy-advance.html {{PlayBoyAdvanceVer}}]
|{{?}} || || ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://hades-emu.org Hades]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://nightly.link/hades-emu/Hades/workflows/build/master Nightly builds]<br/> [https://github.com/hades-emu/hades Git]
|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|GameBeanAdvance
|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|}
</div>
===Mobile / ARM===
<div style="maxoverflow-x:auto;width:100%; overflow:auto;">{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
|-
! scope="col"|Name
|Pizza Boy GBA
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.dbtecno.pizzaboygbapro 2.6.8](Offline)|{{~}} ||{{~}} || ||{{✗}} ||{{}} [https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/1b97uus/emulator_pizza_boy_for_gba_and_gbc_removed_from/ *] ||{{~}}
|-
|[https://www.explusalpha.com/contents/gba-emu GBA.emu]<br/><small>(VBA-M 2.1.4 based)</small>
|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|}
</div>
===Consoles===
<div style="maxoverflow-x:auto;width:100%; overflow:auto;">{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
|-
! scope="col"|Name
|{{~}} ||{{~}} || ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[[Nintendo Switch Online]]<br/><small>(Sloop)</small>
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch}}
|N/A
|3.4 test 4 build 230
|{{?}} || || ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[[NooDS]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Switch|Vita|WiiU}}<br/>{{Icon|PSP}}
|[https://github.com/Hydr8gon/NooDS git]<small> (Switch/Vita/WiiU)</small><br/>[https://github.com/Xiro28/NooDS_PSP git] <small>(PSP port)</small>
|{{?}} ||{{✗}} ||? ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|}
</div>
;[[mGBA]]:Free and open-source Game Boy/Color and Game Boy Advance emulator developed by endrift. Being written from scratch, it aims for speed, [[Emulation Accuracy|accuracy]], and portability. As of yet, it's the most complete GBA emulation effort with [[#Enhancements|enhancements]] and [[#Hardware_features_and_accessories|feature support]], passing the older project VBA and its forks. It is also available as a Libretro core for RetroArch. As of 0.9.0, mGBA with a stripped-down GUI has been integrated into Dolphin recently for games supporting [[#Hardware_features_and_accessories|connectivity features]].
;[[NanoBoyAdvance]]:Highly [[Emulation_accuracy|accurate]]<ref>[https://github.com/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance/blob/master/docs/ACCURACY.md mGBA suite comparison]</ref> Game Boy Advance emulator. It aims for [[Emulation Accuracy|cycle-accurate]] emulation when possible (CPU, DMA, timers, PPU and Game Pak prefetch), while also offering enhancements such as improved audio quality. Very high compatibility, including games that require emulation of [https://github.com/nba-emu/NanoBoyAdvance/blob/master/docs/ACCURACY.md#Game-compatibility peculiar hardware edge-cases].Unfortunately, following the release of the next major update, developer "[https://github.com/fleroviux fleroviux]" will step down from actively developing the project.[https://old.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/1auz9c9/nanoboyadvance_180_is_released_plus_announcement/]
;[[VisualBoy Advance|Visual Boy Advance (VBA)]]:The original GBA emulator. Discovered to have an <abbr title="Arbitrary Code Execution">ACE</abbr> vulnerability detailed below.
::;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.
;[[SkyEmu]]:Low level Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance emulator. Its 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.
;[[higan]] / [[ares]]:[[Emulation Accuracy|Accuracy]] wise it is behind compared to NanoBoyAdvance, SkyEmu (and maybe mGBA) but it has dot-based instead of scanline-based renderer and doing better job compared to VBA-M. Also it is behind in terms 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.
;[[MAME]]:Has a <code>gba</code> 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.
;[[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 , there's a libretro port of gpSP with fast x86 and ARM dynarecs. While it's behind the 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.
