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 in 2024.
Top 10 PC Game Boy Advance Emulators (GBA 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. In general, mGBA is an excellent PC GBA emulator that you shouldn’t pass up.
2. VisualBoy Advance -M
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
Although it’s not as well-known as the other two, the Higan GBA emulator is still among the most accurate Nintendo Game Boy Color/Advance emulators available.
With this emulator, you can play practically every Nintendo game without any issues. The emulator performs quite well without significantly using up your CPU resources.
Super Nintendo and Gameboy Advance support is the greatest among the various consoles that the Higan GBA emulator can emulate.
The vast majority of ROMs are supported by the Higan emulator, which also boasts improved color reproduction, support for multiple consoles, and other important features. All we didn’t like was that the emulator would occasionally lag in certain games.
4. NO$GBA
Nor is NO$GBA a well regarded GBA emulator that works flawlessly with the most recent version of Windows 11. Originally intended to be a GBA debugger, this utility was eventually made available as an emulator.
It’s among the earliest PC GBA emulators that supports multiplayer games. With this emulator, you can enjoy playing vintage video games on your PC.
Certain Nintendo DS games can also be played on your PC with NO$GBA in addition to GBA games. Although the NO$GBA emulator is largely free of bugs, accuracy and compatibility still need a lot of work.
A controller and optimization features are also supported by the PC version of the GBA emulator. All things considered, NO$GBA is a fairly strong GBA emulator for online gaming.
5. BatGBA
For those who value simplicity above all else, there is BatGBA. It’s among the greatest, lightest, and most user-friendly GBA emulators available.
Even though BatGBA is a lightweight emulator, it offers you a ton of functionality and sophisticated customization possibilities. There aren’t many hardware requirements to discuss because the emulator may run on any type of hardware and only requires a tiny amount of space to install.
Regarding interoperability, BatGBA is compatible with and can run all GBA games. The emulator’s ease of use and lack of requirement for extensive technical understanding are what we found most appealing.
6. NanoBoy Advance
For Windows PCs, NanoBoy Advance is an excellent GBA emulator that is incredibly accurate & quick. This excellent GBA emulator aims to be as precise as it can be.
The goal of this open-source GBA emulator is to emulate games with complete cycle accuracy. In addition, the emulator supports controllers, post-processing options, RTC emulator, HQ audio mixer, etc.
In terms of GBA game ROM compatibility, the NanoBoy Advance is compatible with a large selection of GBA game ROMs. Therefore, the NanoBoy Advance contains everything you need to play Super Mario Advance, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, or Pokemon FireRed again.
In order to improve your gaming experience, NanoBoy Advance also provides a wealth of sophisticated capabilities, including the ability to use cheat codes and fast-forward games.
7. SkyEmu
For Windows, Linux, MacOS, and Android, SkyEmu is among the greatest free and open-source Game Boy Advance, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Nintendo DS emulators.
It is one of the PC versions of the most faithful GBA emulators available, and it is regularly updated and currently under development. This emulator has a very high degree of game compatibility; it can even start games that other emulators frequently can’t.
SkyEmu offers you a plethora of sophisticated and practical features, including support for game controllers, fast forwarding and rewinding, cheat code addition, sun sensor emulation, and more, much like all the other GBA emulators for PC on our list.
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.
9. Boycott Advance Emulator
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
DreamGBA was developed by the same group that made DreamGBAC, a GBC emulator. Although development has since ceased, this GBA emulator can still be downloaded.
DreamGBA’s earlier builds are still available and can manage a variety of games with ease. You might have to restart the emulator, though, due to a few issues and anomalies.
If you want to run fewer well-known games and are willing to put up with a few problems, DreamGBA might be your best bet. Additionally, there are a lot of fakes floating around the internet, so make sure to check the source file again before downloading it.
To prevent any security or privacy concerns, it is advised to only download the DreamGBA emulator from reputable sources.
