In today’s article, we’re going to take a look at the top 3 Game Boy Advance emulators. All emulators that will appear on the list below are time-tested, safe, and stable tools that can be used on a variety of modern platforms such as Windows, Linux, MacOS, and Android. The detailed overview of each emulator’s features will give you a better understanding of emulation as such and help you pick the right emulator to play your favorite Gameboy Advance ROMs.
- A word of warning! It’s critical that you not only avail yourself of a reliable emulator but also safe ROMs. When downloading your preferred GBA game, make sure the website offering it is trustworthy and safe. Otherwise, you’ll run t6he risk of infecting your computer and marring your gaming experience.
No$GBA
One of the most popular Game Boy Advance emulators currently available on the market is No$GBA. This is a fantastic emulator and the reason being is the fact that it supports multiplayer. This means it gives us a chance to play multiplayer games at the same PC. There is no need to install this tool on several computers, since it’s possible to get by with one screen only.
Let’s take a little look around the program and see what it has to offer. If you press the “File” tab, you’ll come across the cartridge menu. In the menu, there are a lot of empty slots, which you eventually will be able to replace with the best GBA ROM files. There is also a “Utility” tab, under which you can find a lot of handy features, such as the ability to take a screenshot of your game or add new cheats to any of your games.
You can set up No$GBA as you see fit. To do this, you need to navigate to “Options” tab and select the “Emulation setup” option from there. You can change the default emulation speed, which means you can complete your game in the blink of an eye. Also, the emulator in question allows changing the controls and remapping the controller buttons to your liking.
No$GBA is essentially a stable and powerful emulator worth giving a try, especially for its multiplayer feature.
BizHawk
If you’re into doing speedruns, you should definitely set your sights on the BizHawk emulator, which comes second on our list. That being said, BizHawk is can be a viable option for your casual gaming. The reason why so many classic gamers opt for this emulator is constant and ongoing support BizHawk’s developers provide for their creation. So, you shouldn’t worry that in some half a year they will cease to support your emulator and you’ll need to search for another emulator for your Gameboy Advance ROMs.
What you may also like with BizHawk is its clear, intuitive, and up-to-date GUI. You can easily locate and select the necessary option, tweak necessary settings, and add a new ROM to BizHawk. In general, this emulation tool boasts a lots more advanced options than any other GBA emulator. Thus, straight away of “File” you can see the list of huge list of options. In the “Emulation” section, you can find such important options as pause, reboots, soft or hard resets, etc. If you go across to the “View,” you can change your window size, switch to full screen, or display your FPS. The “Configure” section offers lots of options to configure your emulator to get the most out of your game.
mGBA
Another emulator worth your time and effort is mGBA. This emulator is particularly famed for a variety of advanced features that allows taking your emulation experience to the next level.
What really distinguish the mGBA emulation tool from others are its high performance, accuracy, speed, and portability. It’s very unlikely that you will experience any sound or graphics glitches while using this emulator. It’s compatible with Linux, MacOs, Windows, and Vita, which enables you to install and use it on different platforms.
Similarly to its No$GBA counterpart, mGBA features a multiplayer support (up to four players). What’s more, it features support for IPS and UPS patching at runtime, including archived ROM files, as well as basic cheat code support.
mGBA allows you to save stats, freely fast forward, rewind, and load your game at any point. And even more features and option are underway!
VisualBoyAdvance-M
VisualBoyAdvance-M (or simply VBA-M) is a free emulator that allows you to play classic Game Boy, Gameboy Color, and Game Boy Advance handheld ROMs on a variety of operating systems. It supports a whole host of commercial games and runs them without considerable lags and freezes on your modern device. It feature full save state support, IPS patching, GUI skinning, screen capture, as well as audio and video recording.
VBA-M is also renowned for its exceptionally effective hacking debugging tools and effective graphic filters wherewith you can spice up the look of any old-school game. With this emulator, you can also connect your favorite controller and enjoy the GBA games like you did in your childhood.
higan
Higan is the last cross-platform emulator designed with the fans of the GBA in mind. It’s just perfect for emulating virtually every commercial GBA game on your Windows PC, Linux, or MacOS. It aims for speed, accuracy, and versatility in emulation. Higan supports cheat codes and allows you to play ROMs in full screen.
It’s also worth mentioning that higan is the first multi-emulator that features cycle-based emulation for every single component of the GBA system. At the same time, higan is easy to set up and configure, and it’s relatively undemanding in terms of software requirements.
Hopefully, our list of the best GBA emulators will come in handy when you decide to embark on a retro journey and play GBA games on your modern machines!
