Gamers love the gaming Boy Advance, or GBA, which is a portable video gaming system. Millions of people still wish to play the classic games that were published for handheld video gaming consoles, even though players no longer frequently rely on them.
Within a few months of its release, the Game Boy Advanced gained enormous popularity and had a significant impact on the gaming community. There is still a need to find solutions to play the games that were released for the GBA.
But with technology advancing, it’s almost impossible to obtain a GameBoy Advance these days. Therefore, using GBA emulators to play GBA games on a Windows computer is a preferable option if you want to still enjoy them.
Best GBA Emulators for PC (Game Boy Advance Emulators)
There are many of excellent GBA emulators that work with Windows 10 and 11 that can be found online. Those GBA emulators let you play vintage GBA games on a Windows computer. The list of top GBA emulators for PCs is provided below. Now let’s get going.
1. mGBA
Although the mGBA project was launched in April 2013, its features and reliability allow it to be considered a new generation of Game Boy Advance emulators.
The goal of the PC GBA emulator mGBA is to be quick enough to function properly on low-end systems. The Game Boy Advance Emulator for PC is a very small program that has no impact on a computer’s performance.
At the moment, mGBA emulates the Game Boy/Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance systems. Although it is still in the experimental stage, it supports the DS as well, albeit the game compatibility is somewhat lacking.
Fast forwarding and rewinding, a hardware-based emulator, basic cheat code support, and other features are some of the main characteristics of mGBA. All things considered, mGBA is a fantastic PC GBA emulator that you must not overlook.
One of the most reliable Gameboy Advance emulators available online is VisualBoy Advance -M. It’s crucial to remember that this is a continuation of the VisualBoy Advance, not an official emulator.
Due to security flaws and a dearth of updates, consumers strongly objected to the venerable VBA Gameboy Advance emulator. As a result, VisualBoy Advance -M, an actively developed replacement for Windows, MacOS, and Linux, was released.
An open-source GBA emulator for the PC called VisualBoy Advance -M has a lot of helpful features. Although VisualBoy Advance -M isn’t as accurate as mGBA, it does fix the problems with the venerable Visualboy Advance emulator.
For Windows PC users looking for a lightweight, flawless, and user-friendly GBA emulator, VisualBoy Advance -M might be the ideal choice.
3. Higan
Higan GBA emulator isn’t as popular as the other two options, but it’s still one of the most accurate emulators of Nintendo Game Boy Color/Advance to date.
This is an emulator that can emulate almost every Nintendo game flawlessly. The emulator’s performance is also top-notch without affecting your CPU resources much.
Higan GBA emulator supports emulating many consoles, but Super Nintendo & Gameboy Advance support is the best.
Some of the key features of the Higan emulator include the vast majority of ROM support for the emulator, enhanced color reproduction, multiple console support, etc. We only disliked that the emulator sometimes lags in a few games.
4. NO$GBA
NO$GBA isn’t a very popular GBA emulator nor fully compatible with the latest Windows 11. This tool was initially introduced as a GBA debugger but later released as a GBA emulator.
It’s one of the first GBA emulators for PC with multiplayer game support. You can enjoy this emulator on your PC to play classic old-school games.
Apart from the GBA Games, NO$GBA can also run selected Nintendo DS games on your PC. While the NO$GBA emulator is mostly bug-free, it still needs to improve a lot in terms of compatibility & accuracy.
The GBA emulator for PC also supports a controller, optimization features, etc. Overall, NO$GBA is a pretty powerful GBA emulator for playing multiplayer games.
5. BatGBA
BatGBA is for those who prefer simplicity over everything else. It’s one of the best, lightweight, and easy-to-use GBA emulators ever made.
Despite being a lightweight emulator, BatGBA provides you with a plethora of features & advanced options for customization. Regarding the hardware requirements, there’s not much to mention because the emulator takes up a small space for installation & can run on any hardware.
When it comes to game compatibility, BatGBA does support & runs every GBA game. What we liked the most about the emulator is that it’s very easy to use & one doesn’t need a lot of technical knowledge to use it.
NanoBoy Advance is a great GBA emulator for Windows PC, which is super fast & highly accurate. It’s a high-quality GBA emulator designed to be as accurate as possible.
It’s an open-source GBA emulator that aims to achieve fully cycle-accurate emulation. The emulator also supports HQ audio mixer, RTC emulator, post-processing options, controllers, etc.
Regarding the compatibility of GBA Game ROMs, NanoBoy Advance supports an extensive range of GBA game ROMs. So, whether you want to revisit The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Super Mario Advance, or the Pokemon FireRed, NanoBoy Advance has got you covered.
NanoBoy Advance also offers a wide range of advanced features to enhance your gaming experience, such as support for cheat codes, fast-forwarding the gameplay, etc.
7. SkyEmu
SkyEmu is another of the best free & open-source Game Boy Advance, Game Boy, Game Boy Color & Nintendo DS emulators available for Windows, Linux, MacOS, and Android.
It’s one of the highly accurate GBA emulators for PCs on the list that is still in active development & receives updates at regular intervals. The game compatibility is quite high on this emulator; it can even boot games that other emulators often fail.
Like every other GBA emulator for PC on the list, SkyEmu also provides you with a wide array of advanced & useful features like game controller support, fast forward & rewinding, adding cheat codes, solar sensor emulation, etc.
8. Ares
Ares functions essentially as a PC emulator for a handheld game device all in one. In addition to handling Game Boy Color, SNES, SEGA, Nintendo, and other systems, it supports GBA emulators.
It is an open-source, cross-platform emulator for several systems with an emphasis on accuracy and preservation. The vast feature set of the PC GBA emulator makes it stand out.
In addition to native multi-platform user interface, Ares offers debugger, pixel shaders, input multi-mapping, rewind/fast-forward, save states, color correction, and more.
Because the emulator is comparatively simple to set up and use, it’s also a great option for people looking for a hassle-free GBA emulator for PC. Ares is an excellent PC GBA emulator all around that you ought to give a go.
Though it’s not as well-known as some other solutions, Boycott Advance Emulator is still a fantastic Gameboy Advance emulator that works well even now.
This emulator runs well on older Windows versions, such as Windows 7/8/10, and is fairly easy to set up and operate.
Although the emulator performs well and manages the games with ease, some users have voiced concerns regarding audio issues.
10. DreamGBA
The same group that made DreamGBAC (a GBC emulator) also created DreamGBA. Although it is no longer being developed, you can still download this GBA emulator.
Older versions of DreamGBA are still available and can run a variety of games with ease. But be prepared for a few problems and errors that can require you to restart the emulator.
If you’re willing to put up with a few problems and want to run the less well-known games, DreamGBA might be your best bet. Additionally, before downloading the file, make sure it is authentic as there are a lot of fakes floating around the internet.
It is advised to only download the DreamGBA emulator from reliable sources in order to prevent any privacy or security concerns. learn more
Discover more from ugamasontech
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