; [[Nintendo Switch Online]] (Sloop)
==Enhancements==
<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
| rowspan=3 | Graphics
| [[Resolution|Resizable Internal Resolution]]
| colspan=13 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}}
|-
| rowspan=4 6 | Post-Processing
| [[Wikipedia:Category:Anti-aliasing_algorithms|Post-rendering AA]]<br/><small>(FXAA, TXAA and MLAA/SMAA)</small>
| {{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}}
|{{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]]
|{{N}}
|{{N}}
|{{NY}}[https://github.com/ares-emulator/ares/pull/1397 *]
|{{N}}
|{{Y}}
|{{Y}}
|{{N}}
|-
|[[High_dynamic_range#Inverse_tone_mapping|Inverse tone mapping compatible]]
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{N}}
| {{N}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{?}}
| {{N}}
|-
| rowspan=5 | [https://tasvideos.org/Emulatorresources/Features TAS features]
|
|{{Y}}
|{{Y}}
|
|
| 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 [http://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] and [[GroovyMAME]] at the 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 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.</small>| {{N}}
|-
| Built-in [[Cheats_and_patches|Cheat Manager]]
|
|
|{{Y}}
|{{N}}
|{{N}}
|
|{{Y}}
|{{N}}
|-
| [[Frontends#Graphical_User_Interfaces_.28GUIs.29|Big Picture Mode]]
|
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|
|{{Y}}
|-
| Big Picture Moderowspan=5 |-Misc| colspan=2 | [[Netplay|Netplay]]<br/><small>You can use either Yuzuyuzu/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}}
|{{Y}}[https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/game-boy-advance-nintendo-switch-online-switch/ *]
|-
| colspan=2 | [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>
|{{~}}
|
|{{N}}
|-
| [[Virtual_reality#VR_game_room_simulations|EmuVR support]]| colspan=2 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=lrExclusive>Exclusive to libretro core. There is also a [https://github.com/RetroAchievements/RAVBA modified version of VBA-M] for RetroAchievement support. [https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/issues/2232 Feature request: RetroAchievements integration in mGBA standalone].</ref>
|{{~}}<ref group=N3 name=lrExclusive></ref>
|{{N}}
|-
| colspan=2 | [[Wikipedia:Category:Debugging|Debug Features]]
|{{Y}}[https://mgba.io/2021/03/28/mgba-0.9.0/#more-debugging-improvements *]
|{{Y}}
|{{Y}}
|
|{{Y}}
|
|
|{{N}}
|}
</div>
<references group=N3/>
==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
|{{?}}
|{{?}}
|{{Y}}
|{{?}}
|{{?}}
|{{?}}
|{{?}}
|{{Y}}
|{{?}}
|{{Y}}
|{{?}}
|{{?}}
|-
|colspan=2 | [[#GB.2FGBC_backwards_compatibility_emulation.2FEnhanced_Mode|GB/GBC backwards compatibility emulation/Enhanced Mode]]
|{{?}}
|{{?}}
|{{?X}}<abbr title="Plays GB/GBC games through a separate app">*</abbr>
|-
| colspan=2 | [[#Game_Boy_Advance_Video|Game Boy Advance Video]]
| {{~}}<abbr title="Allows rumble support for games that had such function back when played in a Game Boy Player (Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)">*</abbr>
|-
|[[#Inputs|Solar Sensor]]| {{y~}}<ref name=manual-switch group=N2>Only the Nintendo Switch port allows use of the Switch's light sensor.</ref>| {{y~}}<ref name=manual group=N2>Only manual configuration. No automatic detection via light sensor/camera input/weather forecast/GPS location/other.</ref>| {{y~}}<ref name=manual group=N2 />| {{y~}}<ref name=manual group=N2 />| {{y~}}<ref name=manual group=N2 />
|
|
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|
| {{y~}}<ref name=manual group=N2 />
|
| {{y}}
| {{n}}
|}
</div>
<references group=N2/>
===GB/GBC backwards compatibility emulation/Enhanced Mode===
Game Boy Advance is backwards compatible with GB/GBC, resulting in some of the [https://cheapergamer.co.uk/gba-enhanced-gbc-games/ GB/GBC games enhanced if you play on GBA]. Having said that , this shouldn't be confused with [[Game_BoyGame Boy/Game_Boy_Color_emulatorsGame Boy Color emulators|Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulation]] or [[Super_Nintendo_emulators#Hardware_features_and_accessories|Super Game Boy 1/2]]. Some of the multi core multicore emulators supports both GB/GBC and GBA emulation , however they do not have support for "backwards compatibility/GBA mode" emulation.
===Game Boy Advance Video===
:''See also: [[Wikipedia:Game_Boy_Advance_VideoGame Boy Advance Video|Wikipedia - Game Boy Advance Video]]on Wikipedia''
GBA Videos were officially released cartridges with movies/shows on them for viewing on GBA hardware. Most recommended GBA emulators should be able to play this type of cartridge if its 32MB, although [https://youtu.be/o9XmB43bN5w?t=540 not all of it supports 64MB ones].
*[https://old.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/comments/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.
:See [[Home_Media_Player#Emulators|this dedicated page]] for more information about home media playback support for emulation softwares.
:See [[Ripping_games|Dumping/ripping]].
===Connectivity===
====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''.
The libretro core of [[gpSP]] has 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. Support of this add-on 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 has now been emulated thanks to mGBA. [[Dolphin]] supports connectivity through rudimentary joybus emulation made in parallel with VBA-M. Because this emulator has fallen behind, the feature was recently added to [[mGBA]], a more accurate emulator. They showcased early higan support in a video, but nothing has been released as of yet.
=====Dolphin/mGBA or VBA-M=====
* 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 emulator instance and repeat its process.
;Glucoboy
* '''Glucoboy:''' An 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 yourselfsince version 1.8.
==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====
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}}
Similar to the scaling effects used on the Super NES known commonly as "Mode 7" graphics, the Game Boy Advance has affine transformation effects for some backgrounds and individual sprites that can be done in hardware. Due to the GBA's lower resolution, some detail may be lost.
The [[mGBA]] emulator added an Enhancements ' menu where you can change the resolution of those graphical effects, for a smoother effect. The graphical render engine will need to be OpenGL for those to take effect. It won't work on games where those effects are done in software instead of the hardware scaling features (like the 3D environment in Asterix & Obelix XXL)
===Save formats===
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