MGBA

Current version:	0.10.3
Active:	Active
OS:	Multi-platform
Authors:	Vicki Pfau (endrift)
Official website:	mGBA
Source code:	GitHub

mGBA is an open-source Game Boy Advance emulator developed by endrift. Being written from scratch, it aims for speed, accuracy, and portability. As of yet, it's the most complete GBA emulation effort, passing the older project VBA and its forks. It's also available as a libretro core.

Downloads

• Stable and nightly builds

Notable features

• NES Classic series compatibility
• Local multi-pak link cable support, up to 4 players
• Extensive hardware-based emulation that removes the need for game-specific patches
  • Solar sensor emulation for the Boktai series
  • Tilt sensor emulation for games like WarioWare: Twisted! and Yoshi's Universal Gravity
  • Rumble Pak emulation for games like Drill Dozer and WarioWare: Twisted!
  • Real-time clock (Boktai series, Pokémon series, Rockman EXE 4.5 Real Operation), synced to system time or set arbitrarily
• Support for BPS/beat, IPS and UPS patching at runtime, including ROMs in compressed archives (.7z/.zip)
• Game overrides, forcing games to use specific save formats or sensors (tilt, solar, etc.)
• Very basic cheat code support (AR, GS, CB), though without search options
• Save states
• Fast-forwarding and rewinding

endrift is also developing Medusa, a DS emulator. This project is in alpha, meaning accuracy is spotty and features are lacking. Medusa is planned to replace mGBA next year.

Some features that are still planned include:

• Networked multiplayer link cable support
• Dolphin/JOY bus link cable support (which is being taken up on Dolphin's side since they specifically developed connectivity for VBA)
• M4A audio mixing, for higher quality sound than hardware
• Re-recording support for tool-assist runs
• Lua support for scripting
• A comprehensive debug suite
• e-Reader support
• Wireless adapter support (Mario Golf, Classic NES Series, Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen/Emerald, built-in software when no game is inserted)

Manual (CLI version)

Note: The Ubuntu version consists of both a command-line version (mgba-sdl) and GUI version (mgba-qt). The command-line version does not need to be installed if you aren't going to run it. The main dependency for both is libmgba.

usage: mgba [option ...] file

Generic options:
  -b, --bios FILE     GBA BIOS file to use
  -c, --cheats FILE   Apply cheat codes from a file
  -g, --gdb           Start GDB session (default port 2345)
  -v, --movie FILE    Play back a movie of recorded input
  -p, --patch FILE    Apply a specified patch file when running
  -s, --frameskip N   Skip every N frames
  --version           Print version and exit

Graphics options:
  -1               1x viewport
  -2               2x viewport
  -3               3x viewport
  -4               4x viewport
  -5               5x viewport
  -6               6x viewport
  -f               Start full-screen

External links

• Twitter
• 0.6.1 release notes and feature list

Nintendo Game Boy Advance Emulators

• Windows: VBA-M • mGBA • higan • iDeaS • MAME • Meteor • NanoBoyAdvance • No$GBA • ares
• Linux: mGBA • MAME • NanoBoyAdvance • ares
• macOS: mGBA • NanoBoyAdvance • ares
• PSP: TempGBA4PSP • gpSP
• PSVita: mGBA
• DS: GBAemu4DS
• 3DS: CitrAGB • mGBA
• Wii: VBA-GX • mGBA
• Android/iOS: mGBA (RetroArch) • VBA-M/VBA-Next • My Boy! ($) • GBA.emu ($) • Gameboid
• Cell-phones: vBagX ($)
• Web Browsers: VBA-M-js